Patty, we are going to have a beautiful time!"

"Well, I rather guess we are!" said Patty, with true Yankee enthusiasm.

Then their cabs drove in at the arched entrance of the Hotel Ritz, and a
most important looking personage in blue uniform assisted them to
alight. Other attendants in unostentatious livery swung open the glass
doors and our party entered. The proprietor, who advanced to meet them,
was a courtly, polite Frenchman, in correct evening dress, whose suave
and deferential manner was truly typical of his race. He seemed to take
a personal interest in his newly arrived guests, and himself conducted
them to their apartments.

Patty followed with the rest, feeling almost like pinching herself to
see if she were awake or in an enchanted dream. The hotel was
particularly beautiful, and the furnishings unlike any she had ever seen
before. Carpets, furniture, and decorations were all in the palest tints
of lovely colours. Doors and windows and many of the partitioned walls
were of glass, in ornate gilt frames, through which one could see
fascinating rooms beyond. A few choice pictures hung on the walls, and
here and there were French cabinets of curios and rare laces.

The elevator seemed to be entirely of glass, and was furnished with
dainty white upholstery and gilded woodwork. Bouquets of fresh flowers
were here and there on small tables in the rooms and halls.

The suite of rooms allotted to the Farringtons looked out upon the Place
Vendome, and Patty flew to the window to gaze again upon the beautiful
scene.