profession either. This exasperated
Gautier, who would not admit of there being anything else in the world
but literature.

"At three o'clock," he continued, "Madame Sand went away to write until
six. We then dined, but we had to dine quickly, so that Marie Caillot
would have time to dine. Marie Caillot is the servant, a sort of little
Fadette whom Madame Sand had discovered in the neighbourhood for playing
her pieces. This Marie Caillot used to come into the drawing-room in the
evening. After dinner Madame Sand would play patience, without uttering
a word, until midnight. . . . At midnight she began to write again until
four o'clock. . . . You know what happened once. Something monstrous.
She finished a novel at one o'clock in the morning, and began another
during the night. . . . To make copy is a function with Madame Sand."

The marionette theatre was one of the Nohant amusements. One of the joys
of the family, and also one of the delights of _dilettanti_,(51) was the
painting of the scenery, the manufacturing of costumes, the working out
of scenarios, dressing dolls and making them talk.

(51) "The individual named George Sand is very well. He is
enjoying the wonderful winter which reigns in Berry; he
gathers flowers, points out any interesting botanical
anomalies, sews dresses and mantles for his daughter-in-law,
and costumes for the marionettes, cuts out stage scenery,
dresses dolls and reads music. . .."--_Correspondance:_ To
Flaubert, January 17, 1869.

In one of her novels, published in 1857, George Sand introduces to us
a certain Christian Waldo, who has a marionette show. He explains
the attraction of this kind of theatre and the fascination of these
_burattini_, which were living beings to him. Those among us who, some
fifteen years ago, were infatuated by a similar show, are not surprised
at Waldo's words. The marionettes to which we refer were to be seen in
the Passage Vivienne. Sacred plays in verse were given, and the managers
were Monsieur Richepin and Monsieur Bouchor. For such plays we preferred
actors made of wood to actors of flesh and blood, as there is always a
certain desecration otherwise in acting such pieces.

George Sand rarely left Nohant now except for her little flat in Paris.
In the spring of 1855, she went to Rome for a short time, but did not
enjoy this visit much. She sums up her impressions in the following
words: "Rome is a regular see-saw."