"At eleven o'clock Papa took me back to the 'Ritz' and told me he had to call at the Embassy in the Rue de Grenelle. You don't suppose I felt like going to bed! Mlle. Jauffre was snoring like a Nüremberg top, and I thought I should never wake her. You should have seen her look of amazement when I told her that she must get up as Papa had arranged to meet us at midnight. "We took a taxi in the Rue de la Paix. _Grelot_ I told the driver. I had heard the name at Laurent's. "_Le Grelot_ is in the Place Blanche. I don't suppose, dear friend, that a serious student like you has ever been there. When we went in I was a little jealous of the chorus of approval that greeted Mlle. Jauffre's spangled gown. A little roué, hopelessly drunk, called out that it was Madame Fallières. Then the whole assembly rose as one man and sang the chorus of a well-known song: 'La tante Julie, La tante Octavie, La tante Sophie, Le cousin Léon, L'oncle Théodule, L'oncle Thrasybule, Les cousins Tibulle, Et Timoleon.' "I laughed as if I should never stop, and my high spirits infected everybody--they had looked bored to extinction when we first entered. "We drank champagne--unlimited champagne. Then we danced. I just showed those Frenchmen what a Russian princess could do. The only man who could waltz properly with me was a member of the Hungarian band. We received a tremendous ovation. "A negro in the orchestra invited Mlle. Jauffre to dance. You may find it hard to believe, but she accepted. After all that champagne she was a different woman. Two dancing girls came and sat by me. One of them, Zita, a dark girl, wore a dress of blue and silver; the other, 'The Shrimp,' was all in pink and called me 'Princess,' not knowing that I was one. They ate my food and drank my champagne. I was in the seventh heaven and murmured, rather excitedly: 'Paris is lovely, lovely!' "I suddenly noticed that many of these poor girls had darns in the heels of their silk stockings just above their patent shoes, so I called out and threw a handful of louis into the air. They scrambled for them and found them all with the exception of five or six, on which some of the most elegant of the gentlemen had neatly put their feet. "I think I should have stayed there all night if I had not suddenly heard loud shouts in the next room. "'Lili, Lili, here's Lili! Vive Lili!' "I looked up and saw Papa coming in. It was he whom they called 'Lili,' obviously derived from his Christian name, Vassily. "He, too, was in the highest spirits. On each arm was a girl, handsome enough to make me feel thoroughly jealous. "He was far too busy to see me. I lost no time in making preparations to go, but it proved a terrible business getting Mlle. Jauffre away. She was exceedingly loth to leave her negro. In the taxi she sang at the top of her voice: 'Caroline, Caroline, Put on your shiny black shoes.'