Henry paused between the First and Second Acts; reflecting, not on the
merits of the play, but on the strange resemblance which the incidents so
far presented to the incidents that had attended the disastrous marriage of
the first Lord Montbarry.
Was it possible that the Countess, in the present condition of her mind,
supposed herself to be exercising her invention when she was only exercising
her memory?
The question involved considerations too serious to be made the subject
of a hasty decision. Reserving his opinion, Henry turned the page, and
devoted himself to the reading of the next act. The manuscript proceeded
as follows: —
