In the month of March 1873 Perrin took it into his head to stage _Dalila_, by Octave Feuillet. I was then taking the part of young girls, young princesses, or boys. My slight frame, my pale face, my delicate aspect marked me out for the time being for the _rôle_ of victim. Perrin, who thought that the victims attracted pity, and that it was for this reason I pleased my audiences, cast the play most ridiculously: he gave me the _rôle_ of Dalila, the swarthy, wicked, and ferocious princess, and to Sophie Croizette he gave the _rôle_ of the fair young dying girl. The piece, with this strange cast, was destined to fail. I forced my character in order to appear the haughty and voluptuous siren; I stuffed my bodice with wadding and the hips under my skirts with horse-hair; but I kept my small, thin, sorrowful face. Croizette was obliged to repress the advantages of her bust by bands which oppressed and suffocated her, but she kept her pretty plump face with its dimples. I was obliged to put on a strong voice, she to soften hers. In fact, it was absurd. The piece was a _demi-succès_. After that I created _L’Absent_, a pretty piece in verse, by Eugène Manuel; _Chez l’Avocat_, a very amusing thing in verse, by Paul Ferrier, in which Coquelin and I quarrelled beautifully. Then, on August 22, I played with immense success the _rôle_ of Andromaque. I shall never forget the first performance, in which Mounet-Sully obtained a delirious triumph. Oh, how fine he was, Mounet-Sully, in his _rôle_ of Orestes! His entrance, his fury, his madness, and the plastic beauty of this marvellous artiste—how magnificent! After _Andromaque_ I played Aricie in _Phèdre_, and in this secondary _rôle_ it was I who really made the success of the evening. I took such a position in a very short time at the Comédie that some of the artistes began to feel uneasy, and the management shared their anxiety. M. Perrin, an extremely intelligent man, whom I have always remembered with great affection, was horribly authoritative. I was also, so that there was always perpetual warfare between us. He wanted to impose his will on me, and I would not submit to it. He was always ready to laugh at my outbursts when they were against the others, but he was furious when they were directed against himself. As for me, I will own that to get Perrin in a fury was one of my delights. He stammered so when he tried to talk quickly, he who weighed every word on ordinary occasions; the expression of his eyes, which was generally wavering, grew irritated and deceitful, and his pale, distinguished-looking face became mottled with patches of wine-dreg colour.