#chapter 220

So our stranger introduces himself:

There is no Richard Barrymore in the family line. However Richard the third the play is a very important one in the Barrymore family acting legacy. Maurice's third son, John (Drew Barrymore's grandfather) was well known for his role in playing Richard on Stage and on screen.

This is John Barrymore playing Hamlet above and Richard the third below.

So when "Richard" here mentions being the Earl of Warwick I started to wonder if he's supposed to be a well know actor connected to the Barrymore family. And, sure enough, I found out more about Maurice. Now the thing to know about Maurice was that he had been through a lot in his youth and was known for his stage acting. What's also important to note is that he actually lived in the States after going over there due to family issues since he didn't want to be a lawyer.

By the way this Maurice with a mustache. Similar looking but not quite enough.

When our questionable lady speaks to him about his title we get this exchange:

Richard considers her comment amusing, but he's not denying his Earl title, because it is one. As I said above, some actors become so associated with their roles that they are known by them as the years go on.

A bit about the Earl of Warwick in Richard the third if you wouldn't mind.

Richard Neville was the 16th Earl of Warwick in real history, and known as Warwick the Kingmaker due to his actions that led to the rise of Edward and then later Henry VI. Let's just say the guy has a long and storied History. You can read about it here.

But we're going to focus on the character that was created by William Shakespeare for the Henry trilogy plays. In it he plays a large part in helping various political factions and their rise and fall from power as he is both a fighter and politician. He is very confident in himself, and betrays people as he sees fit to ensure that he has the best person possible in power for his own needs. It's his actions that help lead to Richard III the gain power later on even after Richard Neville has been defeated. It's interesting that Yana chose the name of the character Richard and combined it with the Acting Family that has association with these historic plays. Assuming here that we have Maurice Barrymore using a fake name (or at least that's what he's traveling by) to which he spins his tale.

This little tale kind of confirms that this is probably Maurice Barrymore the actor.

In March of 1879 Barrymore was traveling with fellow actors Ben Porter, Ellen Cummings and  Helena Modjeska for a play that Barrymore and Helena's husband had created. While in Marshall Texas, Barrymore and Porter were having a card game with the infamous gunfighter and local bully Jim Currie. Barrymore and Porter won from him (though apparently some of this ties into what happened after with Barrymore's health) and Currie, while drunk, decided to goad them into a fight when the two were dinning later with Cummings. Barrymore challenged Currie to a fist fight, and Currie shot him in the chest then shot Porter in the stomach. Porter died from his injuries while doctors operated through the night to save Barrymore's life. His wife Georgie Barrymore rushed to Texas to be with her husband. After a full recovery there was a trial for Currie but he got off with a Not Guilty verdict due to infuence from his brother who was a state legislature member, after ten minutes of deliberation by the jury. Barrymore vowed to never return to Texas, and I believe he never did. So we have the cards situation, we have the name. But there may be some physical looks from Drew's grandfather John Barrymore.

John also had an addiction to drinking, something that could tie into the gambling addiction that Richard may have. Additionally Maurice Barrymore later was checked into a mental hospital due to the results of syphilis. This might be somewhat why Richard is staying here, as the spa is supposed to be a place to help the ill, and at the time Syphilis had no cures nor ways to help people with it. Now back to that one scene with Ciel and Sebastian.

Their discussion confirms to me a few things. 1. Ciel allows Sebastian to build their cover and trust him to do all the research about the people involved. Which means that, in this case, Sebastian didn't look into other ways that the "Earl of Warwick" could exists. Which likely means he doesn't really pay that much attention to the theatrical world at large if this slipped past him.

2. Ciel doesn't know his peerage all that well, nor does he know actors or anything to do with the theatrical. Which would explain why he's freaking out as Grenville is suppose to be the Earl of Warwick but this guy is claiming to be. Had he had any knowledge of the acting world, then this might not be as strange to him and clear his worry about his cover.

3. Clearly neither of them did double checking as they both seem to be lost on this idea of the family being in Italy, and they are very much right, but this is NOT the new Warwick family we're dealing with in the spa, this is just an actor known for playing the part.

Again we have nods to Shakespeare in this story, might go into that later with the Tempest and the Henry Trilogy. So who are the REAL Warwick family? Sebastian was right in that the Earl of Warwick at the time by the name of George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, who was also a member of parliament as well. He had five children, none of whom was a Colin, his third son was Hon. Louis who later went on to hold a post as a High sheriff of Wiltshire. So the fact that Sebastian is confused by this is interesting, showing that the demon is fallible in how much research he is able to do, and how much he cares to do in general. If Richard is well known enough to have that title that means likely that Sebastian didn't catch it, or didn't care enough to consider that there could be a connection to an actor.

Additionally the choice of the name Colin for Ciel is interesting in general.

Colin is connected to Irish and Scottish Gaelic.