2," Theroulde went on, "at Nantes, where she
created fourteen roles in six weeks. And folks imagine actresses
have nothing to do! A fine thing, the stage! But the mischief is,
there's not a single architect capable of building a playhouse
with any sense. As to scenery, it is simply puerile, even at the
Opera--so childish it might make a South Sea Islander blush.
I have thought out a system of rollers in the flies so as to
get rid of those long top-cloths that represent the sky without
a pretence at deceiving anyone. I have likewise invented an
arrangement of lamps and reflectors so placed as to light the
characters on the stage from above downwards, as the sun does,
which is the rational way, and not from below upwards, as the
footlights do, which is absurd."

"Of course it is," agreed Servien. "But you were speaking of
Gabrielle T----'s mother."

"She was a fine woman," replied the architect; "tall, dark, with
a little moustache that became her to perfection.... You see the
effect of my roller contrivance--a vast sky shedding an equal
illumination over the actors and giving every object its natural
shadows. _La Muette_ is being played, we will say; the famous
_cavatina_, the slumber-song, is heard beneath a transparent
sky, vaulted like the real thing and giving the impression of
boundless space. The effect of the music is doubled! Fenella
wakes, crosses the boards with cadenced tread; her shadow, which
follows her on the floor, is cadenced like her steps; it is nature
and art both together. That is my invention! As for putting it
in execution, why, the means are childishly simple."

Thereupon he entered upon endless explanations, using technical
terms and illustrating his meaning with everything he could lay
hands on--glasses, saucers, matches. His frayed sleeves, as they
swept to and fro, wiped the marble top of the table and set the
glasses rattling. Disturbed by the noise, the Marquis Tudesco,
who was asleep, half opened his eyes mechanically.

Servien kept nodding his approval and repeating that he quite
understood, to stop the old man's babble. Then he advised the
architect to try and put his invention in practice; but he only
shrugged his shoulders--it was years since he had left off trying
anything. After all, what did it matter to him whether his system
was applied or no? He was an inventor!

Recalled for the third time by his young listener to Gabrielle
T----'s mother:

"She never had any great succ