With the exception of the drawing reproduced in this volume, there does not appear to be any portrait of Armande, painted or engraved, the authenticity of which is beyond dispute. But, as some atonement for this, several excellent pen-portraits have come down to us. The most interesting of these is, of course, the one traced by Molière's own hand in that exquisite little scene between Cléonte and Covielle in the third act of the _Bourgeois gentilhomme_, where Armande plays the part of the charming Lucile. Cléonte, incensed by Lucile's seeming indifference, determines to break with her, and calls upon the valet to "assist him in his resentment and sustain his resolution against every remnant of affection that may yet plead for her. 'Say, I entreat you, all the harm that you can of her. Make of her person a picture that shall render her contemptible in my sight, and, to disgust me with her, point out all the faults that you can see in her.'" Smarting under the rebuff just administered to him by Lucile's waiting-woman, Nicole, who follows the example of her mistress, Covielle readily obeys, and proceeds to draw a most unflattering portrait of the young lady. But no sooner does the valet point out some fault in Lucile than his love-lorn master straightway transforms it into a trait of beauty, with an ever-increasing anger and impatience. _Covielle._--"To begin with, her eyes are small." _Cléonte._--"That is true; her eyes are small, but then they are full of fire--the most brilliant, the most piercing in the world, the tenderest that one can possibly see." _Covielle._--"She has a large mouth." _Cléonte._--"Yes; but one finds there charms which one does not find in other mouths; and that mouth, when one beholds it, inspires desire; it is the most attractive, the most adorable in the world." _Covielle._--"As for her figure, she is not tall." _Cléonte._--"No; but she is supple and well-proportioned." _Covielle._--"She affects a carelessness in her speech and deportment." _Cléonte._--"It is true, but there is grace in all; and her manners are engaging and have a nameless charm which insinuates itself into our hearts." _Covielle._--"As to her wit----" _Cléonte._--"Ah! she has that, Covielle; the finest and most delicate kind." _Covielle._--"Her conversation----" _Cléonte._--"Her conversation is charming." _Covielle._--"It is always serious." _Cléonte._--"Would you have unrestrained liveliness and boisterous gaiety? Is there anything more annoying than women who laugh at every word that is spoken?" _Covielle._--"But, after all, she is as capricious as any person you can find." _Cléonte._--"Yes, she is capricious; there I agree with you; but everything is becoming to, and must be borne with from, the fair." [Illustration: ARMANDE BÉJART From an etching by J. HANRIOT, after a contemporary drawing in the collection of M. HENRY HOUSSAYE, of the Académie Française]