together with three long canes. Lambert, facing the audience, with the little boy at his side, took from his pocket a small flask.
‘Your Majesties, ladies and gentlemen, I have discovered in ether a new and marvellous property. When this substance is at its highest degree of concentration, if one allows a human being to breathe it in, his body will become as light as a balloon.’
All of this he spoke in what Emmeline thought of as his professorial voice, a diction he had carefully studied to make him sound like a scientist, not a performer. He now made the little boy climb on to the middle footstool and extend his arms. He placed a long cane under each of the boy’s arms to hold them in a cruciform position, then uncorked his flask and held it under the child’s nose. A smell of ether pervaded the theatre. The child at once fell asleep under the anaesthetic. Lambert, bending down, slid the footstool from under the child’s feet, leaving the child apparently suspended in mid-air, his only support the long canes which held up his arms in the cruciform position. The audience watched in a mixture of fascination and unease as Lambert removed, first, one of the long canes from under the child’s right arm, his only support the long cane under his left elbow. Lambert then placed his index finger under the child’s waist, and tilted the body sideways, raising the child to a horizontal position, leaving him apparently weightless, his only link to earth the slender cane under his elbow which rested on the small footstool, which, in turn, rested on the low wooden bench. Lambert bowed to the Imperial Loge. Applause and cries of ‘Bravo!’ filled the theatre as Lambert, turning to the child, again with his index figure, moved the weightless body back to a vertical position. Touching the child’s face with his hand, he wakened him, catching him as he began to tumble, then placing him securely on the stage. He took the child’s hand and again bowed to the Imperial Loge.
The curtain fell.
That evening, the music in the salle des fêtes was a new marvel, a mechanical piano, its handle turned dutifully by one of the chamberlains. But few people were dancing. All around her Emmeline heard talk of her husband’s mysterious and magical performance.
‘Lambert? This is the first time I’ve seen him perform, but of course he’s famous.’
‘I remember a few years ago he had his own theatre in Paris. At that time his “magical” evenings were all the rage.’
‘ I thought he’d retired.’
‘Hortense, do you remember, we saw a performance while I was stationed in Madrid. It was at the court. The King was present.’
‘Yes, of course. I know it gave me a peculiar feeling, almost as if I were witnessing something supernatural. And I had the same thought tonight.’
‘No, it’s just trickery. But damnably clever.’
‘Well, I must say he’s a cut above any magician I’ve ever seen. The levitation of that child was uncanny.’
These and similar comments came to her as she moved through the groups of guests, searching for Henri and Colonel Deniau. But her husband was nowhere in sight and it was only after twice wandering up and down the entire length of the great room that she saw Colonel Deniau who at once broke off a conversation with an elderly lady and hurried to join her.
‘Ah, Madame! Emmeline! I have been looking for you everywhere. In a few minutes we’ll be going into the petit salon . Your husband is surrounded by admirers but I’ll prise him away in time. If you will just stay here, I’ll bring him to you and then we can all go in together.’
Alone again in this crowd of strangers, Emmeline looked nervously at the entrance to the petit salon where at ten o’clock each evening the Emperor and Empress withdrew for a private hour of conversation with certain privileged guests. It was now ten-thirty. Turning to the mirrored walls she hastily inspected her hair. I will be presented to
‘Your Majesties, ladies and gentlemen, I have discovered in ether a new and marvellous property. When this substance is at its highest degree of concentration, if one allows a human being to breathe it in, his body will become as light as a balloon.’
All of this he spoke in what Emmeline thought of as his professorial voice, a diction he had carefully studied to make him sound like a scientist, not a performer. He now made the little boy climb on to the middle footstool and extend his arms. He placed a long cane under each of the boy’s arms to hold them in a cruciform position, then uncorked his flask and held it under the child’s nose. A smell of ether pervaded the theatre. The child at once fell asleep under the anaesthetic. Lambert, bending down, slid the footstool from under the child’s feet, leaving the child apparently suspended in mid-air, his only support the long canes which held up his arms in the cruciform position. The audience watched in a mixture of fascination and unease as Lambert removed, first, one of the long canes from under the child’s right arm, his only support the long cane under his left elbow. Lambert then placed his index finger under the child’s waist, and tilted the body sideways, raising the child to a horizontal position, leaving him apparently weightless, his only link to earth the slender cane under his elbow which rested on the small footstool, which, in turn, rested on the low wooden bench. Lambert bowed to the Imperial Loge. Applause and cries of ‘Bravo!’ filled the theatre as Lambert, turning to the child, again with his index figure, moved the weightless body back to a vertical position. Touching the child’s face with his hand, he wakened him, catching him as he began to tumble, then placing him securely on the stage. He took the child’s hand and again bowed to the Imperial Loge.
The curtain fell.
That evening, the music in the salle des fêtes was a new marvel, a mechanical piano, its handle turned dutifully by one of the chamberlains. But few people were dancing. All around her Emmeline heard talk of her husband’s mysterious and magical performance.
‘Lambert? This is the first time I’ve seen him perform, but of course he’s famous.’
‘I remember a few years ago he had his own theatre in Paris. At that time his “magical” evenings were all the rage.’
‘ I thought he’d retired.’
‘Hortense, do you remember, we saw a performance while I was stationed in Madrid. It was at the court. The King was present.’
‘Yes, of course. I know it gave me a peculiar feeling, almost as if I were witnessing something supernatural. And I had the same thought tonight.’
‘No, it’s just trickery. But damnably clever.’
‘Well, I must say he’s a cut above any magician I’ve ever seen. The levitation of that child was uncanny.’
These and similar comments came to her as she moved through the groups of guests, searching for Henri and Colonel Deniau. But her husband was nowhere in sight and it was only after twice wandering up and down the entire length of the great room that she saw Colonel Deniau who at once broke off a conversation with an elderly lady and hurried to join her.
‘Ah, Madame! Emmeline! I have been looking for you everywhere. In a few minutes we’ll be going into the petit salon . Your husband is surrounded by admirers but I’ll prise him away in time. If you will just stay here, I’ll bring him to you and then we can all go in together.’
Alone again in this crowd of strangers, Emmeline looked nervously at the entrance to the petit salon where at ten o’clock each evening the Emperor and Empress withdrew for a private hour of conversation with certain privileged guests. It was now ten-thirty. Turning to the mirrored walls she hastily inspected her hair. I will be presented to
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