Terrific applause followed this last sentence, the ladies present being, if possible, more enthusiastic than the men. When silence was restored, Sarah rose and uttered these simple words—
“To all of you, my friends, from the bottom of a grateful heart I say ‘Thank you! thank you!’”
Her hands, at first clasped upon her breast and then outstretched towards the guests, seemed to say—
“My heart, my whole heart is yours!”
As Phèdre.
Repeated volleys of applause followed. Tears coursed down the cheeks of many of the ladies. M. Sardou was seen to wipe his eyes. The emotion was truly great and general. The Colonne choir sang the chorus composed for the occasion by MM. Armand Silvestre and Gabriel Pierné, and then the guests rose from the table. Mme. Sarah Bernhardt left as she had come, shaking many a hand on the way, embracing Coquelin, stopping in front of Jeanne Granier, kissing her twice and congratulating her on her triumph in Amants. As she went slowly up the winding stair, from time to time sending a smile or a wave of her hand to her admirers below, she seemed almost to be mounting in triumph towards the sky!
The next act in the great ceremony took place at the Renaissance theatre at half-past three. As was the case at the Grand Hôtel, mounted soldiers were posted outside to keep back the crowd assembled to watch the arrival of the guests. The house was crowded. Every one who had been at the luncheon was in attendance, and hundreds of others besides. Literally everybody in art, literature, and society was there. Greetings were exchanged on all sides, but, unlike most assemblies of this kind, the gathering did not display a trace of mockery or hostility. Everybody had come to do honour in real earnest to the great French tragedienne. The upper galleries were occupied by deputations from the students’ associations, Polytechnic School, Conservatoire of Music and Declamation, School of Fine Arts, non-commissioned officers of the Paris garrison, etc. At a quarter to four the curtain rose on the third act of Phèdre, with M. Darmont as Hippolyte, Mlle. Seylor as Ismène, Mlle. Mellot as Aricie, and Mme. Grandet as Œnone. Sarah’s entrance in her peplum and mousseline de soie veil, embroidered with gold, was the signal for thunders of applause. She spoke, she moaned, she sang, she called down imprecations on her enemies’ heads, and when, with a superb gesture, she bared her breast and declaimed—
“Voilà mon cœur. C’est là que ton bras doit frapper!”—
the ovation she received threatened to literally bring down the house. The same scenery was used, after the interval, for the fourth act of Rome Vaincue, by M. de Parodi. Enthusiasm rose to a still greater height when Postumia came forward, blind, in mourning garments, a halo of white hair about her brow. The whole audience was thrilled by her cries of anguish, the gestures of her hesitating arms, and the signs of grief upon her face. I saw all my neighbours shed tears.