A small stage had been put up at the end of Mme. Mauperin's
drawing-room, and a leafy screen, made of branches of pine and flowering
shrubs, hid the footlights from view. Renée, with the help of her
drawing-master, had painted the drop-scene, which looked something like
the banks of the Seine. On each side of the stage was a hand-painted
poster which read as follows: