characters cannot express, and accentuates and develops the
picturesqueness of the piece; it makes acceptable what would not even
exist without it.

Vacquerie approved highly the convent scene which Gallet invented. This
introduced a quiet and peaceful note amidst the violence of the original
work. Gallet wrote a sonnet in Alexandrine verse for Sabatino's
declaration of his love. I was unable to set this to music, for the
twelve feet embarrassed me and prevented my getting into my stride. As I
did not know what else to do, I took the sonnet and by main force
reduced the verse to ten feet with a cæsura at the fifth foot. I took
this to my dear collaborator in fear and trembling, and, as I had
feared, he at once fell into the depths of despair.

"That was the best thing in my work," he said. "I nursed and caressed
that sonnet, and now you have ruined it."

In the face of this despair, I screwed up my courage. As I had
previously cut down the verse, I now tried lengthening out the music.
Then, I sang both versions to the disconsolate poet.

And what a miracle! He was altogether reconciled, approved both
versions, and did not know which one to choose. We ended with a
patchwork. The two quatrains are in verses of ten feet, and the two
tiercets in Alexandrine metre.

Outside of our work, too, our relations were delightful. We wrote to
each other constantly in both prose and verse; we bombarded each other
with sonnets; his letters were sometimes ornamented with water colors,
for he drew very well and one of his joys was to cover white paper with