August 1, 1892 ...I brought a little doll Thaïs to the Institute for you, and as I was going to the country after the session and you were not there, I left it with Bonvalot and begged him to handle her carefully.... I return in a day or so, for on Saturday we receive Frémiet who wishes me to thank you for voting for him. GEROME. I wanted this colored statuette by my illustrious colleague to place on my table as I wrote _Thaïs_. I have always liked to have before my eyes an image or a symbol of the work on which I am engaged. The second letter I received the day after the first performance of _Thaïs_ at the Opéra. _Dear Master_: You have lifted my poor _Thaïs_ to the first rank of operatic heroines. You are my sweetest glory. I am delighted. "Assieds-toi près de nous," the aria to Love, the final duet, is charmingly beautiful. I am happy and proud at having furnished you with the theme on which you have developed the most inspiring phrases. I grasp your hand with joy. ANATOLE FRANCE.> I had already been to Covent Garden twice. First, for _Le Roi de Lahore_, and then for _Manon_ which was sung by Sanderson and Van Dyck. I went back again for the rehearsals of _La Navarraise_. Our principal artists were Emma Calvé, Alvarez and Plancon. The rehearsals with Emma Calvé were a great honor for me and a great joy as well, which I was to renew later in the rehearsals for _Sapho_ in Paris. The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, attended the first performance of _La Navarraise_. The recalls of the artists were so numerous and enthusiastic that finally they called for me. As I did not appear, for the good reason that I was not there, and could not be presented to the Prince of Wales who wanted to congratulate me, the manager could find only this way to excuse me both to the prince and to the public. He came on the stage and said, "M. Massenet is outside smoking a cigarette and won't come." Doubtless this was true, but "the whole truth should not always be spoken." I returned on board the boat with my wife, Heugel, my dear publisher, and Adrien Bernheim, the Governmental Commissary General of the subsidized theaters, who had honored the performance with his presence. Ever since he has been one of my most charming and dearest friends. I learned that her Majesty Queen Victoria summoned Emma Calvé to Windsor to sing _La Navarraise_, and I was told that they improvised a stage setting in the queen's own drawing room, which was most picturesque but primitive. The Barricade was represented by a pile of pillows and down quilts. Have I said that in the month of May preceding _La Navarraise_ in London (June 20, 1894), the Opéra-Comique gave _Le Portrait de Manon_, an exquisite act by Georges Boyer, which was delightfully interpreted by Fugère, Grivot and Mlle. Lainé?