He took his place at her side and they continued up the boulevard, Andree silent and apparently preoccupied; Monsieur Robert laughing, gay, exerting all his great charm and displaying his high abilities in droll humor. Occasionally Andree looked up at him a moment and smiled, but for the most part she was serious and gave what answers were required of her in monosyllables. They found a table on the sidewalk of the café and gave their orders. “Mademoiselle desires to enter the _Académie_?” said he. “Yes.” “It is not easy to gain admission, which is correct. It is not every one who is fit.... There are the examinations, which are difficult.” “I have not fear of the examinations, for I have studied very much. It is that—” She hesitated. “That you have not an influential friend to make the recommendation. Is that it?” “Yes.” He laughed easily. “Why do you wish to become an actress?” “Because I must do something—I must find a career, because it is necessary to eat. The stage is very well. I think I can do it; I have always felt I was for the stage.” “That is very well. One must feel so.... You have the beauty that appeals, yes. You have the youth. You have the intelligence, that is clear. Now, if only you have the talent, the genius—” “One does not know.” “Until one makes the attempt, it is true.... But I have a feeling it is there, mademoiselle. Something tells me so. I am sure of it.” “You are very amiable.” “No.... No.... It is but the truth.... But there is much hard work. In the _Académie_ one must work until one is ready to drop with fatigue.” “It is nothing—if one succeeds.” “True.... And the success is very good. Ah, mademoiselle, I can see the success of you. Behold!... To-day you are not rich, is it not so? You have no fame. But the future—what possibilities are there!... You succeed in entering the _Académie_. That is possible. You work, you study, you learn.... The teachers see that you have beauty, and they search for the talent.... That is their way, and when they see it to be present they make you work the harder and bestow upon you the extra pains. Oh yes.... I can see it. Then, with good fortune, you take the first prize of all the women, and that makes a place for you on the stage of the Comédie Française. You shall be a _comédienne_—that is for you.... And then—one day will come the great success....” He stopped suddenly and regarded her.