what gentlemen he has
invited. These must number the same as his lady guests and will have
been chosen from among the most eligible of his friends.

The rendezvous will be at the restaurant where dinner will be served
at six o'clock. The young ladies attended by father, brother or a
maid, come in carriages and the coachman is told at what hour to
return. This is usually half past twelve or one o'clock.

The dinner will be served in a sumptuously decorated, private
dining-room, and by eight o'clock the party are _en route_ in
carriages for the play. Each lady is first supplied with exquisite
corsage and hand bouquets by an attentive maid.

Boxes are engaged at the theater, or in case of large parties, the
front row of the balcony. Programs printed on scented satin are
frequently placed in front of each chair and serve as souvenirs of the
occasion. When the play is over the party returns in carriages to the
same restaurant where an elegant supper is laid.

Frequently each lady finds costly souvenirs at her plate. Each
gentleman acts as escort through the evening to whatever lady he has
been assigned by the host. At the appointed hour carriages call for
the ladies and the gentlemen escort them thereto. If some male
relative come, he does not accompany her home, but if it is the maid
only, he is expected so to do.

The young ladies and gentlemen must call upon the chaperon within a
few days and the host calls upon the mothers to express thanks for the
pleasure of the daughter's attendance. The men invited must each call
within three days upon the especial lady to whom they devoted their
time during the evening, or if this is impossible, leave a card.

A simpler form of this entertainment is where the host calls upon each
proposed guest, and if the invitation is accepted, leaves two entrance
tickets, and one for some male relative who must accompany her. The
party meet in the box, where the host and a lady chaperon greet them.
After the theater supper is served at some fashionable resort, or
perhaps at the home of some friend, where dancing occasionally follows
the supper. After calls are expected.

These parties are sometimes given by a lady, when the invitations are
sent by informal notes in her own name, and a six o'clock dinner laid
in her own home precedes the opera. After the entertainment the guests
return in carriages to the house where a little supper is served, and
perhaps some dancing varies the program.