“It is a school, my dear,” said the Duke; “a school for great actresses.”
“To the Conservatoire, by all means!” cried Aunt Rosine. “She is too stupid to be a good actress, but it will keep her out of mischief!”
The Duke was quite excited.
“We have solved the problem!” he cried. “Our Sarah is to become an actress!”
“But I don’t want to be an actress!” cried poor Sarah.
Her objections were overridden, and that very night the Duke wrote to his friends at the Conservatoire, demanding that Sarah should be inscribed on the lists for admission.
Sarah was now within a month of seventeen.
CHAPTER VIII
When application had been made to Auber, then director of the Conservatoire—who, on the Duc de Morny’s recommendation, had agreed to inscribe Sarah on his lists—it was found that only nine weeks remained before the examinations!