Les cinq femmes

Overview

Not a person: «les cinq femmes (du monde)» is the collective signature under which Marie and four friends wrote anonymously to Paul de Cassagnac in January 1878, and the name of the masked visits to his house that followed. The first letter asks, «se confiant à votre honneur de gentilhomme cinq dames du monde s'aventurent jusqu'à vous demander de leur donner une tasse de thé chez vous. Elles seront masquées» (077.0161); he answered through the Figaro and by letter («Mes chères cinq femmes», 077.0331; «monsieur le secrétaire des cinq femmes», 077.0412). The five were Marie, Dina («la colonelle»), Berthe Boyd («Georges»), Mme Yorke («la novice») and Mme de Daillens («Colette») (077.0446); Cassagnac gave Marie the name «Suzanne» (077.0517, see SUZANNE). On 23 January four of them, in white with white masks, called on him and ended by unmasking (077.0331–0356); the masked tea itself was on Sunday 27 January 1878 (Marie's title-page notes, «Dimanche 27 janvier 1878 / les cinq femmes», 084.0002; «dimanche 27 janvier 1878 : 5 femmes», 085.0002), written up on 28 January (077.0446). Berthe's part still angers Marie that September («Le masque de Berthe qui me met encore en colère», 082.0283; 082.0350).

Marie came back to it for years: she rereads «la correspondance avec les cinq femmes» (085.0205), and in November–December 1879 she and Mme de Daillens try «une reprise des cinq femmes» on Gambetta (086.0606, 086.0620).

References in Diary

• 1878-01-11: the first letter, «cinq dames du monde» (077.0161)
• 1878-01-20: Cassagnac tells the story at dinner, «les cinq femmes du monde» (077.0274); «les cinq dames» (077.0279)
• 1878-01-23: his letter «Mes chères cinq femmes» (077.0331); her annotation «cinq, seulement cinq femmes» (077.0342); the visit in white masks (077.0348, 077.0356)
• 1878-01-24: «il répond aux cinq femmes» (077.0380)
• 1878-01-27: «monsieur le secrétaire des cinq femmes» (077.0412)
• 1878-01-28: the masked visit; «mes chères cinq femmes» (077.0477)
• 1878-02-03: 077.0563, 078.0025
• 1878-02-14: «le soir des cinq femmes» (078.0158)
• 1878-04-03: a further note signed by the five, written by Marie's aunt, «Cinq femmes vous attendront à minuit chez M. d'Osmond» (079.0206)
• 1878-09-04 / 09-08 / 09-09: recalled (082.0283, 082.0333, 082.0350)
• 1878-11-06: «le jour des cinq femmes» (083.0128)
• 1879 title-page notes: 084.0002, 085.0002
• 1879-05-19 / 05-31 / 07-10: 085.0098, 085.0205, 085.0525
• 1879-11-30 / 12-03: the Gambetta revival (086.0606, 086.0620)
• 1881-05-10: Marie tells the story again (091.0593)

Not this entry

Other groups of five women: the Casino (032.0097), the quarrel in Nice (046.0059), the proposed dinner of five women and five men (096.0007), Georges Bertrand's picture (099.0491).

Owner ruling 2026-10-22 (B-75): Marie's code and mask names are tagged to the mask-name file, never to MARIE.