x, and the ladies enter, followed by the gentlemen,
the last of whom closes the curtain again. If there are two ladies besides
the hostess, the latter places her most distinguished or older guest in
the corner nearest the stage. The seat furthest from the stage is always
her own. The older guest takes her seat first, then the hostess takes her
place, whereupon the third lady goes forward in the center to the front of
the box, and stands until one of the gentlemen places a chair for her
between the other two. (The chairs are arranged in three rows, of one on
either side with an aisle left between.)

One of the duties of the gentlemen is to see that the curtains at the back
of the box remain tightly closed, as the light from the ante-room shining
in the faces of others in the audience across the house is very
disagreeable to them.

A gentleman never sits in the front row of a box, even though he is for a
time alone in it.

=AS TO VISITING=

It is the custom for a gentleman who is a guest in one box to pay visits
to friends in other boxes during the entr'actes. He must visit none but
ladies of his acquaintance and must never enter a box in which he knows
only the gentlemen, and expect to be introduced to the ladies. If Arthur
Norman, for instance, wishes to present a gentleman to Mrs. Gilding in her
box at the opera, he must first ask her if he may bring his friend James
Dawson. (He would on no account speak of him as Mr. Dawson unless he is an
elderly person.) A lady's box at the opera is actually her house, and only
those who are acceptable as visitors in her house should ask to be
admitted.

But it is quite correct for a gentleman to go into a stranger's box to
speak to a lady who is a friend of his, just as he would go to see her if
she were staying in a stranger's house. But he should not go into the box
of one he does not know, to speak to a lady with whom he has only a slight
acquaintance, since visits are not paid quite so casually to ladies who
are themselves visitors. Upon a gentleman's entering a box it is
obligatory for whoever is sitting behind the lady to whom the arriving
gentleman's visit is addressed, to relinquish his chair. Another point of
etiquette is that a gentleman must never leave the ladies of his own box
alone. Occasionally it happens that the gentlemen in Mrs. Gilding's box,
for instance, have all relinquished their places to visitors and have
themselves gone to Mrs. Worldly's or Mrs. Jon