pedigrees were a ticklish thing to inquire into.

I have unwittingly drifted away from M. de Saint-Georges, who, to say
the least, was a curious figure in artistic and literary Paris during
the reigns of Louis-Philippe and his successor. He was quite as fertile
as Scribe, and many of his plots are as ingeniously conceived and worked
out as the latter's, but he suffered both in reputation and purse from
the restless activity and pushing character of the librettist of "Robert
le Diable." Like those of Rivarol,[13] M. Saint-Georges' claims to be of
noble descent were somewhat contested, albeit that, unlike the
eighteenth-century pamphleteer, he never obtruded them; but there could
be no doubt about his being a gentleman. He was utterly different in
every respect from his rival. Scribe was not only eaten up with vanity,
but grasping to a degree; he had dramatic instinct, but not the least
vestige of literary refinement. M. de Saint-Georges, on the contrary,
was exceedingly modest, very indifferent to money matters, charitable
and obliging in a quiet way, and though perhaps not inferior in
stagecraft, very elegant in his diction. When he liked, he could write
verses and dialogue which often reminded one of Moliere. It was not the
only trait he had in common with the great playwright. Moliere is said
to have consulted his housekeeper, Laforet, with regard to his
productions; M. de Saint-Georges was known to do the same--with this
difference, however, that he did not always attend to Marguerite's
suggestions, in which case Marguerite grew wroth, especially if the
piece turned out to be a success, in spite of her predictions of
failure. On such occasions the popular approval scarcely compensated M.
de Saint-Georges for his discomforts at home; for though Marguerite was
an admirable manager at all times--when she liked, though there was no
bachelor more carefully looked after than the author of "La Fille du
Regiment," he had now and then to bear the brunt of Marguerite's temper
when the public's verdict did not agree with hers.

[Footnote 13: One of the great wits of the
Revolution.--EDITOR.]

If under such circumstances M. de Saint-Georges ventured to give a
dinner, the viands were sure to be cold, the Bordeaux iced, and the
champagne lukewarm. M. de Saint-Georges, who, notwithstanding his
courtly manners, was candour itself, never failed to state the reasons
of his discomfiture as a host to his guests. "Que