But the advice- "Make her your wife, etc.," takes an
interested and selfish turn when we remember that she knows to whom
she speaks.
Again, when Victorian says:
That is a pretty ring upon your finger,
Pray give it me!
and when she replies:
No, never from my hand
Shall that be taken,
we are inclined to think her only an artful coquette, knowing, as we
do, the extent of her knowledge, on the hand we should have
applauded her constancy (as the author intended) had she been
represented ignorant of Victorian's presence. The effect upon the
audience, in a word, would be pleasant in place of disagreeable were
the case altered as we suggest, while the effect upon Victorian
would remain altogether untouched.
A still more remarkable instance of deficiency in the dramatic
tact is to be found in the mode of bringing about the discovery of
Preciosa's parentage. In the very moment of the eclaircissement
between the lovers, Chispa arrives almost as a matter of course, and
settles the point in a sentence:-
Good news from the Court; Good news! Beltran Cruzado,
The Count of the Cales, is not your father,
But your true father has returned to Spain
Laden with wealth. You are no more a Gipsy.
Now here are three points:- first, the extreme baldness, platitude,
and independence of the incident narrated by Chispa.
Pages:
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229