No Regrets - Carolyn Burke [75]
A few days later, after Cerdan’s return to New York, a crisis erupted that threatened the couple’s happiness. Momone’s long-standing jealousy of Edith, fueled by alcohol, got the better of her. She threatened to inform both the police and the press of their liaison, and to adduce proof with copies of their letters. When Marcel tried to reason with Momone, she became hysterical and fled. The boxer brought her back to the apartment, where they kept her until Barrier could put her on a plane to France. “I had to send Momone away,” Edith told Bourgeat. “She was drinking again and nearly caused a scandal.… She’s more to be pitied than anything else. I don’t hold it against her, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s that.”
The couple flew to Orly on December 18, at the end of Piaf’s three-month run at the Versailles. A photographer for Ici Paris who was hoping for a scoop became angry when she spotted him and deliberately turned her back. After he told his editor that she had told Marcel to punch him, word of the incident reached the Paris press. Noting that Piaf and Cerdan had again returned to Paris together, the Parisien libéré noted coyly, “Edith is known to like tough guys but she does not wish to say anything more.”
Piaf returned to work almost immediately in the new year. After singing for a radio program called C’est ça la France (That’s France), she began rehearsals for two performances at the Salle Pleyel in January, which were quickly sold out. On the first night, as the red velvet curtains parted, the crowd went silent. “We never tired of … being seduced,” a spectator wrote. “The singer’s infinite artistic resources [kept] the audience holding their breath all night long.” Her art was “extremely sober,” he continued: “Each of her gestures, which are few, slow, and measured, conveys intense meaning; after the last note of a song, her performance ends with the enactment of deep emotion.” If some still missed the “môme” of her prewar years, the street kid was now a princess who bestowed her love on her adoring audience.
Edith continued to believe that Momone was, above all, to be pitied, even when her old friend filed charges against her and Cerdan two days before her next concert. Calling herself Piaf’s secretary, Momone claimed to have been subjected to “violence and illegal detention at their hands,” according to a New York Times article that called Piaf one of Cerdan’s “most ardent fans.” Knowing that Roupp disapproved of their liaison, Momone tried in vain to enlist his support. Edith explained to the magistrate that she, not Marcel, had struck her friend when Momone became drunk and disorderly. When Momone got what she wanted, a generous settlement, she withdrew her suit and apologized. Edith forgave her because of their years together, and despite Marcel’s doubts about her intentions.
Piaf gave the press her version of the affair in an attempt at damage control. She was sending Momone away for a rest: “She’s like a sister,” she said, “but I don’t know what evil spirit gets into her sometimes.” As for the singer’s relations with Cerdan, they were “sincere and fraternal.” Knowing each other abroad had brought them together in a shared struggle to succeed, “which inspired in each of us a friendly affection.” Was this so difficult to understand? she asked with the artfulness usually reserved for performances. Piaf ended the interview by quoting the medium who had called her a positive force in the boxer’s life: “Marcel is a little superstitious. He thinks I bring him good luck. You have to take all that into account.”
The boxing world took note of Piaf’s increased influence when Cerdan told France Dimanche that she had not, as their reporter claimed, brought him bad luck and, some days later, announced that Jo Longman would replace Roupp as his manager. Tongues wagged about her power over the champion. Roupp recalled Cerdan saying that he wanted his sons to have what