reasons for dining out instead of at home -- Dr. Veron's friend,
the philanthropist, who does not go to the theatre because he
objects to be hurried with his emotions -- Dr. Veron, instigated
by his cook, accuses Dumas of having collaborateurs in preparing
his dishes as he was known to have collaborateurs in his literary
work -- Dumas' wrath -- He invites us to a dinner which shall be
wholly cooked by him in the presence of a delegate to be chosen
by the guests -- The lot falls upon me -- Dr. Veron and Sophie
make the _amende honorable_ -- A dinner-party at Veron's -- A
curious lawsuit in connection with Weber's "Freyschutz" -- Nestor
Roqueplan, who became the successor of the defendant in the case,
suggests a way out of it -- Leon Pillet virtually adopts it and
wins the day -- A similar plan adopted years before by a fireman
on duty at the opera, on being tried by court-martial for having
fallen asleep during the performance of "Guido et Genevra" --
Firemen not bad judges of plays and operas -- They were often
consulted both by Meyerbeer and Dumas -- Dumas at work -- How he
idled his time away -- Dumas causes the traffic receipts of the
Chemin de Fer de l'Ouest to swell during his three years'
residence at Saint-Germain -- M. de Montalivet advises
Louis-Philippe to invite Dumas to Versailles, to see what his
presence will do for the royal city -- Louis-Philippe does not
act upon the advice -- The relations between Dumas and the
d'Orleans family -- After the Revolution of '48, Dumas becomes a
candidate for parliament -- The story of his canvass and his
address to the electors at Joigny -- Dumas' utter indifference to
money matters -- He casts his burdens upon others -- Dumas and
his creditors -- Writs and distraints -- How they are dealt with
-- Dumas' indiscriminate generosity -- A dozen houses full of new
furniture in half as many years -- Dumas' frugality at table --
Literary remuneration -- Dumas and his son -- "Leave me a hundred
francs."

Among my most pleasant recollections of those days are those of
Alexandre Dumas. To quote his own words, "whenever he met an Englishman
he considered it his particular duty to make himself agreeable to him,
as part of the debt he owed to Shakespeare and Walter Scott." I doubt
whether Dumas ever made himself deliberately