Part 20 (1/2)
”THE DUC DE DURAS.[203]
”_Executed at Paris, April 23, 1766._”
For some years after her retirement from the stage Mlle. Clairon resided in a house near the Pont-Royal, where Marmontel speaks of her receptions as ”numerous and brilliant.” She frequently consented to recite some of her famous roles at the houses of her aristocratic friends, and Horace Walpole writes, under date August 23, 1767: ”Arrived in Paris at a quarter before seven; at eight to Madame du Deffand's; found the Clairon acting Agrippine and Phedre; not tall, but I like her acting better than I expected. Supped with her and the d.u.c.h.esses de Villeroi and d'Aiguillon.”
Although she never again appeared on the boards of the Comedie-Francaise, the great _tragedienne_ performed on several occasions in private theatres. On February 19, 1767, she played Zelmire in De Belloy's tragedy of that name, at the Hotel d'Esclapon, Rue de Vaugirard, at a performance arranged for the benefit of Mole.[204]
Again, in December 1768, she appeared as Dido and Roxane in _Bajazet_, at the little theatre belonging to the d.u.c.h.esse de Villeroi, before the King of Denmark and the Prince of Saxe-Gotha. Grimm writes:--
”The d.u.c.h.esse de Villeroi has reserved to herself the right of doing the honours to Mlle. Clairon in her little theatre. This celebrated actress played there twice, in the presence of the King of Denmark, the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha, and a little chosen company, for the theatre can only accommodate a hundred and ten persons. The first time, she played the part of Dido, and the second, that of Roxane, in the tragedy of _Bajazet_. After the play, she was presented by Madame de Villeroi to her august spectator, who drew a ring from his finger and placed it on the finger of the actress; but I know that, in spite of this royal courtesy, he had not the happiness to succeed with the ill.u.s.trious Clairon. In her quality of Dido, she will not have found him tender enough; in her quality of Roxane, she will not have found him sufficiently humble; in her quality of Clairon, she will not have found him sufficiently penetrated with admiration. In fact, notwithstanding the infatuation of the Court and the town for the young monarch, he has had the misfortune to displease the heroine of the Theatre-Francais.”[205]
Finally, on the occasion of the fetes at Versailles, in honour of the marriage of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette, in the spring of 1770, Mlle. Clairon appeared as Athalie and Amenade. But five years of retirement had naturally not been without their effect upon her powers, and her acting seems to have caused general disappointment. Perhaps her unfortunate choice of a gown, ”half-brown, half-yellow, which gave her the appearance of a shrivelled-up old woman,” had not a little to do with her comparative failure as Voltaire's heroine.
An impression prevailed at this time that had Louis XV. only condescended to express a desire that Mlle. Clairon should return to the Comedie-Francaise she would have consented to do so. But Louis XV. was not such an admirer of the lady's acting as Voltaire--indeed, he seems to have preferred Mlle. Dumesnil--and when, three years before, Mlle.
Clairon had caused him to be informed that she was prepared to play at Versailles as often as his Majesty might command he had replied, to her intense chagrin, that he found the other actresses very capable.[206]
On her retirement from the theatre, Mlle. Clairon had opened a kind of dramatic academy. Here she trained a number of aspirants to histrionic fame, several of whom were destined to make their mark in years to come. Among these may be mentioned the beautiful Mlle. Raucourt, herself, in her turn, the Queen of the Comedie-Francaise, and that excellent actor, Larive.
For Larive, the ex-_tragedienne_ appears to have conceived an almost maternal affection, leaving no stone unturned to ensure his success upon the stage, and corresponding with him regularly for many years. Her early letters are chiefly of a professional kind: advice as to the way in which certain parts are to be played, as to the costumes suitable to those parts, and so forth. But occasionally we find her descending to more personal matters, rallying him on his _bonnes fortunes_, and moralising in the style of an indulgent elder brother.
”You have then made a conquest,” she writes, ”and of a fine lady, you say? I am not astonished, since you are a very handsome man. But I cannot prevent myself from telling you that you are a great imbecile. If she is a woman who makes a profession of gallantry, or a marriageable girl, you ought certainly to refuse to have anything to do with her. A man should avoid the first, for fear of accidents, and never have to reproach himself with having corrupted the other. But if she be a married woman or a widow, that is current coin, the property of every one, and you will be doing wrong not to make use of it. No engagement, no prejudice, need restrain you. You are a man, young; you are bored.
