"I maintained my good humor, however, because on the boulevards, everywhere, our success was colossal. At the _Café de Paris_, at six-thirty, it amounted to frenzy. The delegation, a little drunk, embraced me: '_Bono, Napoléon, bono, Eugénie; bono, Casimir; bono, Christians_.' Gramont-Caderousse and Viel-Castel were already in booth number eight, with Anna Grimaldi, of the _Folies Dramatiques_, and Hortense Schneider, both beautiful enough to strike terror to the heart. But the palm was for my dear Clémentine, when she entered. I must tell you how she was dressed: a gown of white tulle, over China blue tarletan, with pleatings, and ruffles of tulle over the pleatings. The tulle skirt was caught up on each side by garlands of green leaves mingled with rose clusters. Thus it formed a valence which allowed the tarletan skirt to show in front and on the sides. The garlands were caught up to the belt and, in the space between their branches, were knots of rose satin with long ends. The pointed bodice was draped with tulle, the billowy bertha of tulle was edged with lace. By way of head-dress, she had placed upon her black locks a diadem crown of the same flowers. Two long leafy tendrils were twined in her hair and fell on her neck. As cloak, she had a kind of scarf of blue cashmere embroidered in gold and lined with blue satin. "So much beauty and splendor immediately moved the Tuareg and, especially, Clémentine's right-hand neighbor, El-Hadj-ben-Guemâma, brother of Sheik Otham and Sultan of Ahaggar. By the time the soup arrived, a bouillon of wild game, seasoned with Tokay, he was already much smitten. When they served the compote of fruits Martinique _à la liqueur de Mme. Amphoux_, he showed every indication of illimitable passion. The Cyprian wine _de la Commanderie_ made him quite sure of his sentiments. Hortense kicked my foot under the table. Gramont, intending to do the same to Anna, made a mistake and aroused the indignant protests of one of the Tuareg. I can safely say that when the time came to go to Mabille, we were enlightened as to the manner in which our visitors respected the prohibition decreed by the Prophet in respect to wine. "At Mabille, while Clémentine, Hortense, Anna, Ludovic and the three Tuareg gave themselves over to the wildest gallops, Sheik Otham took me aside and confided to me, with visible emotion, a certain commission with which he had just been charged by his brother, Sheik Ahmed. "The next day, very early, I reached Clémentine's house. "'My dear,' I began, after having waked her, not without difficulty, 'listen to me. I want to talk to you seriously.' "She rubbed her eyes a bit crossly. "'How did you like that young Arabian gentleman who was so taken with you last night?' "'Why, well enough,' she said, blushing. "'Do you know that in his country, he is the sovereign prince and reigns over territories five or six times greater than those of our august master, the Emperor Napoleon III?'