Sam Williams bursts in, declaring his future prospects as senator or congressman, and insisting he'll need a wife to back him.

When the doorbell rings, Mrs. Howitt scampers away to hide, while Nancy admits George Reynolds, who drove Stanley from New York to Ohio.

When George arrives they spar lightly over wicker suitcases, surreys instead of motor cars, and pictures of Washington crossing the Delaware in Ohio homes.

Maud excludes Nancy from going with the rest to Archie's yacht, and they all dance in a line as they exit the villa.

After sending Eleanor to bed, they threaten Nancy with arrest, citing the case of Maud's former maid who stole a trifle.

Eleanor begs Nancy's forgiveness; she has told Stanley and Maud they may keep the brooch and stay at the villa for a short time.

[1] Producer George C. Tyler said the play was commissioned from Tarkington and Street, to put a young American woman into the same position as the protagonist of The Man from Home, but it needed a lot of revision before it finally worked.

Though the play was set in 1916, the authors introduced foreshadowing of the coming conflict[7] and concluded with the male lead going off to military training.

[8] According to letters from Tarkington to Tyler, a number of actresses were considered by the authors for the leading part: Elsie Ferguson, Marjorie Rambeau, Emily Stevens, Grace George, and Janet Beecher.

Matthew White, Jr. found it ironic that all these American leading ladies were bypassed in favor of the English-born Alexandra Carlisle.

[10] The Washington Herald critic noted that President Wilson and his wife were in attendance, and predicted a long run in New York based on the audience's reaction to Carlisle's performance and the play's depiction of American life.

[12] Theodore Roosevelt was present in a box as a guest of Julian Street,[13] and was forced to make a speech in response to a "tremendous ovation".

He called The Country Cousin "a first-class American play", a sentiment with which the Brooklyn Daily Eagle critic agreed.

They liked the acting of Carlisle, Eugene O'Brien, and Donald Gallaher, but thought Arthur Forrest as the conniving father was "hopelessly out of the picture".

He liked the acting of Carlisle and Gallaher, but decried the authors' outlandish picture of Eastern debauchery and trumpeting of Midwestern superiority.

[15] Within a few days of the premiere, newspaper ads for The Country Cousin incorporated laudatory quotes from both President Wilson and Roosevelt.

[16] From the premiere through November 16, 1917, Alexandra Carlisle was the only performer listed in ads, with her name below the title and in smaller font.