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When we reached her house, Monsieur Voltaire and Lord Peterborough sprang down, opened the coach door and let down the steps. Mademoiselle Lecouvreur laughed a little when she saw what manner of footmen she had; she was then in perfect peace, and could smile and even laugh. Monsieur Voltaire took her in his arms and carried her up the long stairs to her apartment, Count Saxe following.
I privately resolved to take Gaston Cheverny with us to Courland if the wit of man could compass it. Mademoiselle Lecouvreur lived then in one of those tall, old houses, not far from the garden in which we had played together as children. When we reached the place and were mounting the stairs, what should we see but Monsieur Voltaire's long legs skipping up ahead of us!
The charming Lecouvreur, that Oldfield of the French stage, whose beauty and intellect were the double charm which rendered theatrical France ecstatic, was hurriedly interred within a saw-pit. Bishops might be exceedingly interested in, and unepiscopally generous to living actresses of wit and beauty, but the prelates smote them with a "Maranatha!" and an "Avaunt ye!" when dead.
But the melody of those tones continued to fall upon his ears like a voice from the past. When the curtain went down on the first act there was a storm of applause. In New Orleans nothing was done by halves, and Constance, as Adrienne Lecouvreur, radiant in youth and the knowledge of success, was called out several times.
It was when I was in the act of reading this letter that my reserve broke down, and I told Count Saxe all all and that I desired to go to Francezka. And then, for the first time since I was a little, smooth-cheeked boy, playing in the weedy gardens of the Marais with Adrienne Lecouvreur, I wept like a woman. Count Saxe sat and looked at me with more than a brother's tenderness.
Many persons of distinction were out, notably old Marshal de Noailles, who, as I said before, always called my master "My Saxe." The marshal rode with us, his white hair floating over his shoulders. Numerous coaches were at the Port Royal, where we crossed the river. Among them was the coach of Mademoiselle Lecouvreur. She gave us her own heavenly smile.
The twenty-eight thousand francs were handed over to an attorney who made a claim in my name on the Board of Customs. My trunks were left with me, thanks to this payment, and the rehearsals commenced at Booth's Theatre. On Monday, November 8, at 8.30, the curtain rose for the first performance of Adrienne Lecouvreur.
I was sorry to see she looked pale and weary in the strong afternoon light she was ever frail, and adorned the world only too short a time. She wore neither rouge nor patches, nor was she ever remarkable for beauty; but she was charming as only Adrienne Lecouvreur was charming.
Then we can start, unless the shock's been too much for you?" "I'm too bewildered to be shocked," said Angela. "Who could have played such a horrid practical joke on me? It's a little bit like in a ridiculous way the play of Adrienne Lecouvreur, where a woman is poisoned by a bouquet of flowers sent by a jealous rival. Only I haven't a jealous rival!" Nick's face hardened.
'You remember Desforêts in this same theatre last year in Adrienne Lecouvreur? said Wallace. 'What a gulf between the right thing and the wrong! But come, we must do our duty; and he drew Kendal forward towards the front of the box, and they saw the whole house on its feet, clapping and shouting, and the curtain just being drawn back to let the White Lady and the Prince appear before it.
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