The party consisted of all those present at our house when the wager was made.

The Duc and Duchesse de Guiche, Mr.and Mrs.
Francis Hare, the Duc de Talleyrand, Duc de Dino, Count Valeski, Mr.J.
Strangways, and our own large family circle.
The dinner was the most _recherche_ that could be furnished: "all the delicacies of the season," as a London paper would term it, were provided; and an epicure, however fastidious, would have been satisfied with the choice and variety of the _plats_; while a _gourmand_ would have luxuriated in the quantity.
Nothing in the style of the apartments, or the service of the dinner, bore the least indication that we were in the house of a _restaurant_.
A large and richly furnished _salon_, well lighted, received the company before dinner; and in a _salle a manger_ of equal dimensions, and equally well arranged, the dinner was served on a very fine service of old plate.
Count de Maussion did the honours of the dinner _a merveille_, and it passed off very gaily.

It had been previously agreed that the whole party were to adjourn to the Porte St.Martin, at which Count de Maussion had engaged three large private boxes; and the ladies, consequently, with one exception, came _en demi-toilette_.
The exception was Mrs.Hare, who, not aware that at Paris people never go _en grande toilette_ to the theatres, came so smartly dressed, that, seeing our simple toilettes, she was afraid of incurring observation if she presented herself in a rich dress with short sleeves, a gold tissue turban with a bird-of-paradise plume, and an _aigrette_ of coloured stones; so she went to our house, with a few of the party, while I accompanied the rest to the theatre.
The piece was _Faust_, adapted from Goethe, and was admirably performed, more especially the parts of "Mephistopheles" and "Margaret," in which Madame Dorval acts inimitably.

This actress has great merit; and the earnestness of her manner, and the touching tones of her voice, give a great air of truth to her performances.

The prison-scene was powerfully acted; and the madness of "Margaret" when stretched on her bed of straw, resisting the vain efforts of her lover to rescue her, had a fearful reality.
The character of "Margaret" is a fine conception, and Goethe has wrought it out beautifully.