Benvenuto took me a long time to write and would never have been ready—tied as I was by my bread-earning journalistic work—had it not been for the help of a friend.
It was heart-breaking, and I had almost given up the opera in despair when Ernest Legouvé came to me, asking:
“Is your opera done?”
“First act not even ready yet. I have no time to compose.”
“But supposing you had time——”
“I would write from dawn till dark.”
“How much would make you independent?”
“Two thousand francs.”
“And suppose someone—If someone—Come, do help me out!”
“With what? What do you mean?”