When Henry Pitfield Rice tells Alice that he is a detective, she calls it a sneaky job and in his case, she's right; all he does is watch people and make notes. But her views don't stop him falling in love with her. However, she is a chorus girl and will only marry someone who's on the stage so that her husband is nearby. Then she goes off with a touring company.
Henry has a stroke of luck; he's instructed to watch a member of the same company whose wife wants him shadowed. He can now be near Alice, albeit in disguise and Henry prides himself on those. But will the company spot him as they move from town to town?
| Henry Pitfield Rice | a detective |
| Mr Stafford | his boss |
| Alice Weston | a chorus-girl |
| Simmonds | another detective |
| Walter Jeliffe | leading actor with The Girl from Brighton Company |
First published February 1915 in Century Magazine (US).
Also published April 1915 in the Strand magazine.
Guildford Street
- a street a little to the north of the British Museum and outside any fashionable area.
'The Girl from Brighton'
- a musical comedy of this name had a brief run on Broadway in 1912 and PG could have seen it. It had music by Becker, book and lyrics by Havez and Hoffman with added songs. I don't know if it came to England but somehow I doubt it.
Instanter
- immediately, at once.
Resting juvenile
- 'resting' is a theatre euphemism for out of work (another is 'between roles'). 'Juvenile' , in this context, means one of the stock character roles of the English theatre company at that time (like 'leading man').
'His feelings were too deep for words.'
- Romans: Chapter 8, Verse 26.
'I'd rather kill a black cat than lose you.'
- killing a black cat was considered very bad luck. (In Britain black cats are said to bring good luck; in America, bad luck - this tells you all you need to know about cats.)
'My Honolulu Queen'
- there was a song of this title, with words by James O'Dea and music by William Penn from the 1899 Papa's Wife, but it doesn't match the musical as described in the story.
'It was not so deep as a well, nor as wide as a church door, but 'twas enough - it served.'
- Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1.
Seventh son of a seventh son
- traditionally a man with healing, psychic or magical powers.
'Look here upon this picture, and on that.'
- Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4.