Every  one  sought  me — and  the  attention  of  society  at  Paris
would,  to  most,  be  worth  a  little  trouble  to  repay.  Perhaps,  if
I  had  liked  it,  I  might  have  been  the  rage  ;  but  that  vanity  was
over.  I  contented  myself  with  being  admitted  into  society  as  an
observer,  without  a  single  wish  to  become  the  observed.  When
one  has  once  outlived  the  ambition  of  fashion  I  know  not  a
greater  affliction  than  an  over-attention  ;  and  the  Spectator  did
just  what  I  should  have  done  in  a  similar  case,  when  he  left  his
lodgings  "because  he  was  asked  every  morning  how  he  had
slept."  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  court,  the  King's
devotion,  age,  and  misfortunes  threw  a  damp  over  society  ;  but
there  were  still  some  sparkling  circles,  who  put  the  King  out  of
the  mode,  and  declared  that  the  defeats  of  his  generals  made
capital  subjects  for  epigrams.  What  a  delicate  and  subtle  air
did  hang  over  those  soirdes,  where  all  that  were  bright  and
lovely,  and  noble  and  gay,  and  witty  and  wise,  were  assembled
in  one  brilliant  cluster  !  Imperfect  as  my  rehearsals  must  be,
I  think  the  few  pages  I  shall  devote  to  a  description  of  these
glittering  conversations  must  still  retain  something  of  that  origi-
nal piquancy  which  the  soirees  of  no  other  capital  could  rival
or  appreciate.
One  morning,  about  a  week  after  my  interview  with  Madame
de  Balzac,  I  received  a  note  from  her,  requesting  me  to  visit
her  that  day,  and  appointing  the  hour.
Accordingly  I  repaired  to  the  house  of  the  fair  politician.
