[202] It seems to have been as a kind of return for the homage paid her at Ferney, that, towards the end of 1772, Mlle. Clairon organised, at her house in Paris, the apotheosis of Voltaire, "in which she displayed all the riches of her imagination." "The bust of Voltaire," says Bachaumont, "was placed pompously in the midst of the assembly, when M. Marmontel, the _coryphée_ of the house, presented an ode, composed by himself, in honour of the new god of Pindar. Mlle. Clairon, habited as a priestess of Apollo, placed a crown of laurel on the bust, and recited the ode with the most vehement enthusiasm. The assembly applauded loudly." This piece of adulation, grotesque though it was, seems to have been far from displeasing to the Patriarch, who returned thanks in a letter in verse, wherein he assured the lady that "his glory was entirely her work."--Gueullette, _Acteurs et Actrices du Temps passé_, p. 316. [203] Mlle. Clairon had demanded a pension of 1500 livres, though thirty years' service was required to entitle her to this. It is probable, however, that her request would have been granted, but for the opposition of Lekain, who had not forgiven her for her treatment of him in years gone by. [204] The takings, at a louis a head, amounted to 24,000 livres, which sum, if we are to believe Bachaumont, was spent by Molé, not in paying his debts, but in buying diamonds for his mistress. [205] _Correspondance littéraire_, vi. 75. [206] Letter of Madame Riccoboni to Garrick, January 29, 1767. [207] "During this time, Mlle. Clairon was living at the Margrave's expense, with four French servants in livery, Madame Senay, her _femme-de-chambre_, and a lackey, besides a French cook. The Margrave supplied her with the best wines from his cellar. Her expenses were enormous, and all paid from the Chamber of Finances of Anspach. These facts I had from the Maréchaux of the Court."--"Memoirs of Elizabeth Berkeley, Margravine of Anspach," i. 210. [208] Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, March 7, 1785. [209] Edmond de Goncourt, _Mademoiselle Clairon_, p. 385. [210] _Souvenirs de Madame Vigée Lebrun_, i. 83. [211] Its effect was less terrifying upon "an amorous and jealous _intendant_," who mistook the ghostly visitant's cry for that of a lover in the flesh, and had the bad taste to remark to Mlle. Clairon that "the signals of her rendezvous were somewhat too noisy." And this after the poor lady had just recovered from a swoon lasting nearly a quarter of an hour! [212] _Mémoires de Mademoiselle Clairon_ (edit. 1799), p. 1 _et seq._ [213] Edmond de Goncourt, _Mademoiselle Clairon_, p. 466. [214] Gueullette, _Acteurs et Actrices du Temps passé_, p. 320. [215] Marie Pauline Ménard. Mlle. Clairon had adopted her when a little girl and provided her _dot_, which led to a widespread belief that she was her natural daughter. This, however, was not the case. [216] Gueullette, _Acteurs et Actrices du Temps passé_, p. 321.