Madame Guérard was terrified, and asked me if I was mad. I had only played one act, and there were four more. I realised then that it would really be dangerous to give way to my nerves. I had recourse to my own motto, and, standing in front of the glass gazing into my own eyes, I ordered myself to be calm and to conquer myself, and my nerves, in a state of confusion, yielded to my brain. I got through the play, but was very insignificant in my part. The next morning my mother sent for me early. She had been looking at Sarcey’s article in _L’Opinion Nationale_, and she now read me the following lines: “Mlle. Bernhardt who made her _début_ yesterday in the _rôle_ of Iphigénie, is a tall, pretty girl with a slender figure and a very pleasing expression; the upper part of her face is remarkably beautiful. Her carriage is excellent, and her enunciation is perfectly clear. This is all that can be said for her at present.” “The man is an idiot,” said my mother, drawing me to her. “You were charming.” She then prepared a little cup of coffee for me, and made it with cream. I was happy, but not completely so. When my godfather arrived in the afternoon he exclaimed, “Good heavens! My poor child, what thin arms you have!” As a matter of fact, people had laughed, and I had heard them, when stretching out my arms towards Eurybate. I had said the famous line in which Favart had made her “effect” that was now a tradition. I certainly had made no “effect,” unless the smiles caused by my long, thin arms can be reckoned as such. My second appearance was in _Valérie_, when I did make some slight success. My third appearance at the Comédie resulted in the following _boutade_ from the pen of the same Sarcey: _L’Opinion Nationale_, September 12: “The same evening _Les Femmes Savantes_ was given. This was Mlle. Bernhardt’s third _début_, and she assumed the _rôle_ of Henriette. She was just as pretty and insignificant in this as in that of Junie [he had made a mistake, as it was Iphigénie I had played] and of Valérie, both of which _rôles_ had been entrusted to her previously. This performance was a very poor affair, and gives rise to reflections by no means gay. That Mlle. Bernhardt should be insignificant does not much matter. She is a _débutante_, and among the number presented to us it is only natural that some should be failures. The pitiful part is, though, that the comedians playing with her were not much better than she was, and they are Sociétaires of the Théâtre Français. All that they had more than their young comrade was a greater familiarity with the boards. They are just as Mlle. Bernhardt may be in twenty years’ time, if she stays at the Comédie Française.” [Illustration: AN EARLY PORTRAIT OF SARAH BERNHARDT ] [Illustration: SARAH BERNHARDT IN _LES FEMMES SAVANTES_ ] [Illustration: SARAH BERNHARDT AS THE DUC DE RICHELIEU ]