Had it not been for my constant toil and the inconveniences attached to it, I should have been quite happy and satisfied with the daily profit my performances brought me in. But one fine day the demon of seduction presented himself before me in the obsequious form of a theatrical agent.
"Monsieur Robert-Houdin," he said, with a smile on his lips, as if we were old friends, "I am commissioned by M. X----, manager of the royal theatres of Brussels, to offer you an engagement for the summer season."
My first answer was a refusal, which I based on excellent reasons. As I was very successful, it would not be prudent to break the vein, while I saw no occasion to go a long distance in search of advantages I could secure at home. This reasoning would have settled any one but a theatrical agent; but nothing, it is well known, can shake off the grip of these skillful crimps.
"Permit me, Monsieur Robert-Houdin, not to be quite of your opinion. I allow, of course, that with your talents you are always secure of good receipts, but you should bear in mind that the dog-days are approaching, and your room is stifling in summer. This consideration might induce the Parisian public to defer till autumn the pleasure of witnessing your performances, while, by going to Brussels, where the theatres are large and airy, you would have no reason to fear such a result. Come," the plenipotentiary continued, in a most candid tone, "I must tell you, without wishing to flatter you the least in the world, that everybody is talking about you in Belgium; I may add, even, that the manager has been urged to make you offers by a great number of his subscribers."
This flattering insinuation began to shake my decision, and I offered in my defence reasons whose weakness only attested to my indecision. My clever touter noticed this, and thinking the moment arrived to strike his great blow, said:
"Do you know, sir, the probable proceeds of my offer?"
"I must decline; for I understand nothing of such calculations."
"Well, then, I understand them, and am rarely mistaken," said the agent, stroking his chin, "and I tell you it is an affair to you" (here my seducer stopped, as if to make a most accurate calculation)--"an affair of one hundred thousand francs."