libeling into an art, and reformed female celebrities of the
dancing-gardens and burlesque theatres. But, as society is constituted,
it would have earned him the reputation of a tyrant if he had refused
her receiving and returning the visits of the venerable Marchioness de
Latour-Lagneau, to whom the Bishop always accorded an hour during his
pastoral calls. This was a neighbor.

In her old Louis XIV. mansion, conspicuous among the new structures, the
old dame, in silvered hair which needed no powder, welcomed the "best
people" in the neighborhood and a surprising number of visitors who "ran
down" from the city. Considering her age, her activity in playing the
hostess was remarkable. On the other hand, the "at homes" were most
respectable, and the music remained "classical;" not an echo of
Offenbach or Strauss; the conversation was restrained and decorous and
the scandal delicately dressed to offend no ear.

Not all were old who came to the château, and the foreigners were
numerous to give variety to the gatherings; but the white neck-cloth and
black coat suppressed gaiety in even the rising youth, who were destined
for places under government or on boards of finance and commerce.

It may be judged that an afternoon spent in such company was little
change to Madame Clemenceau, and that the five o'clock tea, initiated
from the English, was a kind of penitential drink. But she became a
habitué, and took a very natural liking to hear again the anecdotes
indicating how matters moved in Germany and Russia, where her childhood
and early girlhood had passed.

One evening, she arrived late. She was exasperated: Antonino had imbibed
his master's imperturbability and seemed to meet her advances with