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"Her Grace," Fanny Kemble
 

ANDREW B. MYERS
 

A TITLED Fanny Kemble? No biographer says so. True,
Kemble is a kingly name in the theater. Beginning in
^ the 18th century the family achieved royal status with
the tragedian "Glorious John" (1757—1823) and his even more
famous sister Mrs. Sarah Siddons (1755-183 i). In the 19th cen¬
tury their younger brother Charles (1775-1854) majestically
added his triumphs to tlieirs, especially when acting with his beau¬
teous daughter Frances Anne (i809-1893)—the immortal Fanny.

Many and mellifluous were the compliments paid, over the
years, to Mistress Fanny, an actress who had already become in
Shakespearian roles a living legend, on both sides of the Atlantic,
before early retirement for marriage, in 1834, cut short her first
spectacular career before the footlights. But alas, for all this splen¬
dor, no Almanach or Peerage records a formal title for her.

How then "Her Grace?" Seriously—the graces that were hers,
as vivacious woman and as great lady of the theater, would justify
this even as an informal usage. But in fact, here this styling is a
joke, all the more acceptable—prithee, gentle reader—because it is
her own. At one point in her early life, in merriment, Fanny
Kemble dubbed herself "Dutchess of Puddledock." In the recov¬
ery of this lost fact lies our summer's tale.