"It was this way. I received a bouquet, for it was most plainly intended for me, and this . . . lady, who happened to be standing nearer, cut me off and took my bouquet. . . . And, instead of giving it to me, to whom it belonged, she brazenly bowed and kept it for herself!" cried Kaczkowska amid tears and bursts of anger.
At that Mimi began to cry.
"Mimi, you will blur the paint under your eyes!" called someone.
Mimi immediately stopped crying.
"What do you ladies want me to do?" asked Cabinski, when he found an opportunity to speak.
"Tell her to give me back that bouquet and apologize."
"I can, but with my fist . . ." retorted Mimi. "You can ask the chorus, Director . . . they all saw."
"The chorus from the fourth act!" called Cabinski behind the scenes.
There entered a throng of women and men already half-undressed, and among them Janina.
"Well, let us arrange a judgment of Solomon!"