articles and often turned out unsatisfactorily, so
they quickly desisted. The English, the most practical of societies,
have always left the Faubourg alone. It has been reserved for our
countrywomen to lay the most determined siege yet recorded to that
untaken stronghold.

It is a characteristic of the American temperament to be unable to see a
closed door without developing an intense curiosity to know what is
behind; or to read "No Admittance to the Public" over an entrance without
immediately determining to get inside at any price. So it is easy to
understand the attraction an hermetically sealed society would have for
our fair compatriots. Year after year they have flung themselves against
its closed gateways. Repulsed, they have retired only to form again for
the attack, but are as far away to-day from planting their flag in that
citadel as when they first began. It does not matter to them what is
inside; there may be (as in this case) only mouldy old halls and a group
of people with antiquated ideas and ways. It is enough for a certain
type of woman to know that she is not wanted in an exclusive circle, to
be ready to die in the attempt to get there. This point of view reminds
one of Mrs. Snob's saying about a new arrival at a hotel: "I am sure she
must be 'somebody' for she was so rude to me when I spoke to her;" and
her answer to her daughter when the girl said (on arriving at a watering-
place) that she had noticed a very nice family "who look as if they
wanted to know us, Mamma:"

"Then, my dear," replied Mamma Snob, "they certainly are not people we
want to meet!"

The men in French society are willing enough to make acquaintance with
foreigners. You may see the youth of the Faubourg dancing at American
balls in Paris, or running over for occasional visits to this country.
But when it comes to taking their women-kind with them, it is a different
matter. Americans who have known well-born Frenchmen at school or
college are surprised, on meeting them later, to be asked (cordially
enough) to dine _en garcon_ at a restaurant, although their Parisian
friend is married. An Englishman's or American's first word would be on
a like occasion:

"Come and dine with me to-night. I want to introduce you to my wife."
Such an idea would never cross a Frenchman's mind!

One American I know is a striking example of this. He was born in Paris,
went to school and college there, and has lived in that city all h