When the
curtain falls on the first act of _The Magistrate_, we foresee the
meeting of all the characters at the Hotel des Princes, and are
impatient to assist at it. In _The Schoolmistress_, we would not for
worlds miss Peggy Hesseltine's party, which we know awaits us in Act II.
An excellent example, of a more serious order, is to be found in _The
Benefit of the Doubt_. When poor Theo, rebuffed by her husband's chilly
scepticism, goes off on some manifestly harebrained errand, we divine,
as do her relatives, that she is about to commit social suicide by
seeking out John Allingham; and we feel more than curiosity as to the
event--we feel active concern, almost anxiety, as though our own
personal interests were involved. Our anticipation is heightened, too,
when we see Sir Fletcher Portwood and Mrs. Cloys set off upon her track.
This gives us a definite point to which to look forward, while leaving
the actual course of events entirely undefined. It fulfils one of the
great ends of craftsmanship, in foreshadowing without forestalling an
intensely interesting conjuncture of affairs.
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