Coco Chanel_ An Intimate Life - Lisa Chaney [69]
While Misia was completely sincere in her belief that Gabrielle’s role in their times was a highly significant one, she also believed that without her, Misia, the world would not have recognized Gabrielle’s gifts, society would not have welcomed her and she would not have become involved with the artists who were making those feverishly creative times. Misia wrote, “One could say that it is easy to help a beautiful diamond to shine. Still, it was my privilege to help it emerge from its rough state, and—in my heart—to be the first person dazzled by its brilliance.”4
Although Misia was not the first to introduce Gabrielle to any kind of culture, what she was the first to do was introduce her to the core of the Parisian avant-garde. Having said that, these artists were inverted snobs of a high order, and even an introduction by the famed Misia Edwards—muse and patron to so many of them—would not have been enough to gain Gabrielle admittance to their circles. Her own personality and originality would almost certainly have led her to them anyway. Unlike Misia, who was invaluable as a muse and patron, Gabrielle had the character of an artist. Her acceptance within the spectrum of the avant-garde came about, above all, because she was recognized as a kindred spirit.
Recalling that evening, in 1916, when she first met Gabrielle, Misia would say:
My attention was immediately drawn to a very dark young woman . . . She radiated a charm I found irresistible . . . She seemed . . . gifted with an infinite grace and when, as we were saying goodnight, I admired her ravishing fur-trimmed red velvet coat, she took it off at once and put it on my shoulders, saying with charming spontaneity that she would be only too happy to give it to me . . . Her gesture had been so pretty that I found it bewitching and thought of nothing but her.
The next day I could hardly wait to see her in the rue Cambon . . . When I arrived, two women were talking about her, calling her “Coco.” I don’t know . . . but my heart sank . . . Why trick out someone so exceptional with so vulgar a name?
Magically the hours sped by . . . even though . . . she hardly spoke . . . That same evening Sert and I went to dine at her apartment . . . There, amidst countless Coromandel screens we found Boy Capel . . . Sert was really scandalized by the astonishing infatuation I felt for my new friend . . . And I myself was rather surprised that a woman I had met the night before could already fill such a place in my thoughts.5
Misia’s description is borne out in Morand’s novel Lewis et Irène—where Irène bears such a resemblance to Gabrielle—when Morand describes the singular character of his heroine:
Irène proved very popular. Paris had plenty of businesswomen, but they were talented dressmakers, lucky actresses . . . who were only looking at generating profits, to establish themselves, to be accepted, to deal with famous men, thus showing the limit of their ambitions . . . Irène was liked because of her grace, her absence of . . . pretensions, her direct manners, her simple and imperious mind. She was courted. Lewis was not jealous.6
When Arthur’s political profile was in the ascendant with the men prosecuting the war, his encouragement and financial backing also continued being a source of stimulation to Gabrielle. But they were also often apart. Arthur was unable to remain faithful, and Gabrielle was becoming