voulez vous, mes amis,
la piece n'a pas plu a Marguerite et le diner s'en ressent. Si je lui
faisais une observation, elle me repondrait comme elle m'a repondu deja
maintes fois. Le diner etait mauvais, vous dites? C'est possible, il
etait assez bien pour ceux qui ont eu le bon gout d'applaudir votre
piece hier-au-soir." Because Mdlle. Marguerite had a seat in the upper
boxes reserved for her at all the first representations of her master's
pieces. She did not always avail herself of the privilege at the Opera,
but she never missed a first night at the Opera-Comique. I have quoted
textually the words of M. de Saint-Georges on the morrow of the
_premiere_ of "Giselle," a ballet in two acts, written in collaboration
with Theophile Gautier. "'Giselle' had been a great success; Marguerite
had predicted a failure; hence we had a remarkably bad dinner."

I had had many opportunities of seeing Marguerite, and often wondered at
the secret of the tyranny she exercised. She was not handsome--scarcely
comely; she was not even as smart in her appearance as dozens of
servants I have seen, and her mental attainments, as far as I could
judge, were not above those of her own class. One can understand a
Turner, a Jean Jacques Rousseau, submitting to the influence of such a
low-born companion, because, after all, they, though men of genius,
sprang from the people, and may have felt awkward, ill at ease, in the
society of well-bred men and women, especially of women. Beranger
sometimes gave me that idea. But, as I have already said, no one could
mistake M. de Saint-Georges for anything but a well-bred man.
Notwithstanding his little affectations, his inordinate love of scents,
his somewhat effeminate surroundings, good breeding was patent at every
sentence, at every movement. He was not a genius, certainly not, but the
above remarks hold good of a man who _was_ a genius, and who sprang,
moreover, from the higher bourgeoisie of the eighteenth century--I am
alluding to Eugene Delacroix.

CHAPTER V.

The Boulevards in the forties -- The Chinese Baths -- A favourite
tobacconist of Alfred de Musset -- The price of cigars -- The
diligence still the usual mode of travelling -- Provincials in
Paris -- Parliamentary see-saw between M. Thiers and M. Guizot --
Amenities of editors -- An advocate of universal suffrage --
Distribution of gratuitous sausages to the working man on the
king's birthday -- The r