Those who had met “little d’Eon” at the Prince de Conti’s, in the fine reception rooms of the Temple, when he was seeking his fortune and his fate, reminded the illustrious Chevalière of their acquaintance in begging to be received. He himself, still imperturbable, continued to play his part of fashionable phenomenon, and felt a supercilious satisfaction in duping his contemporaries, or, at least, in exciting their astonishment. Some he beguiled by his account of the dramatic events in which he had been implicated; others he captivated by racy stories told with inexhaustible animation. His odd manners never became tiresome, and he was ever in request, his friends finding it difficult to tear themselves away. I am leaving with the regret of not having been able to offer you my tribute of admiration (wrote the Chevalier de Bonnard, tutor to the Duc de Chartres’ children). I enclose a letter from my aunt, your cousin. I shall tell her, in three days’ time, that I have seen you, and that you surpass your great reputation. She will congratulate herself, no doubt, and will be distressed on my account that I have not availed myself longer and more often of a piece of good fortune which I fully appreciate. The interest and curiosity which d’Eon had aroused had not won for him merely success at court. The report of his adventure had carried his name far beyond the frontiers. In England, where he had particularly attracted attention, the public were curious to know every detail. Miss Wilkes, who, in an interesting note which has already been reproduced, had asked d’Eon from the first to let her know the truth, inquired of the Baron de Castille what sort of reception the celebrated Chevalière had met with at Versailles, and the baron in sending “extremely tender messages” to d’Eon, from the Lord Mayor’s daughter, added: “I have replied to Miss Wilkes, my dear heroine; I interpreted your sentiments and, as a witness of your success at court, I told her many things about you.” The echoes of the affair coming from London and Paris had aroused the sceptical curiosity “of the old valetudinarian of Ferney,” who anxiously questioned his faithful friend, the Comte d’Argental, concerning the true condition of a guest who had very indiscreetly announced his intention of paying a visit to the famous patriarch of French literature.