“Mlle. Arnould,” says the _Mercure de France_ of the following January, which was but the feeble echo of the enthusiasm of the public, “continues her _début_ in _Les Amours des Dieux_, with great and well-deserved success. She attracts the public to such an extent that the Thursday has become the most brilliant day at the Opera, altogether effacing the Friday. The second air which she sings affords her more scope for the display of her talent than the first. She possesses at once a charming face, a beautiful voice, and warmth of sentiment. She is full of expression and of soul. Her voice is not only tender, but passionate. In a word, she has received all the gifts of Nature, and, in order to perfect them, she receives all the resources of Art.” At the beginning of the New Year, Sophie appeared in a second piece, called _La Provençale_, in which she confirmed the favourable impression she had created in _Les Amours des Dieux_. “Mlle. Arnould,” says the _Mercure_, “sang the _Provençale_ with the ingenuous charm of her age. In this rôle she had only one important song. It is the monologue (‘_Mer paisible_’...), into which she threw all the expression that it demanded. The crowded houses which have followed it up to Lent are proofs of the pleasure which she gives the public.” In the following April the young actress reaped the reward of her success by receiving her first important part, that of Venus in _Énée et Lavinie_, a tragic opera in five acts by Fontenelle, music by Dauvergne.[7] The confidence reposed in her was not misplaced, and she received as much applause as she had previously obtained in ariettas and pastorals. Such was her success indeed that she was speedily promoted to the principal rôle, and the admiring critic of the _Mercure_, who had already spoken in high terms of the new singer’s rendering of Venus, consecrated to her the following article: “On Tuesday, April 13, Mlle. Arnould played the rôle of Lavinie for the first time. Her success was complete. The tragic indeed seems to be the _genre_ most suited to her. It is, at any rate, that in which she has appeared to most advantage. Her gestures are noble without arrogance and expressive without grimaces. Her acting is vivacious and animated, and yet never departs from the natural. This excellent actress has already partially corrected herself of a kind of slowness, which is only suitable to the arietta. Bad examples had led her astray. We invite her to pay heed to no one but herself, if she wishes to approach nearer and nearer to perfection.” “So great a success renders it almost needless for us to observe that Mlle. Arnould has retained this rôle; that she has brought back the public to the Opera; finally, that she has adorned _Énée et Lavinie_ with an appearance of novelty.”