Blinded by tears, she was making her way to her dressing-room when she felt two arms placed about her from behind and a gentle voice whisper in her ear:
“What, my queen! Are you going without a word to me?”
The grave reproach made her lift her head and turn. It was Victor Hugo. His eyes, too, were wet.
“Sarah,” he said gravely, “I have but one word to say to you, and I say it with all my soul: merci!”
Georges Clairin, who was present, sketched the two as they stood there in each other’s arms, mingling their tears of happiness.
Letter of Congratulation from Victorien Sardou.
The sketch was published some days later, under the title of “The Goddess and the Genius.” From that day dated the “divinity” of Sarah Bernhardt. Her art had become supreme, a thing to amaze and astound the world.
Sarah Bernhardt’s collaboration with Victor Hugo became frequent from that time forward.
In 1877 Hugo saw her in Hernani and wrote to her: