"It's ruined, Mr. Tinker!" he moaned, and his accompanying
gesture was misleading, seeming to indicate that he alluded to
his hair. "It's all ruined if he sticks to these horrible lines
he's put in--people told me I ought to have it in my contract
that nothing could be changed. I was trying to make the audience
see the tragedy of egoism in my play--and how people get to
hating an egoist. I made 'Roderick Hanscom' a disagreeable
character on purpose, and--oh, listen to that!"
Miss Ellsling and Talbot Potter stood alone, near the front of
the stage. "Why do you waste such goodness on me, Roderick?"
Miss Ellsling was inquiring. "It is noble and I feel that I am
unworthy of you."
"No, Mildred, believe me," Potter read from his manuscript, "I
would rather decline the nomination and abandon my career, and
go to live in some quiet spot far from all this, than that you
should know one single moment's unhappiness, for you mean far
more to me than worldly success." He kissed her hand with
reverence, and lifted his head slowly, facing the audience with
rapt gaze; his wonderful smile--that ineffable smile of
abnegation and benignity--just beginning to dawn.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35