Where the number of guests is large and it might be inconvenient to inform the gentlemen as to the ladies they are to escort to the table, a tray holding small addressed envelopes is left in a conspicuous place in the gentleman's dressing room, or is passed to the gentlemen before they enter the drawing room. Each selects the envelope bearing his name and finds enclosed on the card within the name of the lady he is to escort to the table. The letter R. or L. in one corner indicates the side of the table on which they are to find places. At each cover is a plain card on which is distinctly written the name of the guest who is to occupy the seat. The host, with the most distinguished lady present, or the one in whose honor the dinner is given, and who is to sit at his right, leads the way to the dining-room; the hostess with the gentleman who is to sit at her right leave the drawing room last. The host sits upon the side of the table farthest from the entrance, thus enabling the hostess to find her place without passing those who have preceded her. At the close of the dinner all rise and the ladies pass to the reception room, where coffee is served to them, while coffee is served in the dining-room, or the library to the gentleman who remain behind to smoke. After a short half hour " the dinner" is ended. Guests of honor are the first to go, speaking a few hearty words to the host and hostess in appreciation of their entertainment. It is considered almost a duty to return an invitation to dinner in kind, no other form of entertainment being quite equal to this.