Volume II Part 10 (1/2)
This tirade, which ht have been effective in some comedy, but which was too full of delicate sentiment for a co over and over again: ”What a mess I have made of it!” ”Yes,” I replied, ”you will soon find what a nasty mess it is!” And so I rose to take ain, detaining me with tears which fell froe than of repentance--”I swear that I did not mean to act amiss Gladly will I throw that satin out ofOh, wretched trade of us poor actresses! We have always devils round us, to torment and work upon our weakness The old man promised me plate, jewels, splendid toilette-tables He turned my brains and dulled my senses”
”Very well,” I answered ”I do not want to prevent you fro wealth at the price of infamy, and of the libels which attend it But I do not mean to serve as screen, to be the friend and consort of a woman of your sort” ”I am quite prepared,” she added, ”to return the satin; and you may be sure that I left Sacchi under the impression that I should pay for it out of my salary By all that I hold sacred, I swear to you that I have never given, and shall never give, that old seducer what he asks for I come to you for advice now, and you shall see that I will follow it to the very letter”
I told her that she was asking for advice too late in the day to be of any use ”Sacchi is spiteful, vicious, brutal, corrupt in his opinions upon human nature, and--a player What is worse, he is in love He does not believe you capable of giving up this satin or of paying for it He will scent the truth that I have been at work here, because he knows e, and spite will ainstto keep on good terms with ths to which the infernal nature of the animal will carry him Yet I cannot recommend any other course but that which your own sense of duty will dictate to you”
A few days after this scene, she toldcountenance that she had announced to Sacchi her fir for the satin out of her appointments ”I wholly approve of the step which you have taken,” said I in answer, ”but I beg you to tell me without reserve how he took your declaration” ”To speak the candid truth,” she replied, ”he looked at me askance, then turned surly, and ave you the advice Well, well, you shall pay for the gown!'” ”My poor girl,” I added, ”prepare yourself to pay dearly for the satin, both with money and with tears May this be a lesson to you not to coax presents out of brutal libertines”
The fact was that from this moment forward she became the butt of that bad old ht of his position as director of the troupe, he launched taunt after taunt against her, subjected her to the grossest sarcasms, and did not spare thee with him, he employed his popularity with the audience and his ability as actor to turn her into ridicule with scurvy jests and sallies Nay, ht actors and actresses were asse that he had been admitted to her last fa
I was absolutely certain that Sacchi's innuendoes had no grain of truth in them He only wished to coht abandon her to his desires and vengeance This stung h I knew that prudence pointed in the contrary direction Next day I found her drowned in tears I told her that the moment had not come for etful of the benefits which I have heaped upon him It is now my business to tame the devil in him without open scandal All I am afraid of is, that you will force me to abandon you by future follies of a like description As far as the present case is concerned, you iven a new piece to the coreen-roonora Ricci, and alluded to her love-affairs with Coralli Perhaps hethat this liaison had indishonourable Coralli was a poor actor, and Teodora ran no risk of passing for a venal beauty in his coust I felt for the oldto utter a word Knoell that it is only possible to wound comedians in the sensitive point of their pecuniary interest, I laid nora Ricci, avoided the green-room of the theatre, and did not put in an appearance at the next rehearsal of an to whisper Some of them inquired whether I was ill ”I am perfectly well,”
I answered, ”but it seems to me that I am superfluous at your rehearsals Besides, I have private business” Next evening I kept away froitation arew to a tumult When the Ricci was asked about me, she replied with perfect truth that she had not seenhow
[Illustration: SACCHI AND SIGNORA RICCI
_Original Etching by Ad Lalauze_]
On the fourth i Benedetti, a Roreat distress, and wet to the skin with a heavy shohich happened to be falling He opened the conversation by expressing the regrets of all the troupe atabout the real point in question, but replied with cheerful dignity to this effect: ”Sacchi does not care for my attendance or assistance I am not a hired poet, nor yet a man of plaster If your uncle conora Ricci before my face and before the whole coed me to make her useful to the troupe I have done my duty; she has become a valuable actress I am Godchild to one of her children and her friend, and do not choose to be exposed to rudeness on her account Therefore I take it that the best course for nora Ricci and the rest of you I shall not harbour hostile feelings against any one; but I cannot stay to be made uncomfortable in return for the many kindnesses I have conferred upon your co this speech, Benedetti was really vexed, or at any rate he acted extre that his uncle was a man of eccentric, inconsiderate, and nasty temper, he tried to convince hter had quite upset hi the last few days He did not know, indeed, what he was doing Then the young actor proceeded to singthat I should be the ruin of the troupe if I deserted the me with passionate entreaties I smiled, and pro, and to be guided by what I found at the theatre I went accordingly, andbut politeness, contented faces, harmony Matters stood thus until the end of the Carnival, when the company left Venice for its customary six months' tour, and I stayed behind to reflect upon the perilous qualities of Teodora Ricci
