=137=, 18. =la récompense promise.= See Act I, Scene I, also Act I, Scene V.
=141=, 23. =Je répétais=: ‘I was rehearsing.’
=142=, 6. =Gardez-vous en bien!= ‘No, don’t refuse to speak!’
10. =je n’en puis venir à bout=: ‘I cannot say it right.’
20. =Oui-dà!= ‘Oh, of course!’ (ironical).
=145=, 7. =cela n’est pas.= ‘that is not true.’
26. =lui a demandé raison=: ‘has demanded satisfaction.’
=147=, 2. =Et la princesse donc=: ‘And the princess still more.’
23. =si elle ne figure pas aussi bien=: ‘if she does not appear as well.’
=148=, 11. =pour peu que je sois ressemblante=: ‘provided I resemble you, even a little.’
=150=, 6. =se trouve mal=: ‘has fainted.’
=151=, 9. =Permettez, je réclame=: ‘Allow me to protest.’
=153=, 7. =vous n’êtes jamais au fait des choses=: ‘you are never informed about things.’
16. =Mais, j’y songe=: ‘But now that I think of it.’
=154=, 2. =cette maîtresse en titre=: ‘his acknowledged ladylove.’
24. =pour nous mettre à même de prononcer=: ‘to enable us to decide.’
19. =Mille et une nuits=: ‘Arabian Nights.’
=157=, 4. =est décidément des nôtres=: ‘is really our guest.’
=158=, 4. =Le Songe de Pauline.= Pauline is the heroine of the tragedy of _Polyeucte_ by Corneille.
6. =Hermione=: daughter of Helen, in _Andromaque_ (1667) by Racine.
8. =Camille=: heroine in the tragedy of _Horace_ (1640) by Corneille.
10. =Ariane abandonnée=: a reference to the mythological story of Ariane, daughter of Minos. She gave to Theseus the thread by means of which he was able to find his way out of the Labyrinth, after having slain the Minotaur. She was abandoned by him in the island of Naxos and cast herself from a rock into the sea.
10. =Ariane=: the best tragedy (1672) by Thomas Corneille.
=159=, 1. “=Juste ciel!=” etc. These words are spoken, in the play of Racine, by Phèdre, as her conscience accuses her of her passion toward Hippolytus, her stepson, and she fears the wrath of his father, Theseus, king of Athens. The expression, “une honteuse paix” is “une tranquille paix” in Racine, having been intentionally strengthened by Scribe. _Phèdre_, Act III, Scene III.
In reality this scene occurred, not in the hôtel de Bouillon, but at a public presentation of _Phèdre_ at the Comédie-Française, probably on the tenth of November, 1729. The love of Mlle Lecouvreur and Maurice de Saxe was then at an end and he had abandoned the actress for the duchesse de Bouillon. The attempted poisoning of Mlle Lecouvreur by the duchess had occurred the preceding summer. It was while playing the title rôle in _Phèdre_ that Mlle Lecouvreur directed these scathing words to the duchess, as the latter was seated in her box. The audience is said to have fully understood the bearing of the denunciation and to have frantically applauded.