The next evening soon came, and after almost all the guests had assembled, Mr. and Mrs. Smithson arrived. She was arrayed in a dress of the richest kind, and with her usual faultless taste. Her ornaments were few, but elegant; the best of them being that bright, fresh face and elastic form, which the dissipation of city life had not yet impaired. She had a severe and scathing ordeal to pass. It was felt by several, with the keen intuition which women alone have, that she might prove a formidable rival. Mrs. Rodgers’ reception and treatment of her were most kind. She introduced several most desirable acquaintances to her, and the gentlemen in especial were delighted with her. Letty’s earliest allies, it may be remembered, were of the male sex; but the gallant Colonel Lumley, and that exquisite of exquisites, Mr. Tom Harrowby, were of a different stamp from Phil Dubbs and even Harry Edmonds, though the latter, in after days, achieved renown both at the bar and in the senate-chamber. The evening passed but too delightfully and too rapidly for Letty. She felt that she was at last among kindred minds, and on arriving at home, when she reviewed what had transpired as she was preparing for her night’s repose, she was satisfied that her debut had been eminently successful, and that she had made a decided hit. With visions of much future greatness before her, she fell asleep. * * * * * [Illustration: PÈRE-LA-CHAISE. Engraved by J. A. Rolph.] * * * * * PÈRE-LA-CHAISE. [WITH A STEEL ENGRAVING.] The practice of interment in churches and church-yards prevailed in Paris till near the end of the eighteenth century. In 1790 the National Assembly passed a law commanding all towns and villages to discontinue the use of their old burial-places, and form others at a distance from their habitations. An imperial decree was issued in 1804, ordering high ground to be chosen for cemeteries, and every corpse to be interred at a depth of at least six feet. Another decree, of 1811, ordained a company of undertakers, to whom the whole business of interment was to be consigned, who arranged funerals in six classes, and established a tariff of expense for the service rendered. The cemeteries of Paris are four in number. Père-la-chaise, Montmartre, Vaugirard, and Mont-Parnasse.