"I am like Rubinstein," he said. "He was wretched because he could not write an opera. I also wish to write an opera, but I cannot." "Who could, if not you?" I said. "I think your Concerto one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard." "You flatter me," he said, modestly, "but, alas! you cannot make me a writer of operas. To-morrow afternoon is the _répétition générale_ at the Cologne Concert of my Concerto. Teresa Careno plays the piano part. Would you allow me to accompany you, if you would like to go?" Did I accept? Yes! Teresa Careno surpassed herself, and the Concerto was enthusiastically received. Siegfried Wagner led the orchestra in a composition of his own. He was very arbitrary and made the artists go over and over again the same phrase without any seeming reason. One poor flutist almost tore his hair out by the roots. Wagner was so dissatisfied with his playing that he stopped him twenty times. At last, as if it were a hopeless task, he shrugged his shoulders and went on. [Illustration: LINES FROM "LA PRINCESSE LOINTAINE" WITH ROSTAND'S AUTOGRAPH] Count and Countess Castellane (Miss Gould) gave a great entertainment to inaugurate their hotel-palace in the Bois. The young King of Spain was their guest of honor, and the smiling hostess clung to his arm throughout the entire evening, introducing people as they passed. She did not know every one's name nor half of their titles. The cotillion was short and the supper long, and both were costly. The King of Spain is not handsome, but he has charming manners and a determined jaw and a very sympathetic smile. We met him again at the Grand Prix in the President's pavilion. It was a most brilliant sight. Every one in Paris was there, and the toilets of the ladies were of the _dernier cri_. The King of Sweden kept his word and really did come to Paris. A dinner for him at the Elysées included us (the only persons who were not French except the Swedish Legation). We are, as you know, what they call "_une legation de famille_." I was more than enchanted to see the King again. He promised to come and take tea with me the next day. "Who would your Majesty care to meet?" I asked him. "My old lady friends whom I used to know here before," the King answered. "Your Majesty does not mean all of them--that would be a legion." "No, no," he laughed. "Not _all_, only ..." and named several. Every one came, although invited at the eleventh hour. It was a merry meeting, and such _souveniring_! The King walked to my house accompanied by Herr Ancacronra, and the gentlemen whom the French government attached to his Majesty during his visit. They were surprised that a King should prefer walking through the streets to being driven in a landau from the Elysées.