“Ah, I pricked myself,” answered the poor artiste quickly.
But I had just caught sight of a drop of blood at the corner of his lips. He wiped it quickly away so that it should not fall on the pretty costume as the other little spot had done. I gave the artiste the 4,000 francs, which he took with trembling hands. He murmured some unintelligible words and withdrew.
“Take away this costume, take it away!” I cried to my petite dame and my maid. And I cried so much that I had the hiccough all the evening. Nobody understood why I was crying. But I reproached myself bitterly for having worried the poor man. It was plain that he was dying. And by the force of circumstances I had unwittingly forged the first link of the chain of death which was dragging to the tomb this youth of twenty-two—this artiste with a future before him.
I would never wear this costume. It is still in its box yellowed with age. Its gold embroidery is tarnished by time, and the little spot of blood has slightly reddened the stuff. As to the poor artiste, I learned of his death during my stay in London in the month of May, for before leaving for America I signed with Hollingshead and Mayer, the impresarios of the Comédie, a contract which bound me to them from the 24th May to the 24th June (1880).
It was during this period that the lawsuit which the Comédie Française brought against me was judged.
Maître Barboux did not consult me about anything, and my success in London, which was achieved without the help of the Comédie, irritated the Committee, the press, and the public.
Maître Allon, in his pleadings, pretended that the London public, which was quickly tired of me, would not now come to those performances of the Comédie in which I appeared.
The following list gives the best possible denial to the assertions of Maître Allon:
| Performances given by the Comédie Française at the Gaiety Theatre. The crosses indicate the pieces in which I appeared. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1879 | PLAYS | Receipts in francs | |||
| June | 2 | Prologue of | “Le Misanthrope;” “Phèdre,” Acte II | ||
| “Les Précieuses Ridicules” | X | 13.080 | |||
| „ | 3 | “L’Etrangère” | X | 12.565 | |
| „ | 4 | “Le Fils Naturel” | 9.300 | ||
| „ | 5 | “Les Caprices de Marianne” | |||
| “La Joie Fait Peur” | 10.100 | ||||
| „ | 6 | “Le Menteur” | |||
| “Le Médecin Malgré Lui” | 9.530 | ||||
| „ | 7 | “Le Marquis de Ville Mer” | 9.960 | ||
| „ | 7 | (Matinée) | “Tartuffe” | ||
| “La Joie Fait Peur” | 8.700 | ||||
| „ | 9 | “Hernani” | X | 13.600 | |
| „ | 10 | “Le Demi-monde” | 11.425 | ||
| „ | 11 | “Mlle. de Belle Isle” | |||
| “Il Faut qu’une Porte Soit Ouverte ou Fermée” | 10.420 | ||||
| „ | 12 | “Le Post-scriptum” | |||
| “Le Gendre de M. Poirier” | 10.445 | ||||
| „ | 13 | “Phèdre” | 13.920 | ||
| „ | 14 | “Le Luthier de Crémône” | |||
| “Le Sphinx” | X | 13.350 | |||
| „ | 14 | (Matinée) | “Le Misanthrope” | ||
| “Les Plaideurs” | 8.800 | ||||
| „ | 16 | “L’ami Fritz” | 9.375 | ||
| „ | 17 | “Zaïre” | |||
| “Les Précieuses Ridicules” | X | 13.075 | |||
| „ | 18 | (Matinée) | “Le Jeu de l’Amour et du Hasard” | ||
| “Il ne Faut Jurer de Rien” | 11.550 | ||||
| „ | 18 | “Le Demi-monde” | 12.160 | ||
| „ | 20 | “Les Fourchambault” | 11.200 | ||
| „ | 21 | “Hernani” | X | 13.375 | |
| „ | 21 | (Matinée) | “Tartuffe” | ||
| “Il Faut qu’une Porte Soit Ouverte ou Fermée” | 2.115 | ||||
| „ | 23 | “Gringoire” | |||
| “On ne Badine pas avec l’Amour” | 11.080 | ||||
| „ | 24 | “Chez l’Avocat” | |||
| “Mlle. de la Seiglière” | 9.660 | ||||
| „ | 25 | (Matinée) | “L’Etrangère” | X | 11.710 |
| „ | 25 | “Le Barbier de Seville” | 9.180 | ||
| „ | 26 | “Andromaque” | |||
| “Les Plaideurs” | X | 13.350 | |||
| „ | 27 | “L’Avare” | |||
| “L’Etincelle” | 11.775 | ||||
| „ | 28 | “Le Sphinx” | |||
| “Le Dépit Amoureux” | X | 12.860 | |||
| „ | 28 | (Matinée) | “Hernani” | X | 13.730 |
| „ | 30 | “Ruy Blas” | X | 13.660 | |
| July | 1 | “Mercadet” | |||
| “L’été de la St. Martin” | 9.850 | ||||
| „ | 2 | “Ruy Blas” | X | 13.160 | |
| „ | 3 | “Le Mariage de Victorine” | |||
| “Les Fourberies de Scapin” | 10.165 | ||||
| „ | 4 | “Les Femmes Savantes;” | |||
| “L’Etincelle” | 11.960 | ||||
| „ | 5 | “Les Fourchambault” | 10.700 | ||
| „ | 5 | (Matinée) | “Phèdre;” | ||
| “La Joie Fait Peur” | X | 14.265 | |||
| „ | 7 | “Le Marquis de Villemer” | 10.565 | ||
| „ | 8 | “L’ami Fritz” | 11.005 | ||
| „ | 9 | “Hernani” | X | 14.275 | |
| „ | 10 | “Le Sphinx” | X | 13.775 | |
| „ | 11 | “Philiberte” | |||
| “L’Etourdi” | 11.500 | ||||
| „ | 12 | “Ruy Blas” | X | 12.660 | |
| „ | 12 | (Matinée) | “Gringoire” | ||
| “Hernani,” Acte V | |||||
| “La Bénédiction” | |||||
| “Davenant” | |||||
| “L’Etincelle” | X | 13.725 | |||
| Total receipts in francs | 492.150 | ||||
The average of the receipts was about 11,715 francs. These figures show that out of the forty-three performances given by the Comédie Française, the eighteen performances in which I took part gave an average of 13,350 francs each; while the twenty-five other performances gave an average of 10,000 francs.