Note: First published in Le Mercure de France, February 1899, this story was later collected in Sanguines, Paris, Charpentier, 1903.

Synopsis: The narrator receives a visit from a lady of ancient times, returned from the grave. She complains at length about how dull modern Europe is, and says that people are remarkably poor not to have invented even one new pleasure since her time. But the narrator puts an end to this charge by offering her a cigarette.