The Master Mummer

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At the court of Waldenburg appears Feurgeres, an actor in "The Master Mummer," who gives a performance of Hamlet. He meets the Princess Isobel, a young widow with a small daughter, and falls deeply in love with her. His love is returned and they marry, the Princess abrogating her rights to the throne. Their married happiness is short-lived, as after a few months the Princess dies, leaving Feurgeres desolate with the young child. It develops that, by the ancient law of Waldenburg, this child still retains her rights of succession to the throne, and as the Duchess of Britslau has a daughter of her own, who would otherwise succeed, she plots to have the young Isobel removed to a convent and lost to the world. This she does under the plea to Feurgeres that the child must be taken to court for her education. When the child has grown to young womanhood, however, the Archduchess is fearful of discovery and engages the services of a notorious character, Major Delahaye, to take Isobel away from the convent and place her in domestic service, or otherwise dispose of her. Feurgeres, however, has kept track of her through the years, and frustrates the plot by disguising himself and shooting Delahaye in a London restaurant, using a silencer so that his deed is not discovered. He does not dare to take Isobel himself and manages so that she is thrown on the kindness of three young men occupying a studio together in Trilby fashion. They, with their big-hearted housekeeper, give the girl every comfort. Each in turn falls in love with her, but knowing her helpless position refrains from declaring himself. Attempts, ranging from trickery to violence, are made by the scheming Duchess to get her away, but each fails until finally she is tricked by a false note and spirited away. Pursuit follows immediately, Feurgeres being in the party. Isobel is rescued, but Feurgeres is mortally wounded in the fight. On his deathbed, he writes the old King of Waldenburg, apprising him of the fact that his granddaughter is living and of the schemes against her. The conspirators are punished and Isobel restored to her proper place in court, but not for long. The leader of the studio trio, Greatson, an author, has captured her affections, so she gives up the throne, as her mother did, and returns to him in London.