From the notes of Dr. Catherine Perry: Barrès writes, "Madam, she is a madwoman. But on Sunday we will converse about the satisfaction we must give her. Ah! Yes, if she were right! But she is hardly right." It is unclear to whom he is referring. Maurice Barrès (1862-1923) was a French novelist, journalist, and politician, and a close friend of Ana de Noailles. Sibylle Riqueti de Mirabeau (1849-1932), Comtesse de Martel, who wrote under the pseudonym Gyp, was a prolific French novelist.