chariot,
to my certain knowledge, but she disregarded the mistake. A---- soon
after desired that our carriage might come next. The good woman of the
house, who loved to be busy, again called for the _fiacre_ of Madame
----. I saw the foot of A---- in motion, but catching my eye, she
smiled, and the thing passed off. The "voiture de Madame ----," or our
own carriage, was announced just as Mrs. ---- was trying to make a
servant understand she wished for hers. "Le fiacre de Madame ----,"
again put in the bustling hostess. This was too much for a colonel's
lady, and, with a very pretty air of distress, she took care to explain,
in a way that all might hear her, that it was a _remise_.

I dare say, vulgar prejudices influence vulgar minds, here, as
elsewhere, and yet I must say, that I never knew any one hesitate about
giving an address on account of the humility of the lodgings. It is to
be presumed that the manner in which families that are historical, and
of long-established rank, were broken down by the revolution, has had an
influence in effecting this healthful state of feeling.

The great tact and careful training of the women, serve to add very much
to the grace of French society. They effectually prevent all
embarrassments from the question of precedency, by their own decisions.
Indeed, it appears to be admitted, that when there is any doubt on these
points, the mistress of the house shall settle it in her own way. I
found myself lately, at a small dinner, the only stranger, and the
especially invited guest, standing near Madame la Marquise at the moment
the service was announced. A bishop made one of the trio. I could not
precede a man of his years and profession, and he was too polite to
precede a stranger. It was a nice point. Had it been a question between
a duke and myself, as a stranger, and under the circumstances of the
invitation, I should have had the _pas_, but even the lady hesitated
about discrediting a father of the church. She delayed but an instant,
and, smiling, she begged us to follow her to the table, avoiding the
decision altogether. In America such a thing could not have happened,
for no woman, by a fiction of society, is supposed to know how to walk
in company without support; but, here, a woman will not spoil her
curtsey, on entering a room, by leaning on an arm, if she can well help
it. The practice of tucking up a brace of females (liver and gizzard, as
the English coarsely, but not inaptl