looked like a magician in some theatrical costume, I wouldn’t be in this room with him tonight. But, no, he looked like a gentleman and when he came down to the footlights early in the performance and pointed to me, asking if I had a scarf he could borrow, I remember I took my silk scarf from my neck as if I were under his spell and went up on stage, half blinded by the flickering footlights, to stand by his side, looking out into the darkness. And this strange man, the magician, took my scarf, pressed it into a ball, let it shake out, turned it in every direction to show there was nothing concealed in it, then, holding it at its apex, shook it out again and to everyone’s astonishment a long feather plume fell on to the floor. He turned the scarf around to show its other side and at once a second plume fell out, then a third and a fourth and suddenly at a drum roll from the orchestra pit a rain of plumes fell from it, covering the stage at my feet. I remember that he turned away from me and went downstage, showing my scarf from every side to prove it concealed nothing. Then he tied a knot at each of its four corners and suddenly, waving his hand over the knotted scarf, shook it out, the knots untying to reveal a bouquet of real flowers which he presented to me amid the sound of applause. And then the moment I will not forget. As he handed me down from the stage he leaned towards me and said in a quiet voice, ‘Mademoiselle, something special has happened to me tonight. I must see you again.’ And as if by magic a notepad and pencil appeared in his hands. ‘Do me the honour of writing down your address. I will send a messenger tomorrow. This is important for both of us.’
All of this while the audience still applauded and I, like someone under a spell, wrote down my address. And then he went back up on stage and for the rest of the evening’s performance, in every marvellous magical thing he did, he made me aware that he was performing for me, and me alone. Of course I didn’t tell anyone what I’d done. Papa would have been furious if he’d known that I’d given my address to a total stranger. But I remember I was excited and when I came home next day after teaching my class at Sainte Sulpice there was that envelope waiting, delivered by messenger, together with a bouquet of roses. Would it be possible for us to meet that night after his performance? Would it be possible for us to have supper together? And what was it that made me say yes? It was the last two sentences in the invitation. ‘Believe me, dear Mademoiselle, this is the first time in my life that I have asked such a favour of any member of my audience. For you, and I know it in my heart and in my intuition, are the woman I am destined to join in life.’
Looking back now, I believe that on some occasions he does have a sort of magical power, or at least a summoning of his will so strong that he can make people do things they would never dream of doing. And certainly I, my parents’ obedient daughter, would not have gone in secret to meet him in the Hôtel Impérial where, over champagne and supper, he told me he would come back from Paris very soon to speak to my parents, because he knew, from the moment he looked out into the audience and found me, that this was the most important meeting of his life. ‘Dear Mademoiselle, I am not like other men, I have the gift of foreseeing my future and I know, from this evening on, that my most important aim in life must be to win your affection.’
I was twenty-two years old, I was bored with Rouen, I didn’t fall in love with him, but I was flattered, I was excited, he offered to take me to Paris, London, St Petersburg, the Riviera, all of those places were like home to him, and he did come back to Rouen three days later to speak to my parents and ask permission to go on seeing me, and yes, he didn’t allow Papa’s contempt to wound him, he knew instinctively that if he pleased me , he had won the
All of this while the audience still applauded and I, like someone under a spell, wrote down my address. And then he went back up on stage and for the rest of the evening’s performance, in every marvellous magical thing he did, he made me aware that he was performing for me, and me alone. Of course I didn’t tell anyone what I’d done. Papa would have been furious if he’d known that I’d given my address to a total stranger. But I remember I was excited and when I came home next day after teaching my class at Sainte Sulpice there was that envelope waiting, delivered by messenger, together with a bouquet of roses. Would it be possible for us to meet that night after his performance? Would it be possible for us to have supper together? And what was it that made me say yes? It was the last two sentences in the invitation. ‘Believe me, dear Mademoiselle, this is the first time in my life that I have asked such a favour of any member of my audience. For you, and I know it in my heart and in my intuition, are the woman I am destined to join in life.’
Looking back now, I believe that on some occasions he does have a sort of magical power, or at least a summoning of his will so strong that he can make people do things they would never dream of doing. And certainly I, my parents’ obedient daughter, would not have gone in secret to meet him in the Hôtel Impérial where, over champagne and supper, he told me he would come back from Paris very soon to speak to my parents, because he knew, from the moment he looked out into the audience and found me, that this was the most important meeting of his life. ‘Dear Mademoiselle, I am not like other men, I have the gift of foreseeing my future and I know, from this evening on, that my most important aim in life must be to win your affection.’
I was twenty-two years old, I was bored with Rouen, I didn’t fall in love with him, but I was flattered, I was excited, he offered to take me to Paris, London, St Petersburg, the Riviera, all of those places were like home to him, and he did come back to Rouen three days later to speak to my parents and ask permission to go on seeing me, and yes, he didn’t allow Papa’s contempt to wound him, he knew instinctively that if he pleased me , he had won the
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