When I get well and finish out this contract I shall
have to try and get another engagement in Paris or Vienna. The English
Consul and all the other men wait to see me come out, and throw me
flowers and rings, but when they see me driving with you in the Paseo de
Gracia, they look the other way, especially if they are with their wives
and families. They like 'ARITHELLI OF THE HIPPODROME' in her proper
place,--the ring. Gas and glare, paint and glitter! That is my life.
And they always hope that I shall fall off. I can feel it. It's the
Roman arena all over again. For a long time before I had that accident I
didn't know how to get through the rehearsals. I nearly fell off two or
three times, but there was no one there to see. The more I practised the
more cold I got, and I used to have horrible shivering fits. It's so
queer. I don't believe I'm made like other people. Estelle gets hot and
scarlet when she practises."
"Poor little child!"
"Why are you so nice to me? You've never said anything like that before."
"Because if when you first came here I had begun to pity you it would
have made you realise your position sooner than need be.
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