bell would not hear of it: "Quite
impossible," she said, "a play's not a patchwork quilt; you must write
the first act yourself."
"I must write to Oscar then," I replied, "and see whether he has
finished it already or not."
Mrs. Campbell insisted that the play, if she was to accept it, must be
the work of one hand. I wrote to Oscar at once, asking him whether he
had written the first act, adding that if he had not written it and
would send me his idea of the scenario, I would write it. I was
overjoyed to tell him that Mrs. Patrick Campbell had provisionally
accepted the play.
To my astonishment Oscar replied in evident ill-temper to say that he
could not write the first act, or the scenario, but at the same time he
hoped I would now send him some money for having helped to make my
_debut_ on the stage.
I returned to tell Mrs. Campbell my disappointment and to see if she had
any idea of what she wanted in the first act. She was delighted with my
news, and said that all I had to do was to write an act introducing my
characters, and that I ought, for the sake of contrast, to give her a
mother. Some impish spirit suggested to me the idea of making a mother
much younger than her daughter, that is, a very flighty ordinary woman,
impulsive and feather-brained, with a mania for attending sales and
collecting odds and ends at bargain prices. Full of this idea I wrote
the first act off hand.
Mrs. Patrick Campbell did not like it much, and in this, as indeed
always, showed excellent judgment and an extraordinary understanding of
the requirements of the stage; nevertheless she accepted the play and
settled terms. A little later I went to Leeds, where she was playing,
and read the play to her and her "Company." We discussed the cast, and I
suggested Mr. Kerr to play Mr. Daventry. Mrs. Patrick Campbell jumped at
the idea, and everything was settled.
I wrote the good news to Oscar, and back came another letter from him,
more ill-tempered than the first, saying he had never thought I would
take his scenario; I had no right to touch it; but as I had taken it, I
must really pay him something substantial.
The claim was absurd, but I hated to dispute with him or even appear to
bargain.
I wrote to him that if I made anything out of the play I would send him
some more money. He replied that he was sure my play would be a failure;
but I ought to get a good sum down in advance of royalties from Mrs.
Patrick Campbell, and at
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