She lodged in the Hotel Royal, as I did also, but lived entirely in private; and we only saw her there as she went in and out. Later in the season, the Duchesse de B., and other persons, arrived from Paris, with whom she was acquainted, and I often observed her in conversation with them on the promenade; but her countenance never lost its expression of melancholy. However, I should have left Dieppe, ignorant of the singular circumstances I am about to relate, but for an accident. There was a verandah in the court of the hotel, in which many of us preferred to breakfast, rather than in the salon; and the verandah not being very extensive, and the candidates numerous, there was often a little difficulty in securing a table. One morning, I had just laid my parasol on the only one I saw vacant, when the garcon warned me that it was already engaged by _ce monsieur_, indicating an old gentleman, who was standing with his back to me, in conversation with one of a sisterhood called _Soeurs de la Providence_, who was soliciting him to buy some of the lottery tickets she held in her hand; they were for the _Loterie de Bienfaisance_, the proceeds of which are devoted to charitable purposes. There are innumerable lotteries of this sort in France, authorized by the government; and they seem to me to be the substitute for our magnificent private charities in England, for very large sums are collected. The tickets only cost a franc. I believe the _tirage_ is conducted with perfect fairness; and people thus subscribe a franc for the poor, with the agreeable, but very remote, chance of being repaid, _meme ici bas_, a hundred thousand-fold. The old gentleman turned his head on hearing my conversation with the waiter; and, begging I would not derange myself on his account, desired that I might have the table. Grateful for such an unusual exertion of politeness--for the politeness of the modern French gentleman does not include the smallest modicum of self-sacrifice--I modestly declined, and said, "I would wait." He answered, "by no means." And while we were engaged in this amicable contest, the waiter brought his breakfast, and placed it on the table; seeing which, he proposed, that as he was denied the pleasure of making way for me, I should have my coffee placed on the other side, and we should breakfast together; an offer which I gladly accepted. He was a pleasant, garrulous, old gentleman. Monsieur de Vennacour was his name, _proprietaire a Paris_, and he told me how he had lost his fortune by the revolutions, and how he lived now in a _petit apartment_ in the _Rue des Ecuries d'Anjou_, and belonged to a coterie of old ladies and gentlemen like himself, who had a _petit whisk_ every night during the winter. While we were talking, the Countess passed us on her way to the bath; and, happening to catch her eye as she crossed the court, he bowed to her; whereupon I asked him if he knew her?