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New York. Mark Lennon�s cockney farce
the �School for Tigers� was played afterwards,
and Lotty appeared in it.
She looked very pretty in a simple white dress,
with bright ribbons at the shoulders, and a little
scarlet apron. I think she was roughed, though
not much so; her hair arranged, as of old, in
thick clustering curls. She played well, too,
though I don�t think she�ll achieve much cele-
brity on the stage.
What a dreadful reality is this girl�s life
in contrast with the buffoonery of the piece in which
she took part. Wilful and perverse daughter of
an indescribably base and false mother and a most
contemptible father; reckless wife, unnatural mother,
adulteress and God knows what beside � oh,
Lotty! Lotty! who could have guesed all this
horror on that night when I first looked on your
arch, innocently-wilful-childish beautiful face. Yet
it all lay there then, in thy nature � undeveloped.
Damn that accursed mother of hers! Much �
very much of the sin lies at her doors � if not
all.
I shall yet write a book with Lotty for one
of its heroines, and do justice to her both in
good and evil. She has good in her. She might
have been worthy of a good man�s love. ��
I�ll flay that mother of hers! I�ll tell the