“Tu es folle—il faut prendre ton parti!” (“You are foolish—you should make up your mind to make the best of it!”) I told her repeatedly.
One day at Genoa, Damala and an actress, whom Sarah had dismissed on suspicion of a liaison with her husband, left the company and went to Monte Carlo.
Sarah was seized with a frantic fit of jealousy, stopped all performances (in spite of the tremendous loss this occasioned her); and wrote letters every hour pleading with Damala to return.
The only reply he made to these overtures was a curt note in which he informed her that he had lost 80,000 francs gambling at baccarat, and that if she would send him this money he would come back at once.
Sarah sent the enormous sum and Damala kept his word. He returned—but still with the actress!
There was a tremendous scene in the lobby of the Genoese hotel where we were staying. Sarah’s rage was directed against the woman. She ranted against her, threatened her with everything from physical violence to criminal proceedings, and ended by ordering her out of the hotel.
“She has come back for the money you owe her!” said Damala.
C’était le comble! Sarah went straight into hysterics. But when she recovered the woman was still there, and, moreover, had a legal claim on her for her wages, so that Sarah was forced to pay.
After this incident she had a respite from matrimonial storms for several weeks. Her world revolved in and about Damala, whom (at his own request) she created managing-director of the company, with his name, as such, billed in large type everywhere.
This request of Damala’s was his undoing. It opened Sarah’s eyes as nothing else could have done to the real worthlessness of the man she had made her husband.