"_Faust_"
A claptrappy play "Faust" was, no doubt, but Margaret was the part I
liked better than any other--outside Shakespeare. I played it
beautifully sometimes. The language was often very commonplace, not
nearly as poetic or dramatic as that of "Charles I.," but the
character was all right--simple, touching, sublime. The Garden Scene I
know was a _bourgeois_ affair. It was a bad, weak love-scene, but
George Alexander as Faust played it admirably. Indeed, he always acted
like an angel with me; he was so malleable, ready to do anything. He
was launched into the part at very short notice, after H. B. Conway's
failure on the first night. Poor Conway! It was Coghlan as Shylock all
over again.
[Illustration: ELEANORA DUSE WITH LENBACH'S CHILD