 Bernhardt was furious to discover that Damala's illegitimate daughter was placed in her care and contemplated having the infant drowned on the river Seine.Bernhardt's servants attempted to notify Damala of his child, however, he was unable to contemplate the situation, due to severely reduced clarity (a result of his deep addiction).Thankfully, his daughter's life was saved by a friend of both Bernhardt and Damala, gun dealer and future tycoon Sir Basil Zaharoff, who proposed to take the child so that he could find a surrogate family for her.