“My mother had set the police on my track, but in vain. At last, however, we were starved out. At the end of two months I had seen all I wanted to see in Spain, and as all my money was gone I was obliged to write to my mother for supplies. She made me wait some little time, but finally sent them, and I returned to Paris.
“One day I encountered Camille Doucet, who, as I told you before, was a friend of our family.
“‘Well, are you as naughty as ever?’ he asked. ‘Have you been slapping any more of your confrères lately?’
As Zanetto in Le Passant.
“I explained that I had had no opportunity, and he advised me to apply to the Odéon, then managed by Chilly and Duquesnel. Chilly was not much inclined to engage me, but Duquesnel seemed anxious to do so. Finally he had his way, and it was decided that I should appear as Junie in Britannicus (January 14, 1867). Taillade, who played Nero, insisted at rehearsal that I should kiss the hem of his garment. I imagine he must have set about obtaining this act of superfluous civility from me rather badly; at any rate, I gave him a sound box on the ear. Camille Doucet must have thought there was no doubt about my vocation.
Mme. Sarah Bernhardt in François le Champi.
(From a water-colour by Baudoin.)
“My second appearance was in Le Jeu de l’Amour et du Hasard. It was a hideous ‘frost’! I remember wearing a dress with white, blue, and red stripes to give me a Louis XV. appearance! Moreover I was as thin as a lath and absolutely unsuited to the part of Sylvia. Her airs and graces were never meant for me.