Guarantee yourself a serious attachment; that is an excellent thing; but why refuse to your senses, and to the necessity of diverting your mind, the tribute which both demand?”
In a letter, which, like the above, bears no date, but which was probably written in the summer of 1772, we find a person mentioned who was to play a very important part in Mlle. Clairon's future life:--
”You have extended your hospitality to a dog; I have extended mine to a little boy. Mole sent me an unhappy widow with six children in want of bread. I have taken charge of one, and am busying myself in finding means to allow the rest to live. I shall not keep the child at my house; he is a little devil, and that annoys and wearies me. _But since he bears a close resemblance to the Margrave_ (of Ans.p.a.ch), whom I am expecting to see arrive here this autumn, I have taken the child, in the hope of sending him to Germany. If that plan falls through, I shall put him to a trade, and pay his apprentices.h.i.+p to whatever one his mother may choose.”
Christian Frederick Charles Alexander, Margrave of Ans.p.a.ch, Baireuth, and Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia, Count of Sayn, was the son of Frederick the Great's sister, Frederika Louise, and that potentate's favourite nephew. Born in 1736, and married, against his will, by his father, to a princess of Saxe-Coburg, ”who resembled a faded lily which had begun to grow yellow,” he spent the greater part of his time in travelling in Italy, Holland, and France, and ”gratifying his tastes for the arts and feminine society.”
The Margrave was not handsome, in fact, his appearance was distinctly unprepossessing. He had ”a retreating forehead, sunken eyes, a nose like a trumpet, an enormously long peaked chin, and a long ungainly neck.” On the other hand, he was well-educated, sensible, and good-natured; ”the best prince in Germany,” said the Austrian Chancellor, Kaunitz, who was certainly in a position to judge.
The Margrave fell in love with Mlle. Clairon, who, though nearly old enough to be his mother, was still pretty; and, on the occasion of one of his frequent visits to Paris, invited her to return with him to Ans.p.a.ch and be his Margravine of the left-hand. To the ex-_tragedienne_, who had so often played the queen upon the stage, the prospect of occupying a quasi-royal position at this little German court was not without its attractions; perhaps ere long, she thought, the faded-lily princess might wither away altogether, in which event the consort of the left-hand might become the consort of the right. Moreover, her vanity was naturally flattered by the homage of a man twelve years her junior, and that man a Serene Highness! And, finally, it happened that she had just quarrelled violently with the Comte de Valbelle, who, not content with an occasional infidelity, as had been the case in the early days of their connection, had become a sort of professional Don Juan, who ”brought daily pretty girls into his park,” outraged husbands, supplanted lovers, and, in short, misconducted himself in so shocking a manner that, according to his disgusted mistress, ”every one detested him from the bottom of their hearts.”
And so it came about that, one fine day in the spring of 1773, Mlle.
Clairon bade farewell to all her friends in Paris, and set out for Ans.p.a.ch, whence she wrote to the faithless Valbelle that it was her intention ”to consecrate the remainder of her days” to the Margrave.
At Ans.p.a.ch, Mlle. Clairon remained for seventeen years. Our chief source of information in regard to this period of her career are her own letters to her old pupil, Larive, with whom she continued to correspond regularly. In the earliest of these, she can hardly find words to describe the joys of her new life.
”I am very well,” she writes, shortly after her installation, ”and taking into consideration the care, the homage, the comforts, the kindnesses, and the marks of attachment that are lavished upon me, it would be impossible for my heart and my vanity not to be satisfied. My house does not grow less full; the greatest ladies do me the honour of supping with me. You cannot form any idea of the position I occupy in this country. I believe that I am in a dream. Sometimes I am tempted to imagine myself a personage....”
And again, under date October 15, 1773:--
”Would to Heaven, my dear child, that I had you near me! I should then be able to say that never had I been so happy. Every comfort, no kind of vexation, consideration, a commodious and beautiful house, a well-ordered, pleasant, and honourable life independent of the caprices which formerly troubled me, the impossibility of meeting ungrateful people, of seeing or hearing anything which recalls them, the opportunity of doing good--all this renders my life infinitely sweet.
Add to all these blessings the certainty of making the happiness of the sweetest and kindest being I have ever known. After you had seen him, you would love him: that is nothing; one cannot form any idea of this good prince, unless you live with him. I see him every day, and am equally astonished at his frankness and the n.o.ble simplicity that characterises all his actions. It is for such sovereigns that it is just and right to sacrifice one's life, and I feel no regret at having sacrificed mine to him.”