Prologue: "The night smiles..." [Act One]

If you cheated a little it would come out

Solitaire is the only thing in life that demands absolute honesty
As a woman who has numbered kings among her lovers
I think that my word can be taken on that point
What was I talking about?

It sounds very unlikely to me
But you said I should watch for the night to smile

Everything is unlikely, dear
So don't let that deter you

But how does it smile?

Good Heavens!
What sort of a nanny did you have?

None, really
Except mother
And the other actresses in the company
And the stage manager!

Stage managers are not nannies, dear
They don't have the talent

But why does it smile, grandmother?

At the follies of human beings, of course
The first smile smiles at the young
Who know nothing
The second to the fools
Who know too little
Like Desiree

Mother isn't a fool

Mm-hmm
And the third at the old who know too much
Like me
Frid, time for my nap

Grandmother, might it really smile tonight?

Why not?
Now, practice your piano, dear
Preferably with the soft pedal down
And as a treat tonight at dinner
I shall tell you amusing stories
About my liaison with the Baron de Signac
Who was, to put it mildly, peculiar