How happy I was to take up again my walks, although I was still uncertain from weakness and had to lean on the arm of my kind brother and on that of a dear lady! How happy I was during my convalescence to walk through the shady paths of the Luxembourg amid the joyous laughter of children gamboling there in all their youthfulness, the bright singing of the birds hopping from branch to branch, content to live in that beautiful garden, their delightful kingdom.... Égreville, which I had deserted when I so little dreamed of what was to happen to me, resumed its ordinary life as soon as my beloved wife, now tranquil about my fate, was able to return. The summer which had been so sad came to an end and autumn came with its two public sessions of the Institute and the Académie des Beaux-Arts, as well as the rehearsals of _Don Quichotte_. An idea of real interest was submitted to me between times by the artiste to whom the mission of making it triumph was to fall later. I turned the idea to account and wrote a set of compositions with the title proposed by the interpretess, _Les Expressions Lyriques_. This combination of two forces of expression, singing and speaking, interested me greatly; especially in making them vibrate in one and the same voice. Moreover, the Greeks did the same thing in the interpretation of their hymns, alternating the chant with declamation. And as there is nothing new under the sun, what we deemed a modern invention was merely a revival from the Greeks. Nevertheless we honored ourselves in doing so. [Illustration: Dulcinée (_Don Quichotte_)] Since then and ever since I have seen audiences greatly captivated by these compositions and deeply affected by the admirable personal expression of the interpretess. * * * * * As I was correcting the last proofs of _Panurge_ one morning, I received a kindly visit from O. de Lagoanère, the general manager of the Théâtre Lyrique de la Gaîté. The libretto of _Panurge_ had been entrusted to me by my friend Heugel and its authors were Maurice Boukay, the pseudonym of Couyba, later Minister of Commerce, and Georges Spitzmuller. De Lagoanère came in behalf of the Isola brothers to ask me to let them have _Panurge_. I answered to this proceeding, which was as spontaneous as it was flattering, that the gentlemen's interest in me was very kind but that they did not know the work. "That is true," the amiable M. Lagoanère answered at once, "but it is a work of yours." We fixed on a date and before we separated the agreement was signed, including the names of the artists proposed by the directors. Some weeks ago my good friend Adrien Bernheim came to see me and between two sugar plums (he is as much of a gourmand as I am) proposed that I should take part in a great performance he was organizing in my honor to celebrate the tenth anniversary of that French popular charity "Trente Ans de Théâtre." "In my honor!" I cried in the greatest confusion.