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Signed autograph letter of Guy de Maupassant to Countess Potocka, 26 lines in black ink on a sheet of laid paper headed "GM 83 Dulong Street".
Maupassant evokes the episode that marks his entry into familiarity with the countess: the famous story of dolls. Following a lost bet, the Countess Potocka sent Maupassant rag dolls representing the ladies invited to a future dinner. By play, Maupassant took six of them and stuffed them with the belly of cloth before autograph dedication of the author them back to the countess. In a word that accompanied the mail, Maupassant boasted of having them all engrossed in one night.
To get out of an evening that he would prefer to spend with the countess he had to "[...] make diplomacy, employ the ruses and machinations of the most skilful. In spite of everything, he will only be able to: "[...] save around eleven o'clock or eleven thirty. In order to know the guests who will be at the party, he asks Potocka: " I'll have to give six dolls back to me ". A little joke that reflects their level of intimacy.
He regrets to have committed for this evening which prevents him from going to the countess's house: " Do you see where I am? The evening for which I had engaged should not begin to be pleasant until midnight, all guests left. At last, he proposes to: "[...] scream, like the brother-in-law of your friend:" To me camphor and water lily "! Both substances were used as anaphrodisiac or to calm nervousness.
Despite his lack of desire, he will have to go to this dinner but he plans to offer: "[...] to God, and to you, this sacrifice which will seem delicious to me. I will come with feelings of contrition and sacred exaltation. To conclude the most humorous of Maupassant's letters to Countess Potocka, the author signs: " Maupassant free priest ."