A few memories

17° A FEW MEMORIES
pering myrtles," made the Lake of Como, which we next visited, decidedly disappointing. His rhapsodies were misleading to Pauline, or perhaps had wrought her expectations to too high a pitch. At any rate I found Maggiore far more beautiful.
On our return to London we went night after night to the different theatres in quest of actors for the cast of " Romeo and Juliet" It is a difficult thing nowadays to select a suitable company for the legitimate drama. Nothing but pantaloon plays were to be seen. However excellent an artist may be in these he is often at sea in costume parts, where he has no trouser - pockets for his hands, no mantel-shelves to pose against, and no cigarette to tide him over rough places. It is a simple matter to don classic or mediaeval clothes, but not so easy to wear them well. This, however, is the least part of their trouble, for those who are glib with " By Jove, my boy," and the like, stumble more hopelessly over their blank-verse than over their swords and flowing draperies.
An extravagant production has always seemed to me to draw as much attention from the acting as a shabby one. My ambition was to have the stage in such good taste and balance with the play and epoch as to attract no particular notice