"But the rest," I still insisted--"the rest, what has become of it?"
"Well, sir," my manager replied, in a lamentable tone, "the cashier states that the greater part of the audience received free admissions."
Irritated by such an explanation, I hurried to the office, and opened and closed the door violently. The employé turned towards me, and without being affected by my abruptness, he bowed to me politely (another instance of Belgian courtesy).
"How is it," I said, without replying to his bow, "that so many free admissions were given without my sanction?"
"They were given, sir, by the manager's orders," the man replied, with a calmness that made me believe he was used to such scenes, "and you must be aware," he added, in a conciliatory tone, "that there are numerous claims on the first night of a new performance at a royal theatre. Thus we have, for instance, the authorities, the city architect, the manager of the gas company, the newspaper writers, the manager's relations and friends, the police inspector, who has a right to a box; and all these gentlemen, as you may suppose, bring their families with them. We have, again----"
"Oh, sir," I replied, ironically, "for goodness' sake, stop, for if you go on at that rate I shall begin to fear you had not a seat left for the paying public. To-morrow, I presume, I shall have to hand you back the modest sum you have just sent me. However, I shall certainly insist on an explanation with the manager."
The next day I proceeded to call on M. X----, with the firm intention of evincing to him my dissatisfaction; but he was so ready with his explanations that I could not be angry, and we ended by agreeing that, henceforth, all free admissions should have my signature, and that they should not be dispensed quite so liberally.
This measure, perhaps, checked some new abuses, but was not enough to suppress them all, for though the theatre grew more and more crowded, my strong-box did not follow the same progression.
Far from netting the fabulous sum which had so dazzled me, I only brought back from my trip to Brussels an illusion dispelled and experience, while, as my cashier had predicted, my expenses rather more than balanced my receipts.