Henry had the idea that even to be ignored by John Pilgrim was more flattering than to be admired by the rest of mankind.
Mr. Pilgrim rose and walked several times across the room; then addressed Henry mysteriously and imposingly:
"I"ve got the finest theatre in London."
"Yes?" said Henry.
"In the world," Mr. Pilgrim corrected himself.
Then he walked again, and again stopped.
"I"ll produce your piece," he whispered. "Yes, I"ll produce it."
He spoke as if saying also: "You will have a difficulty in crediting this extraordinary and generous decision: nevertheless you must endeavour to do so."
Henry thanked him lamely.
"Of course I shan"t play in it myself," added Mr. Pilgrim, laughing as one laughs at a fantastic conceit.
"No, naturally not," said Henry.
"Nor will Jane," said Mr. Pilgrim.
Jane Map was Mr. Pilgrim"s leading lady, for the time being.
"And about terms, young man?" Mr. Pilgrim demanded, folding his arms.
"What is your notion of terms?"
Now, Henry had taken the precaution of seeking advice concerning fair terms.
"One pound a performance is my notion," he answered.
"I never give more than ten shillings a night for a curtain-raiser,"
said Mr. Pilgrim ultimatively, "Never. I can"t afford to."
"I"m afraid that settles it, then, Mr. Pilgrim," said Henry.
"You"ll take ten shillings?"
"I"ll take a pound. I can"t take less. I"m like you, I can"t afford to."
John Pilgrim showed a faint interest in Henry"s singular--indeed, incredible--att.i.tude.
"You don"t mean to say," he mournfully murmured, "that you"ll miss the chance of having your play produced in my theatre for the sake of half a sovereign?"
Before Henry could reply to this grieved question, Jane Map burst into the room. She was twenty-five, tall, dark, and arresting. John Pilgrim had found her somewhere.
"Jane," said Mr. Pilgrim sadly, "this is Mr. Knight."
"Not the author of _The Plague-Spot_?" asked Jane Map, clasping her jewelled fingers.
"_Are_ you the author of _The Plague-Spot_?" Mr. Pilgrim whispered--"whatever _The Plague-Spot_ is."
The next moment Jane Map was shaking hands effusively with Henry. "I just adore you!" she told him. "And your _Love in Babylon_--oh, Mr.
Knight, how _do_ you think of such beautiful stories?"
John Pilgrim sank into a chair and closed his eyes.
"Oh, you must take it! you must take it!" cried Jane to John, as soon as she learnt that a piece based on _Love in Babylon_ was under discussion.
"I shall play Enid Anstruther myself. Don"t you see me in it, Mr.
Knight?"
"Mr. Knight"s terms are twice mine," John Pilgrim intoned, without opening his eyes. "He wants a pound a night."
"He must have it," said Jane Map. "If I"m in the piece----"
"But, Jane----"
"I insist!" said Jane, with fire.
"Very well, Mr. Knight," John Pilgrim continued to intone, his eyes still shut, his legs stretched out, his feet resting perpendicularly on the heels. "Jane insists. You understand--Jane insists. Take your pound, I call the first rehearsal for Monday."
Thenceforward Henry lived largely in the world of the theatre, a pariah"s life, the life almost of a poor relation. Doxey appeared to enjoy the existence; it was Doxey"s brief hour of bliss. But Henry, spoilt by editors, publishers, and the reading public, could not easily reconcile himself to the cla.s.sical position of an author in the world of the theatre. It hurt him to encounter the prevalent opinion that, just as you cannot have a dog without a tail or a stump, so you cannot have a play without an author. The actors and actresses were the play, and when they were pleased with themselves the author was expected to fulfil his sole function of wagging.
Even Jane Map, Henry"s confessed adorer, was the victim, Henry thought, of a highly-distorted sense of perspective. The princ.i.p.al comfort which he derived from Jane Map was that she ignored Doxey entirely.
The preliminary rehearsals were desolating. Henry went away from the first one convinced that the piece would have to be rewritten from end to end. No performer could make anything of his own part, and yet each was sure that all the other parts were effective in the highest degree.
At the fourth rehearsal John Pilgrim came down to direct. He sat in the dim stalls by Henry"s side, and Henry could hear him murmuring softly and endlessly:
"Punch, brothers, punch with care-- Punch in the presence of the pa.s.senjare!"
The scene was imagined to represent a studio, and Jane Map, as Enid Anstruther, was posing on the model"s throne.
"Jane," Mr. Pilgrim hissed out, "you pose for all the world like an artist"s model!"
"Well," Jane retorted, "I am an artist"s model."
"No, you aren"t," said John. "You"re an actress on my stage, and you must pose like one."
Whereupon Mr. Pilgrim ascended to the stage and began to arrange Jane"s limbs. By accident Jane"s delightful elbow came into contact with John Pilgrim"s eye. The company was horror-struck as Mr. Pilgrim lowered his head and pressed a handkerchief to that eye.
"Jane, Jane!" he complained in his hoa.r.s.e and conspiratorial whisper, "I"ve been teaching you the elements of your art for two years, and all you have achieved is to poke your elbow in my eye. The rehearsal is stopped."
And everybody went home.