tible store of situations and
complications which are barred to the English playwright, to
whom divorce always means an ugly and painful scandal. The
moralist may insist that this ought always to be the case;
and indeed that is the implication which Mr. Mitchell, as a
moralist, conveys to us.

He sacrifices the system of divorce for every trivial flaw of
temper which prevails in the society he depicts; but he no
doubt realizes that his doctrine as a satirist is hostile to
his interest as a dramatist. Restrict the facilities of
divorce and you at once restrict the possibilities of
matrimonial comedy. Marriage becomes no longer a comic, but a
tragic institution.

In order to keep his theme entirely on the comic plane, Mr.
Mitchell has given no children to either of the two couples
whom he puts through such a fantastic quadrille. Law or no
law, the separation of its parents is always a tragedy to the
child; which is not to say, of course, that their remaining
together may not in some cases be the more tragic of the two
alternatives. Be this as it may, Mr. Mitchell has eluded the
issue.

Nor has he thereby falsified his problem, for his characters
belong to that class of society in which, as Mr. Dooley
points out, the multiplication of automobiles is preferred
to that of progeny. But he has not omitted to hint at the
problem of the children, and, as it were, confess his
deliberate avoidance of it. He does so in a touch of
exquisite irony. _John_ and _Cynthia Karslake_ are a couple
devoted, not to automobiles, but to horses. Even their common
passion for racing cannot keep them together; but their
divorce is so "premature," and leaves _John_ so restless and
dissatisfied, that he actually neglects the cares of the
stable. His favourite mare, Cynthia K, falls ill, and when
his trainer brings him the news he receives it with shocking
callousness. Then the trainer meets _Cynthia_ and complains
to her of her ex-husband's indifference. "Ah, ma'am," he
says, "when husband and wife splits, it's the horses that
suffers." I know not where to look for a speech of profounder
ironic implication. More superficial, but still a good
specimen of Mr. Mitchell's wit, is _William Sudley's_ remark
as to _John Karslake_: "Oh, yes, he comes of a very
respectable family, though I