LI
_Reflectionsexpectations dissolved into what deserves neither flattery nor reflection--The troubles to which a man is exposed who takes a company of comedians and an actress under his protection_
The upshot ofchapters was as follows One day or another, this woious vanity, will expose me to soains of her profession, and is sure to add to them by baser means She only cares for me because I am useful to her at the theatre, and convenient as a cloak for her intrigues All s are wasted It is useless to try to make a Lucretia or a Pamela out of an actress ill never betoin the usual laht a letter in which she inforenor Francesco Zannuzzi[47] He wanted to take her to Paris as _prima donna_ in the Italian theatre which he directed there Her salary was to be 3000 francs a year I was glad to get this news; for if things stood as she declared, I should be freed froues fro that she ht and proper to give hiht provide hi actress I added that the appointments offered by Zannuzzi would hardly suffice for her expenses in a capital like Paris
Also, I did not think her specially well qualified to appear with success before a French audience; and her total ignorance of the language seerave objection Nevertheless, she was quite free to do as she thought best
While thus indulging ht actually leave Italy, I was surprised by a visit fronor Zannuzzi He was known tocoan to say that his coh Italy to find a _prima donna_ for their theatre at Paris ”I heard of this,” I answered, ”and, like an intelligent man, you have selected Teodora Ricci” ”By no means,” he put in; ”it is true that I have seen her and held soeneral conversation on the subject with her But she is deficient in several points of great importance for our theatre The actress who seems most suitable is Elisabetta Vinacesi, hom I have spoken, and from whom I expect a decisive answer”
”What the devil,” said I toin this way to her friend and gossip?” Nevertheless, I did my utmost to persuade Zannuzzi that there was no coht certainly to choose Signora Ricci My diplomacy was throay Later on, I heard that Vinacesi preferred reularities of a professional career at Paris Also I was infore other actresses, without reopening negotiations with the Ricci Thusliberated from what I felt to be a perilous situation vanished into air
October arrived, when the acting conora Ricci in good health, and related to her with displeasure what Zannuzzi had coement She replied, not without heat, that he was on his way to Paris in order to report to his associates She expected letters fro what had passed between them in their interviews Then she launched forth into her usual invectives against Sacchi's troupe, and vowed she would not serve for such pitiful appointer
I tried in vain to convince her that she was singularly well off co the circumstances of the profession in Italy In reply to all I said she only went on beating the sa It was clear that her head had been turned upon her summer tour by flatterers and so-called philosophical admirers of the modern school
Two days after the arrival of the co confidences ”Sacchi,” said he, ”is dying of love for Teodora Ricci I do not concealwoman; I frequent her house, attend her in public, and make myself as useful as I can to her He is brutally jealous of es and insults Finally, he has forbiddenthat if Count Gozzi came to reust” I burst into a fit of laughter worthy of Margutte[48] ”What sort of people have I got myselfpen, ink, paper and brains? Does Sacchi, who has received a thousand benefits ataravity as well as I could, I inforht cultivate Signora Ricci's intimacy without scruple If she played the part of a mercenary beauty with libertines of fashi+on, I could not remain her friend But he was not one of those persons who could compromise my reputation Only, I added, that I feared for hiainst you” Coralli, enlightened as to , returned a thousand thanks and took his leave Next day I went to visit Teodora, and found Coralli there Itheht Sacchi how little chance there was of frightening Coralli by alleging my jealousy Baffled in his plans, he took the opportunity of Christes in their troupes, to give Coralli warning
Coralli ca for my intervention in his favour, while Teodora showed herself extrethe actors but virtuous remarks upon the scandalous connection which Sacchi had so firmly put an end to I tried to make the director see reason, and not to expel a member of his troupe as certainly a very useful actor