of high rank and importance, who was the first to arrive at her
reception.  Anna Pavlovna had had a cough for some days.  She was, as
she said, suffering from la grippe; grippe being then a new word in
St.  Petersburg, used only by the elite. 

All her invitations without exception, written in French, and
delivered by a scarlet-liveried footman that morning, ran as follows: 

"If you have nothing better to do, Count [or Prince], and if the
prospect of spending an evening with a poor invalid is not too
terrible, I shall be very charmed to see you tonight between 7 and 10-
Annette Scherer." 

"Heavens! what a virulent attack!" replied the prince, not in the
least disconcerted by this reception.  He had just entered, wearing
an embroidered court uniform, knee breeches, and shoes, and had
stars on his breast and a serene expression on his flat face.  He spoke
in that refined French in which our grandfathers not only spoke but
thought, and with the gentle, patronizing intonation natural to a
man of importance who had grown old in society and at court.  He went