politeness, and in this suffering you find me a little
monster more embarrassing than odious. Dinner is announced. They leave
the table and in the cafe all speak at the same time. M. Necker thinks
everything well, bows his head and goes away."

In summer her receptions were first held at the Chateau de Madrid,
and, later on, in a chateau at Saint-Ouen; the guests were always
called for and returned in carriages supplied by the hostess. It was
in her salon, in 1770, that the plan originated to erect the statue
of Voltaire, which is to-day the famous statue of the _Palais de
l'Institute_.

When, during the stirring times before the Revolution, her salon took
on a purely political nature, Mme. Necker played a very secondary
role. In 1788 she and her husband were compelled to leave Paris; but
being recalled by Louis XVI., Necker managed affairs for thirteen
months, after which he retired with Mme. Necker to Coppet, where, in
1794, the latter died.

Mme. Necker never became a thorough Frenchwoman; she always lacked
the grace and charm which are the necessary qualifications of a salon
leader; intelligence was her most meritorious quality. Her dinners
were apt to become tiresome and to drag. A very interesting story is
told of her by the Marquis de Chastellux, which was reported by Mme.
Genlis, one of her intimate friends:

"Dining at Mme. Necker's, the marquis was first to arrive, and so
early that the hostess was not yet in the salon. In walking up and
down the room, he noticed a small book under Mme. Necker's chair. He
picked it up and opened it. It was a blank book, a few of the pages
of which had been written upon by Mme. Necker. Certainly, he would
not have read a letter, but, believing to find only a few spiritual
thoughts, he read without any scruples. It contained the plan for the
dinner of that day, to which he had been invited, and had been written
by Mme. Necker on the previous evening. It told what she would say to
the most prominent of the invited guests. She wrote: 'I shall speak
to the Chevalier de Chastellux about public felicity and Agatha; to M.
d'Angeviller, I shall speak of love; between Marmontel and Guibert
I shall raise some literary discussion.' After reading the note, he
hurriedly replaced the book under the chair. A moment later, a valet
entered, saying that madame had left her notebook in the salon. The
dinner was charming for M. de Chastellux, because he had the pleasure
of hearing Mme. Necker