our at
Mr. Kecskerey's rooms; and a beautiful invitation card was enclosed,
addressed to--"Mademoiselle Fanny de Meyer avec famille."

Quite a family party, you see!

Fanny sent back the servant with the message that she accepted the
invitation to supper, and sent her best greetings to Mr. Kecskerey.

But who was this Mr. Kecskerey you will ask? Well, he was a worthy
gentleman who was wont to play no inconsiderable part in the refined
society of the day, and supplied one of the most crying necessities of
the age. Every one knew him, everybody, that is, who prided himself upon
being somebody, whether he was a great nobleman or a great artist. His
rooms, his suppers, his breakfasts were the usual rallying points of the
whole world of fashion.

Eminent damsels, whose enthusiasm for art constrained them to come to
closer quarters than usual with this or that famous artist;
liberal-minded amazons, who extended their tender relations beyond the
chains of Hymen; lively dames, who loved to see around them
good-humoured, free-and-easy folks, instead of the usual dull and
dignified drawing-room loungers; foreign millionaires, who desired to be
regaled with an exhibition of beauty and enjoyment; _blase_ souls, who
infected others with the contagion of their own disgust; crazy poets,
who needed but a nod to immediately rise to their feet and declaim
their own verses; two or three newspaper correspondents, who describe in
their journals everything that they hear, see, eat, and drink at Mr.
Kecskerey's suppers, and many others of a like kidney, were the sort of
guests who frequented these saloons of an evening, generally twice a
week.

It must not be supposed for a moment, however, that there was ever the
slightest breach of good manners at Mr. Kecskerey's social evenings. Any
one supposing the contrary would be making the greatest mistake in the
world. The most rigorous propriety was the order of the day, or rather
of the evening. First of all, the artists and _artistes_ recited, sang,
and played the piano, and then those who chose might dance a few modest
quadrilles and waltzes together. Then every one went to supper in the
most perfect order, the ladies sitting down and the gentlemen standing
while they ate and drank. Sometimes a few glasses of champagne were
drained to toast the ladies who were present, or, perhaps, some of the
celebrities of the day. Then, after a little brief but lively
conversation, a few more quadrilles