“Oh well, don’t get angry. Here is my address—don’t lose it.” Then at the moment he took leave he said:
“Ah! you are going to London with the Comédie Française. Would you like to earn a lot of money in London?”
“Yes. How?”
“By playing in drawing-rooms. I can make a small fortune for you.”
“Oh, I would be pleased—that is if I go to London, for I have not yet decided.”
“Then will you sign a little contract to which we will add an additional clause?”
And I signed a contract with this man, who inspired me with confidence at first sight—a confidence which he never betrayed.
The committee and M. Perrin had made an agreement with John Hollingshead, director of the Gaiety Theatre in London. Nobody had been consulted, and I thought that was a little too free and easy. So when they told me about this agreement, I said nothing.
Perrin rather anxiously took me aside:
“What are you turning over in your mind?”