Nilsson was going to play a water scene, he wanted Madame Carvalho to go to the bottom of a pool to find the fatal bell.
Foolishness of this kind took up two years.
Finally, we gave up the idea of Mme.

Carvalho's cooeperation.

The part of Helene was given to beautiful Mlle.

Schroeder and the rehearsals began.
They were interrupted by the failure of the Theatre-Lyrique.
Shortly afterwards Perrin asked for _Le Timbre d'Argent_ for the Opera.
The adaptation of the work for the large stage at the Opera necessitated important modifications.

The whole of the dialogue had to be set to music and the authors went to work on it.