"Alas! kind princess, neither would please the king. The king is unwilling that his actors should be offended, because applause and hisses follow close together. My _ennui_ has on that account no remedy, in spite of your generous friendship. United to this languor is regret at having preferred a life so false and void of emotion, to one of love and devotion. Especially, since the adventure with Cagliostro, a black melancholy took possession of my breast. No night passes that I do not dream of Albert, and fancy him offended or irritated with me, busied, or speaking an incomprehensible language--a prey to ideas altogether foreign to our love--as when I saw him in the magic scene. I awake, covered with cold perspiration, and weep when I think that in the new life into which death has ushered him, his moody and disconsolate heart cares neither for my grief, nor for my disdain. At all events, I killed him, and it is in the power of no man, even one who had made an agreement with the powers of light and darkness, to restore him to me. I can, therefore, repair nothing in the useless and solitary life I lead, and I have no other wish but to die."
"Have you then formed no new friendships?" said the Princess Amelia. "Among so many people of mind and talent, whom my brother boasts of having attracted to him from every corner of the world, is there no one worthy of esteem?"
"Certainly, madame, there are many, and were I not inclined to retirement, I would find many kind friends. Mademoiselle Cochois, for instance----"
"You are discreet--you are right. She is an admirable person."
"Extremely so; and very kind, though vain of the care and attentions of the marquis, and rather inclined to look down on other artists."
"She would feel much humiliated if she knew whom you are. The name of Rudolstadt is one of the noblest of Saxony, while the D'Argens are but country gentlemen of Provence or Languedoc. What kind of person is Madame Coccei? Do you know her?"
"As Signora Barberini has not danced at the opera since her marriage, and passes the greater portion of her time in the country, I have rarely seen her. Of all the actresses, she is the one I like the most, and have been often invited by her and her husband to visit them on their estate. The king gave me to understand, however, that this would greatly displease him, and I was forced to give it up, though it deprived me of much pleasure. I do not know why he acted thus."