the first balcony tier contained only himself, Hyacinthe, Duthil, and
little Princess de Harn.

At nine o'clock there was a full house, one of the brilliant chattering
houses peculiar to great dramatic solemnities. All the society people who
had marched through the sacristy of the Madeleine that morning were now
assembled at the theatre, again feverish with curiosity, and on the
lookout for the unexpected. One recognised the same faces and the sane
smiles; the women acknowledged one another's presence with little signs
of intelligence, the men understood each other at a word, a gesture. One
and all had kept the appointment, the ladies with bared shoulders, the
gentlemen with flowers in their button-holes. Fonsegue occupied the
"Globe's" box, with two friendly families. Little Massot had his
customary seat in the stalls. Amadieu, who was a faithful patron of the
Comedie, was also to be seen there, as well as General de Bozonnet and
Public Prosecutor Lehmann. The man who was most looked at, however, on
account of his scandalous article that morning, was Sagnier, the terrible
Sagnier, looking bloated and apoplectical. Then there was Chaigneux, who
had kept merely a modest bracket-seat for himself, and who scoured the
passages, and climbed to every tier, for the last time preaching
enthusiasm. Finally, the two ministers Monferrand and Dauvergne appeared
in the box facing Duvillard's; whereupon many knowing smiles were
exchanged, for everybody was aware that these personages had come to help
on the success of the /debutante/.

On the latter point there had still been unfavourable rumours only the
previous day. Sagnier had declared that the /debut/ of such a notorious
harlot as Silviane at the Comedie Francaise, in such a part too as that
of "Pauline," which was one of so much moral loftiness, could only be
regarded as an impudent insult to public decency. The whole press,