areno 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 Elysees 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 Elysees.

The King brought several photographs, which he distributed to his
friends, and, wishing to write his name on them, desired me to give
him "a nice pen with a broad point." Oh dear! Not a "nice" pen could
be found in the house! And one w