All the gentlemen in Poitiers, young and old, were wild to penetrate
into this temple, or rather sacristy, of Thalia, where the priestesses
of that widely worshipped muse adorned themselves to celebrate her
mysterious rites, and a great number of them had succeeded in gaining
admittance. They crowded round the actresses, offering advice as to the
placing of a flower or a jewel, handing the powder-box or the rouge-pot,
presenting the little hand-mirror, taking upon themselves all such small
offices with the greatest "empressement," and vying with each other in
their gallant attendance upon the fair objects of their admiration; the
younger and more timid among them holding a little aloof and sitting on
the large chests scattered about, swinging their feet and twisting their
mustaches, while they watched the proceedings of their bolder companions
with envious eyes. Each actress had her own circle of admiring cavaliers
about her, paying her high-flown compliments in the exaggerated language
of the day, and doing their best to make themselves agreeable in every
way they could think of. Zerbine laughed at them all, and made fun of
them unmercifully, turning everything they said into ridicule; yet so
coquettishly that they thought her bewitching, in spite of her sharp
tongue, which was like a two-edged sword.
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