Very little is known of the lady. She lived in a world which
kept scarcely any count of its proceedings--which left no record
behind to be used as evidence, either for or against it. She was in
her time the subject of talk enough, very likely; was admired for her
beauty, possibly for her talents too; but hardly a written scrap
concerning her has come down to us. The ordinary historian of the
time, impressed with a sense of the dignity of his task, did not
concern himself with the players, and rated as insignificant and
unworthy of his notice such matters as the pursuits, pastimes, tastes,
manners, and customs of the people. We know more of the manner of life
in Charles II.'s time from the diarist Pepys than from all the writers
of history put together. Unfortunately, concerning Mrs. Hughes, even
Pepys is silent. It is known that in addition to the character of
Desdemona, which she certainly sustained in February, 1669, at any
rate, she also appeared as Panura, in Fletcher's "Island Princess,"
and as Theodosia, in Dryden's comedy of "An Evening's Love, or, The
Mock Astrologer," to the Jacyntha of Nell Gwynne; there is scarcely a
record of her assumption of any other part, unless she be the same
Mrs.
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