A Shakespearian Heroine.

A Shakespearian heroine .

IT was at Lady Pechell ' s Shakespeare Readings that I iirst met the Hartley Brownes . Mr . Hartley Browne was a Shakespearian enthusiast , and was greatly respected and admired by a number of ladies for what they called his delightful Shakespeare talks . After the Readings were over , he would sitsurrounded by worshipperslecturing on the

, , plays ; but although it is true that before he bought Pig ' s Cross ( which he immediately rechristened Belmont ) and settled in the neighbourhood , I had been looked upon as the principal local exponent oi belles hit res ; yet I bore no grudge towards Hartley Browne .

Mrs . Browne was still a pretty woman , with delicate features , and a very discontented droop to the corners of her thin lips . She was , I knew , much envied by many of the lady readers for her happy position as wife to the delightful and learned Hartley , and I always thought she appreciated

her good fortune , till it chanced one evening that I arrived late , and the room being unusually full I had to stand outside the door . I heard Hartley ' s voice droning away in the distance . While I thus stood , Mrs . Browne arrived .

" Who ' s speaking ? " she whispered . " Mr . Hartley Browne , " I answered . " Oh ! " And she turned away . Never shall I forget the contemptuous indifference of that oh .

" How pretty Mrs . Browne looks to-night , said a lady on the other side of me . " Lucky woman ! How proud she must be of such a husband ! What would I not give if my old man could talk like that ! " I glanced at the portly , unromantic Huggins , where he slumbered peacefully on a sofa . No , Huggins could not talk

like that ; but then Mrs . Huggins would never have said " oh ! " like Mrs . Browne . Happy Huggins ! Happy Mrs . Huggins !—if only she had known it . But , woman-like , she left the virtuous Huggins to his dreams , and crushed forward to hear Hartley Browne ' s

erudition . Now Hartley Browne did not seem unamiable ; he certainly had attractions for the female sex . What could cause Mrs . Browne to harbour such unwifely feelings towards her lord ? She gained a new interest in my eyes when she

became thus wrapt in a halo of mystery , and I devoted the rest of the evening to penetrating it . I think she suspected my purpose ; at all events I failed miserably . Just as I was abandoning the enterprise as hopeless , Hartley Browne joined us . " Where ' s Portia ? " he asked at once . Portia was his

daughter . " She didn't come , " said Mrs . Browne . " But she said she would ! " said Hartley . " I know ; but last time she had a cold and came out she was laid up for a fortnight ; so I really couldn't risk it again , " said Mrs . Browne . And under the meek tones I heard the

vibration of a war-cry . Foolishly , considering the purpose I had in hand , but pushed by that nervous terror of a scene that paralyses the social and domestic power of even the best men , I sought to turn the conversation .

" You have named your daughter after the most charming of Shakespeare ' s heroines , " I said . " Yes , " he answered , and his face lit tip with affection at the thought of his daughter . " I wanted her to resemble the real Portia , and so I christened her that . I doubt if she has

ail the qualities necessary for a Portia , but I should like her to be a heroine . Heroines have various qualities . " " Yes , of course ; Grace Darling " ... I began politely . For Portia Browne is no genius ; but she has good strong arms , and might emulate the more athletic heroines . " Grace Darling ! " exclaimed Hartley , his eye blazing

with contempt as it fell on me . " Darling Grace ! " And he gave a rude little laugh , meant , I think , to sting that heroine , who luckily could not hear , for having really lived . " I don't want her to be that sort of heroine . One of Shakespeare ' s heroines , of course I mean . That is the fate I dream of for my child . One of those grand , beautiful , statuesque

characters , so joyous , yet so wise , so ... " " There ' s Juliet , a dagger ; Desdemona , a pillow ; Cordelia , the rope ; Ophelia , the river—Which is the fate you prefer for poor Hiss Browne ? " Hartley ' s face clouded . It was that dreadful vulgar

Huggins who had intruded into the conversation . " I do not mean the heroines of the tragedies , " said Browne angrily . " There shall be no tragedies in my family . There can be no tragedies in my family ! It has been well said that tragedies do not happen to the wise man . They

are the result of want of wisdom , or want of self-control ; not knowing what is right , or not doing what is right . If King Lear had been a sensible man , that play might have been a comedy , but never the tragedy we know . If even Cordelia had shown a little tact , much misery would have been averted . If Othello had been as good a judge of

character as the average child , he would never have believed in Iago , nor suffocated his wife . Ophelia went mad and drowned herself because she could neither control her own emotions nor understand how to manage Hamlet . All these tragedies arise from the absence of wisdom and self-control

in the heroes and heroines , and that is why I do not want my Portia to be like the tragedy heroines . Not because I fear for her , the river or the rope " —and he turned on the affrighted Huggins with a sudden vehemence that shook even my firmness , " but because I would not see her have the flaws of character that lead to violent ends . "

There was something almost Roman in the dignity of these sentiments , and I thought they made Huggins ' s bulky features look commoner than usual by sheer force of contrast . Feeling in my breast a rising mist of that admiration for Browne which I so much disliked in my neighbours , I stilled it at once , and only remarked :

"You would have her resemble one of the comedy heroines ? " " Exactly , " he replied . " That is my wish . " " The chief thing the comedy heroines do , " said the irrepressible Huggins , " is to go about in masculine attire .

Rosalind , Viola , Imogen , Portia—perhaps Miss Browne may be here to-night disguised in a dress suit ! " Brown got exceedingly angry . " Remember you are speaking of my daughter , sir ! " he exclaimed .

" The room is quite empty , " said Mrs . Browne , in her thin , discontented voice . " Don't you think we ought to go ?" " I hope Miss Browne's cold is nothing serious , " I said as we parted . " A Shakespearian heroine should not have such a prosaic malady as a cold ! "

" Beatrice has a cold in ' Much Ado about Nothing , '" said Hartley , in a tone of displeasure , " but Beatrice was not obliged to stay at home in consequence . Beatrice had freedom from petty trammels ; Beatrice ... " " You may as well put it completely into words" said

, Mrs . Browne , with frigid rage . " Beatrice ' s mother was happily dead . " I felt a sudden chill . I had entered into the presence of the skeleton . I was glad Huggins had gone . Hartley Browne looked filled with compunction . He

tried to take his wife ' s hand , which she withdrew . " No , my clear , you always misunderstand , " he said hurriedly . " I never said or thought that . What I do say , and what anyone can see for oneself , is that all Shakespeare ' s heroines , without , I think , any exceptions but two , have no