Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Tuesday, 31 July 1877

They continue to irritate me, but at least the discussions are taking a tragi-comic turn.
We spent a pleasant evening at the Français. They were giving George Sand's Le Marquis de Villemer.
Have you read or seen it?
What do you think of the duke? I should be sorry if you thought him poorly drawn — because he is Alexandre to the life. Alexandre sixteen years older, and consequently perhaps a little less sympathetic. If you have not seen Le Marquis de Villemer, go and see it, and see it again if it has been long since you did; and above all attend carefully to the duke — he is in any case the most sympathetic role. Delaunay played as though he were not acting.
On returning home we find Georges in the dining room in the act of getting tipsy in the company of Miss Hall. Rosalie had already told me of this young person's exploits in the manner of Noah, and this time I caught a glimpse (having retreated to my room), while the others saw, and attended, this gentle evening's entertainment.

Notes

The Français: the Comédie-Française, France's national theatre, founded in 1680. ↩
Louis-Arsène Delaunay (1826–1903): celebrated actor of the Comédie-Française, renowned for his elegant, natural style in romantic roles. ↩
An allusion to Genesis 9:21: Noah, having planted a vineyard, "drank of the wine and was drunken." ↩