Part 28 (2/2)

And it was very s when the curtain rose on that first performance of theirs at the Theatre Feydau to a house that was tolerably filled by a public whose curiosity the prelih the scenario of ”Lee Fourberies de Scaramouche” has not apparently survived, yet we know from Andre-Louis' ”Confessions” that it is opened by Polichinelle in the character of an arrogant and fiercely jealous lover shown in the act of beguiling the waiting-maid, Colu with cajolery, but failing in this with the saucy Columbine, who likes cajolers to be at least attractive and to pay a due deference to her own very piquant charms, the fierce hueance he reak upon her if she betrays hi here, likewise, he finally has recourse to bribery, and after he has bled himself freely to the very expectant Colu her consent to spy upon Climene, and to report to him upon her lady's conduct

The pair played the scene well together, sti the an audience

Polichinelle was everything that is fierce, contemptuous, and insistent

Columbine was the essence of pert indifference under his cajolery, saucilythe very hter rippled through the audience and pros, uffaws of the rustic spectators to whom they had played hitherto, and his fears steadily mounted

Then, scarcely has Polichinelle departed by the door than Scarah theIt was an effective entrance, usually performed with a broad comic effect that set the people in a roar Not so on this occasion Meditating in bed that , Scaramouche had decided to present himself in a totally different aspect He would cut out all the broad play, all the usual clowning which had delighted their past rude audiences, and he would obtain his effects by subtlety instead He would present a slyly hu a countenance of co his lines drily, as if unconscious of the huh it er to understand and discover him, they would like him all the better in the end

True to that resolve, he now played his part as the friend and hired ally of the lovesick Leandre, on whose behalf he ca the opportunity to further his own as of Pantaloon Also he had taken certain liberties with the traditional costume of Scaramouche; he had caused the black doublet and breeches to be slashed with red, and the doublet to be cut more to a peak, a la Henri III The conventional black velvet cap he had replaced by a conical hat with a turned-up brim, and a tuft of feathers on the left, and he had discarded the guitar

M Binet listened desperately for the roar of laughter that usually greeted the entrance of Scaramouche, and his dismay increased when it did not coly unusual in Scaran accent was there, but none of the broad boisterousness their audiences had loved

He wrung his hands in despair ”It is all over!” he said ”The fellow has ruined us! It serveshi!”

But he was profoundlyof this when presently hie, and found the public attentive, rerin of quiet appreciation on every upturned face It was not, however, until the thunders of applause greeted the fall of the curtain on the first act that he felt quite sure they would be allowed to escape with their lives

Had the part of Pantaloon in ”Les Fourberies” been other than that of a blundering, timid old idiot, Binet would have ruined it by his apprehensions As it was, those very apprehensions,as they did the hesitancy and bewilderment that were the essence of his part, contributed to the success And a success it proved thatof which Scarauilty

For Scaramouche himself this success was not confined to the public At the end of the play a great reception awaited hireen-rooy had raised therantcoenerously in a speech entrusted to Polichinelle, adding the tribute to his genius that, as they had conquered Nantes, so would they conquer the world under his guidance

In their enthusiass of M Binet Irritated enough had he been already by the overriding of his every wish, by the consciousness of his weakness when opposed to Scararadual process of usurpation of authority because its every step had been attended by his own greater profit, deep down in hiratitude due froht his nerves had been on the rack, and he had suffered agonies of apprehension, for all of which he blamed Scaramouche so bitterly that not even the ultimate success--almost miraculous when all the elements are considered--could justify his partner in his eyes

And now, to find hinored by this company--his own company, which he had so laboriously and slowly asse the s of cities--was so that stirred his bile, and aroused the malevolence that never did e wasit

Yet that he should assert himself in this hour was i of no account in this troupe over which he had lorded it for long st them to fill his purse and destroy his authority

So he stepped forward nohen Polichinelle had done His s, he professed to add his own to Polichinelle's acclamations of his dear partner But he did it in such a manner as to make it clear that what Scaramouche had done, he had done by M Binet's favour, and that in all M Binet's had been the guiding hand In associating himself with Polichinelle, he desired to thank Scara thanks to his steward for services diligently rendered and orders scrupulously carried out

It neither deceived the troupe nor mollified himself Indeed, his consciousness of the mockery of it but increased his bitterness But at least it saved his face and rescued him from nullity--he as their chief

To say, as I have said, that it did not deceive them, is perhaps to say too much, for it deceived thes

They believed, after discounting the insinuations in which he took all credit to hiratitude, as they were That belief was shared by Andre-Louis hienerous to M Binet,the claims that M Binet had made

And then followed from him the announcement that their success in Nantes was the sweeter to him because it rendered almost immediately attainable the dearest wish of his heart, which was to make Climene his wife

It was a felicity of which he was the first to acknowledge his utter unworthiness It was to bring hiood friend M Binet, to whom he owed all that he had achieved for himself and for them The announcement was joyously received, for the world of the theatre loves a lover as dearly as does the greater world

So they acclaimed the happy pair, with the exception of poor Leandre, whose eyes were more ht in the upstairs room of their inn on the Quai La Fosse--the sao to play a vastly different role before an audience of Nantes

Yet was it so different, he wondered? Had he not then been a sort of Scara folk, cynicallythem with opinions that were not really his own? Was it at all surprising that he should have nal a success as afor which Nature had designed hiht they played ”The Shy Lover” to a full house, the faone abroad, and the success of Monday was confiraro-Scara the ”Courrier Nantais” came out with an article of more than a column of praise of these brilliant improvisers, for whom it claimed that they utterly put to shame the mere reciters of memorized parts