_The Humours of the Court_ is founded on two Spanish comedies, which
when I read them, appeared to me to be variations of the same story.
These are Calderon’s _El secreto á voces_, and Lope’s _El perro del
hortelano_; the latter already used by Molière. My play owes its plot
to Calderon, and to Lope the first scene of its third act, which is the
opening scene of _El perro del hortelano_. But since in that play the
secretary is actually detected in what, in my play, he is only falsely
suspected of, and yet, in spite of this, is married by Lope to the
Countess, it may be judged that Lope’s play is something farcical. I
believe this is a full statement of my indebtedness, for where I have
borrowed incident I have not, that I remember, translated.
_Yattendon_, 1893.