=25=, 27. =le cardinal de Fleury.= See note to p. 10, l. 15. =26=, 13. =le vainqueur de Menzikoff.= There may be here a hidden reference also to another of similar name--the prince Martznikoff, who was, in 1845-46, one of the best known admirers of the actress, Mlle Rachel. Napoleon III, whose experiences resembled in many particulars those of Maurice de Saxe, had, at the time the play of _Adrienne Lecouvreur_ was presented (1849), superseded Martznikoff as the protector of Rachel. =27=, 6. =déclamation emphatique=: ‘affected, or overdrawn, elocution.’ 14. =Arma virumque cano=: ‘Arms and the man I sing.’ The beginning of Vergil’s _Æneid_. 18. =C’est de l’Horace ou du Virgile=: Even the abbé appears none too sure in literary questions. 24. =C’est sans réplique=: ‘It cannot be contested.’ =28=, 2. =je m’en rapporte à=: ‘I leave it to.’ 10. =Laissez donc!= ‘Nonsense!’ 10. =que vous vous formez=: ‘that you are improving.’ SCÈNE IV =30=, 8. =Ayant l’air de chercher=: ‘Apparently trying to recollect.’ 8. =Le cardinal-ministre=: Fleury. See note to p. 10, l. 15. =31=, 25. =tenir au courant=: ‘keep informed.’ =32=, 9. =l’enceinte de Paris=: ‘the Paris walls’: really a circle of fortifications immediately surrounding the city. 14. =raison de plus=: ‘all the better.’ SCÈNE V =33=, 16. =qui est remontée=: ‘who has gone to the rear of the stage.’ 21. =à plusieurs reprises=: ‘repeatedly.’ 22. =redescendant le théâtre=: ‘returning to the front of the stage.’ =34=, 2. =la fille du czar.= Probably a reference to the Duchess Anna Ivanova, niece of Peter the Great. She became Czarina in 1730. =35=, 8. =par état=: ‘by profession.’ SCÈNE VI =36=, 16. “=Sors vainqueur d’un combat dont Chimène est le prix.=” Quotation from Corneille’s _Le Cid_, Act V, Scene I. It is Chimène herself who speaks these words to Don Rodrigue--the Cid. =37=, 22. =je tiendrais à savoir=: ‘I am anxious to know.’ 23. =actuelle=: ‘present.’ 25. =Je te saurai cela=: ‘I will find that out for you.’ =38=, 14. =Bajazet=: a play by Jean Racine (1672). =39=, 7. =C’est impayable=: ‘It is a capital joke.’ 9. =Impayable?= Here the word is used in its literal sense: ‘Can’t be paid for.’ ACTE II 18. =pénètre sur le théâtre=: ‘reaches the stage.’ 24. =Baron=: Michel Boyron, called Baron, a celebrated French actor and dramatic author (1653-1729). He belonged to the troupe of Molière. 24. =la Champmeslé=: Marie Desmares, a well-known French actress (1642-1698), wife of Charles Champmeslé, also an actor and dramatist. She attained her highest eminence in the tragedies of Racine, in which Racine himself entrusted her with the leading rôles. 27. =Folies amoureuses=: a three-act comedy in verse, by Jean-François Regnard (1655-1709). Regnard excelled in amusing intrigues. =40=, 4. =Acomat=: grand vizir in _Bajazet_. 5. =Crispin=: name of the valet of Éraste in Regnard’s _Les Folies amoureuses_. SCÈNE I