The Celestial City
by Emma Orczy
On the rare occasions when Lady Chartley, a historical adventure novel set during the French Revolution, was "at home", all the elite of Cannes society and its surroundings fell into their engines and moved to the beautiful Château de Pertuis. These were unforgettable afternoons. There have only been three in the last two years; but whatever the other engagement, it had to be postponed for the sake of this important social event. Indeed, it would be terrible to ask, "Are you going to the Castle this afternoon?" and force them to answer, "No, I promised to go to Nice and see things like an old friend," and so on. No one would believe an old friend: the result would inevitably be: "Poor things! they weren't asked." And one kind of commissioner would be a little eyebrow raising and a gentle interrogation: "I guess you don't know the charts." And someone either knew Chartley or didn't. And that's all that existed for that."
