In the Shadows of Paris (The Predator Of Batignolles) Read Online Free PDF

alias muggins here, with a bit more panache. Wiggle the bits that matter, front and back! Then turn to the audience and say:
‘Although he’s good and kind and brave
Our sovereign’s nonetheless a knave.
    ‘I’m not asking for the moon! Stop snivelling…what’s your name again?’
    ‘Andréa.’
    ‘That’s a pretty name. Now, blow your nose, Andréa. We’ll win them over. Break for fifteen minutes.’
    Edmond Leglantier, actor and director of Heart Pierced by an Arrow, a historical play in four acts, leapt down off the stage and went to join the actors playing Maria de Medici and Ravaillac sitting in the third row.
    ‘So, what do you think, children? Will the audience be impressed?’
    ‘The claque will applaud rapturously every time the actors come on, and I’m certain the play will be a success,’ Ravaillac assured him.
    ‘Let’s hope the gods can hear you…What rotten luck! How were we to know that two other plays about the same subject would be put on this summer? They’re already advertising The Flower Seller of The Innocents 8 at the Châtelet and The Doll’s House 9 at Porte-Saint-Martin! And you’re in the starring role!’
    ‘Me?’
    ‘Not you, you fool – Ravaillac! Including our one, that makes three. And there I was hoping to pull out all the stops for the reopening of Théâtre de l’Échiquier.’
    Edmond Leglantier cast a dispirited eye over the Italianate auditorium whose refurbishment had plunged him up to his eyes in debt. He was staking everything on this production. If it was a flop, his creditors would be baying for his blood…Unless of course the swindle he was planning at the club paid off.
    The stage manager stuck his head over the balcony.
    ‘Pssst! Monsieur Leglantier! Philibert Dumont is looking for you everywhere. I told him you were at home.’
    ‘What a nuisance the man is! I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled. Thanks anyway.’
    ‘Who is Dumont?’ asked Maria de Medici.
    ‘The author of the play and a terrible bore. On that note, I’m going to have a quick smoke and then we’ll rehearse Act III. Sharpen your sword, Ravaillac!’
    As soon as Henry IV had left the auditorium, Andréa asked her two fellow actors, ‘What’s got into him? I’m not used to being spoken to like that!’
    ‘Well, you’d better get used to it. Monsieur Leglantier’s very tense these days,’ said Ravaillac. ‘He’s sunk every last penny into this theatre. It’s his pride and joy.’
    ‘But the theatre hasn’t even opened yet. Where does he get his money?’
    ‘A rich uncle or some shady business deals? How should I know? Apparently he’s sold a painting.’
    ‘I know where he gets it,’ said the buxom Maria de Medici. ‘At the gaming table. He goes at it with the same passion as good King Henry when he was seducing young maidens. Edmond personifies the two masks of classical theatre, laughing one minute, crying the next. If he’s splitting his sides, it means he’s winning at baccarat; if he’s grimacing, he’s been cleaned out the night before. Fortunately he laughs more often than he cries!’
    Ravaillac was surprised.
    ‘I don’t know where he finds the time. He spends hours at the theatre ordering the wardrobe mistresses about, spying on the stagehands, pestering the actors and explaining Hamlet, Le Cid or Andromaque to the extras who couldn’t give a fig!’
    ‘Oh, he finds the time all right, don’t you worry! He’s as strong as an ox, despite being fifty. It’s common knowledge that he has several mistresses. The official one is Adélaïde Paillet. She gets two nights a week and, when he’s fulfilled his obligations there, his passion for cards takes him to the club on the Boulevard. He goes on gambling, promising himself he’ll stop as soon as he makes a big win. He’s been on a winning streak the past few nights, which means his purse is full and we’ll get paid.’
    ‘Does he never stop?’ asked Andréa.
    ‘He goes to bed at dawn and gets up at