JET. 58.] VISIT TO PARIS. 217 



Among the old friends of whom they had a glimpse 

 were M. Edouard and Madame Lartet, also M. Hebert 

 and M. Desnoyers both of geological fame. There was 

 also one who had shown very great kindness to Mrs 

 Prestwich in former years, and whose individuality and 

 originality were so strongly marked that her name 

 cannot be mentioned without a brief comment. This 

 was Madame Mohl, author of ' Madame Recamier and 

 the History of Society in France.' She was the 

 wife of Jules Mohl, the eminent Oriental scholar ; 

 and, although by birth an Englishwoman, she had for 

 a long series of years presided over one of the most 

 brilliant salons in Paris. Men who were foremost 

 in science, in literature, and in political life were 

 habitues of Madame Mohl's salon, where they came in 

 contact with men and women who had risen to fame as 

 dramatists or artists. Rank and fortune were them- 

 selves in her estimation of no account : only individual 

 merit or personal distinction gave the entree to her 

 drawing-room, with the exception that to her own and 

 her husband's old friends whether distinguished or 

 not a warm welcome always greeted them. 



Mr and Mrs Prestwich called at an early hour in 

 the Rue du Bac, and were received by Madame Mohl 

 in the traditional dressing-gown and in curl papers, the 

 latter of varied and brilliant hues red, green, and blue 

 circulars being utilised for this purpose. She made 

 no apology for receiving a countryman a complete 

 stranger in this costume, and did not seem to con- 

 sider that any apology was needed. Her attractive 

 niece, Miss Mohl, who afterwards became Madame 

 Helmholtz, was by her side, busily occupied with 

 her painting. The use of the curl papers was one of 

 Madame Mohl's small economies which amused her 



