Marcel PROUST (1871-1922). L.A.S. "Marcel", [Paris October 31, 1894], to Reynaldo HAHN; 1page in-12 with address on back (Carte-lettre). Charming bill from Marcel to Reynaldo, at the beginning of their affair. "My Master, To avoid any misunderstanding, I went to see Made Ernesta by chance and found her. Your little pony who loves you well and will always be faithful to you. Marcel". On the verso, Reynaldo Hahn has noted a few lines in pencil concerning Saint-Saëns's Symphonies: "3e Symphonie août 86 / 1ère chez Richault vers 1860". [Proust and Hahn met on May 22, 1894 at Madeleine Lemaire's home. They spent the month of August at Madeleine Lemaire's château de Réveillon. Mme Ernesta is Ernesta Stern (1854-1926), née Ernesta de Hierschel-Minerbi, wife of banker Louis Stern; she wrote under the pseudonym Maria Star, and had a salon at 68 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where she often received Proust and Reynaldo]. Lettres à Reynaldo Hahn (1956), no. X. Correspondence, t.I, no. 203. Provenance: Patricia Mante-Proust Collection, Sotheby's May 31, 2016, no. 155.