“You are very satirical, my dear love; it is very easy to see that you don’t act!”
“If I acted in private theatricals, I should never lose my temper if people laughed at me.”
“What will you do with Monsieur Dufournelle?”
“He will prompt, that’s his forte! he puffs[B] all the time like an ox!—We also expect little Kingerie; he’s a very good fellow; he does whatever anyone wants him to; he takes whatever parts you give him.”
[B] The same word—souffler—means to prompt, and to blow or puff.
“Mamma, have you noticed that Monsieur Kingerie has an entirely different voice when he sings, from the one he has when he talks?”
“That’s true, but it’s very lucky for him; when he talks, he always sounds as if he were hoarse; whereas, when he sings, he has a little clear, flutelike voice, so shrill that it is hard to believe that it is he who is singing.—Then we shall have Monsieur Camuzard and his daughter, Mademoiselle Polymnie, who also wants to act.”
“You must give her a part; she’s a very handsome woman, tall and well-built and stylish!”
“She did her little s—s—soubrette part very badly the l—l—last time, although she had only a few words to say: ‘M—m—madame, the company is below in the salon’; and she said: ‘Madame, the s—s—salon is below in the c—c—company!’”
“That was because her tongue slipped! But it doesn’t make it any the less true that Mademoiselle Polymnie looks very well on the stage.”