Some of the pleasantest hours passed by Paul Morphy in the French capital were spent at the Baronne de L.'s. This lady, who has long ranked as one of the great beauties of Parisian society, is renowned as a patroness of the arts. Her friendship for the lamented Pradier has passed into history, and her _salons_ are the weekly resort of the most celebrated sculptors, painters, and authors of France. And no wonder, for the Baronne is gloriously merry and witty, a true child of the sunny South. A Creole, from the French West Indies, she immediately took a liking to Morphy, "Because," said she, "he is another lazy Creole like myself;" and she invited all her acquaintances to come and see him. She would get Morphy opposite her, and St. Amant or Lequesne by her side to stop her when she was about making too serious a mistake, and would play game after game, making us all laugh the whole time with her charming anecdotes and _jeux d'esprit_. How she would amuse us when she declared that parties and late hours were killing her, and that _they did kill her last season_, and yet she was always as fresh as a newly plucked rose. When she found how fond Morphy was of music, the principal singers from the opera would be present. I remember one night she asked that finest of living _baritones_, "the honey-voiced" Graziani, to play our hero at the odds of the Queen. Signor Graziani had caught the general enthusiasm, and was applying his leisure moments to chess with the energy of a Standigl, and had lately been taking lessons from Préti. He at first objected to play, from modesty, but the Baronne had determined he should, and she told him that, if he would play a game, Morphy would sing a _duo_ with him afterwards. This was a sparkle of her fun, of course; but Graziani played, not one, but three games, and he then said: "If anybody asks me if I understand chess, I shall say, 'Oh, yes; I play sometimes with Mr. Morphy.'" The United States minister, the Hon. Mr. Mason, took a warm interest in his young countryman, occasionally sitting at the board when Morphy was at play. The Judge is acquainted with the "Mystery of Chesse," and asked many pointed questions after the conclusion of the game, as to the why and the wherefore of different moves. It were scarcely right for the United States government to appoint a minister to the Court of the Tuileries who is ignorant of chess; it would be an insult to the memory of Franklin. CHAPTER XIII. MORPHY AND THE FRENCH AMATEURS.