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I got my own clothes into the room, dressed again as myself; then, locking the door, so that the people of the hotel might suppose that Pierre slept, I jumped out of the window of the bedroom and went to the theatre. There I played my part as you know, and while we were behind the scenes Mr Wopples asked me to put out the gas in his room.
'You'll excuse me, I know, said Mr Wopples, in an apologetic tone, 'but the show commences at eight, and it is now half-past six. I trust I shall see you tonight. 'It's very kind of you to give me this ticket, said Villiers, in whom the gentlemanly instinct still survived. 'Not at all; not at all, retorted Mr Wopples, with a wink. 'Business, my boy, business.
'But isn't it rather a curious thing to hide a will in a cruet stand? asked Villiers, smiling at the oddity of the idea. 'Therein, sir, lies the peculiarity of the play, said Mr Wopples, grandly.
One night they would play farcical comedy; then Hamlet, reduced to four acts by Mr Wopples, would follow on the second night; the next night burlesque would reign supreme; and when the curtain arose on the fourth night Mr Wopples and the star artistes would be acting melodrama, and throw one another off bridges and do strong starvation business with ragged clothes amid paper snowstorms.
Wopples saw Madame next day, and a long talk ensued, which ended in Kitty agreeing to stay six months with Mrs Villiers, and then, if she still wished to continue on the stage, she was to go to Mr Wopples. On the other hand, in consideration of Wopples losing the services of Kitty, Madame promised that next year she would give him sufficient money to start a theatre in Melbourne.
Altogether 'The Cruet Stand' was a success, and would have a steady run of three nights at least, so Mr Wopples said and as a manager of long standing, he was thoroughly well up in the subject.
'No, no, said Kitty, quickly, laying her hand on his arm, 'I will tell you all about it, Mr Wopples; but you must be a friend to me, for I sadly need one. 'I will be your friend, said the actor, emphatically, taking her arm and walking slowly down the street; 'tell me how I find you thus. 'You won't tell anyone if I do? said Kitty, imploringly.
Villiers thought that under such a contradictory title it would rather pique the curiosity of the public. 'To-morrow night, pursued Mr Wopples, 'we act "Called Back", but it is billed as "The Blind Detective"; thus, said the actor, with virtuous scorn, 'do we evade the grasping avarice of the Melbourne managers, who would make us pay fees for them.
'She's with us, said Miss Fanny, who had been staring at this grave, handsomely-dressed lady who had alighted from such a swell carriage; 'we are the Wopples Family. 'Ah! said Mrs Villiers, thinking, 'I remember, you were up at Ballarat last year. Well, Kitty, will you and your friend drive down to St Kilda with me, and I'll show you my new house?
'Ah! said Mr Buckstone Wopples, with his mouth full, 'I knew it would knock 'em; that business of yours, father, with the writ is simply wonderful. All the family chorused 'Yes, and Mr Wopples admitted, with a modest smile, that it was wonderful. 'Practise, said Mr Wopples, waving a fork with a piece of cold beef at the end of it, 'makes perfect.
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