They jumped; they clapped their little hands: 'We shall see Mamma act! We shall see Mamma act!' Oh, it was a to-do!" Mignon smiled complaisantly, his eyes moist with paternal tenderness.
"And at the play itself," he continued, "they were so funny! They behaved as seriously as grown men, devoured Rose with their eyes and asked me why Mamma had her legs bare like that." The whole table began laughing, and Mignon looked radiant, for his pride as a father was flattered.

He adored his children and had but one object in life, which was to increase their fortunes by administering the money gained by Rose at the theater and elsewhere with the businesslike severity of a faithful steward.

When as first fiddle in the music hall where she used to sing he had married her, they had been passionately fond of one another.

Now they were good friends.

There was an understanding between them: she labored hard to the full extent of her talent and of her beauty; he had given up his violin in order the better to watch over her successes as an actress and as a woman.