Paris 1875, Hôtel Splendid
"Come to us this evening," Maman said to the Surprising One, the last time we met him.
Robenson has arrived in Nice! That is what I hear on waking.
Ah! How tiresome life is when one has not three hundred thousand francs a year.
By the grace of God and the telegraph messenger, I have at last learned of the purchase of the Villa Boismilon. It is a very good investment for...
I slept twelve hours, and at my fitting at Laferrière's I felt faint — it is true that they kept me standing for two hours in those blasted dresses.
I find Winslow's calling card — he came yesterday.
Mme Winslow called on me. The matter with Duval is settled — we depart tomorrow. "*Connais-tu le pays*..."? By God!
We take the eleven o'clock morning train. We had breakfast at ten; everything was ready for departure when the chambermaid softly opened the door:...
I am in Nice! From Paris to Lyon we were in snow. But it is strange — I am not transported as I used to be on arriving in my city.
At three o'clock we go out. I, who came to Nice in search of fine weather, find Parisian cold here. I put on my otter-fur hat in the shape of a baby...
The blasted father and the blasted daughter have left — their floor is shut up at the Tour. No doubt they are fleeing Mme d'Audiffret, who is still...
I see the whole affair clearly. Galula said nothing — he has too much sense to say anything. This fine piece of news was invented by Nina and Marie,...
1\. Thy son shall depart from here And make a very great stir, Shall sing, shall shout, shall laugh — But rot, yes rot he shall. To Paris he shall...
I was calm, I was tranquil; I went out with Dina in my little otter-fur bonnet — I was pretty, people looked at me a great deal. Then we took Girofla...
Yesterday at the station, Audiffret approached Maman, who was going to Monaco. He had the most disreputable look in the world, with his long yellow...
I slept until noon, and I find Varpahovsky at luncheon. He is a gentleman who is half blind — but it seems to me he is so morally as well as...
Varpahovsky lunched with us again. I am in rather a bad humour; I go walking with my Graces. Marie returns and Giro comes to my room, and we amuse...
I dress in white as usual — all new and lovely as two hearts — but we go out a little late, for Barnola and Varpahovsky were with us, and we walked...
I slept until two o'clock; I barely have time to lunch before the Promenade. It is very cold and I am obliged to wear my fur — which in any case,...
Grand concert and a great crowd — and great sorrow, always for the same reason.
You may just as well skip this day, O you who will never read this diary — for I am going to speak once again of my grief, eternally fresh and...
The water in the fountain basin was still frozen at noon.
I forgot to say that two days ago Fiouloulou came to see us, and M. Barbier also. Barbier is a good old gentleman from the Cercle Masséna whom we...
There are days that repeat themselves so exactly that one is astonished — one thinks one has been dreaming, and one often cannot account for one's...
Even worse than yesterday!
In the morning I was in town for various things for my rooms, and I encountered Markoff.
Maman encountered Mme de Lewin yesterday, who spoke to her of my marriage with the Surprising One.
The weather is bad; I stay at home and tell Collignon everything there is to tell of Audiffret, the Sapogenikoffs, and so on.
It is Saint Nicholas's Day — Coco's name-day. We lunch at his house, or at Nina's, as one pleases. These gatherings of rascals give me the effect of...
Collignon seriously alarms me by assuring me that he knows where these letters come from. The last one is abominable — and if he knows it is from...
Yesterday I fell asleep in a state so troubled that I understood nothing. Desperate, in tears, I saw the waves of my mind black and heaving like...
What a dream! I saw Audiffret — as in the other dream in summer — our cheeks touching; then I saw my bare foot on the Surprising One's knee. It is a...
Today is the afternoon party.
I must write very little — time presses.
Bihovetz was with us yesterday; by various things in his conversation he awoke in me such regret at leaving, such love for Nice, that I became...
Find me a language that expresses things with as much enthusiasm! — which is why I use it to define my state.