_Persons of the Play._
Lord Gumthorpe.
Lady Gastwyck.
Angela Thynne.
Stud, _a butler_.
[_Author to Printer._--Oblige me by reversing your usual practice, and
printing the text in italics and the stage directions in roman type. My
request will, I hope, prove intelligible.]
_Scene._--The drawing-room at _Lady Gastwyck's_. A large, low room with
a mullioned window at the back through which moonlight steals. The
decoration of the room is Adams', though of rather a self-conscious
type, as the plan and construction of the house is obviously of an
earlier period. The furniture is Chinese Chippendale.
_Lord Gumthorpe_ is leaning against the window; _Angela Thynne_ is
leaning against the Chesterfield, and _Lady Gastwyck_ is leaning against
the Adams' fireplace. _Lord Gumthorpe_ is a tall, gaunt man, slightly
resembling the portrait of PHILIP IV. of Spain, by VELASQUEZ. He turns
towards _Lady Gastwyck_ and waves his long arms with a gesture of
indecision. He then turns back and looks out on to the lawn. _Angela
Thynne_, is a large, ill-proportioned woman, with curiously limpid blue
eyes, and a shrill hard voice like a fog-siren, that does not seem to
belong to her personality. One is always haunted with the idea that she
might be Scotch. _Lady Gastwyck_ rises. She is a short dark woman with
deep-set eyes and one very remarkable characteristic. She has apparently
only one eyebrow. She really has two, but they meet together in one dark
straight line, and give her a forbidding aspect. She has a habit of
walking with her chin thrust forward and her long arms curved like a
boxer's. She advances upon _Lord Gumthorpe_. He instinctively puts up
his hands as though expecting to be struck.