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As he kept to this plan with only occasional interruptions whenever he was absent from her, till his marriage four months before his death, these letters, some of which are published in a volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere," form a most valuable record of his life.
I was delighted to play the Duchesse de Septmonts, but I shall be ten times more delighted to play l'Etrangere. And this time, my dear Sophie, I'll be quits with you; no ceremony, I tell you; for you have played me a little trick which was quite unworthy of our friendship!" The rehearsals were strained on all sides.
Got gave us each copies of our parts, and thinking that he had made a mistake, I passed on to Croizette the role of l'Etrangere which he had just given me, saying to her, "Here, Got has made a mistake here is your role." "But he is not making any mistake. It is I who am to play the Duchesse de Septmonts."
I had visited fifty cities, and given 156 performances, as follows: La Dame aux Camelias . . . . 65 performances Adrienne Lecouvreur . . . . 17 " Froufrou . . . . . . . 41 " La Princesse Georges . . . . 3 " Hernani . . . . . . . 14 " L'Etrangere . . . . . . 3 " Phedre . . . . . . . 6 " Le Sphinx . . . . . . 7 " Total receipts . . . . 2,667,600 francs Average receipts . . . 17,100 "
Ever see Bernhardt in 'L'Etrangere'? Well, the American husband is old Dryfoos all over; no mustache; and hay-colored chin-whiskers cut slanting froze the corners of his mouth. He cocked his little gray eyes at me, and says he: 'Yes, young man; my name is Dryfoos, and I'm from Moffitt.
Vintras and Mr. Mayer, the impresario of the Comedie Francaise, were announced. Mr. Hollingshead. the director of the Gaiety Theatre, was waiting in a carriage at the door to know whether I was going to play in L'Etrangere, the piece announced on the bills. I asked Dr. Parrot to rejoin Dr. Vintras in the drawing-room, and I gave instructions for Mr. Mayer to be introduced into my room.
Among the spectators who saw the first performance of L'Etrangere in London, and there were quite as many French as English present, not one remarked that there was something wanting, and not one of them said that he had not understood the character. I talked about it to a very learned Frenchman. "Did you notice the gap in the third act?" I asked him. "No," he replied.
On communicating this project, however, to Madame de Berny, she strongly objected to the offer of this extraordinary honour to "L'Etrangere"; and now doubly obedient to her wishes, and anxious not to hurt her feelings, he abandoned the idea after the book had been printed.
But of his play he said nothing. The reader of "Lettres a l'Etrangere," which are written to the woman with whom Balzac was passionately in love, and whom he afterwards married, may, perhaps, at first sight congratulate himself on at last understanding in some degree the great author's character and mode of life.
He is not always quite candid, and the reader of "Lettres a l'Etrangere" may safely surmise that there is a little picturesque exaggeration in his account of the solitary life he leads; and that Madame Hanska had occasionally good reason for her reproaches at the reports she heard, though Balzac always replies to these complaints with a most touching display of injured innocence.
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