Women in the Life of Balzac

E DE

s each day renewed in my heart, and whose divine qualities make all other friendships when compared with hers seem pale. I no longer have help in the difficulties of li

ociety and delicate attentions which he found in the friendships of various women. "The feeling of abandonment and of solitude in which I am stings me. There is nothing selfish in me; but I need to te

de Jarjayes, adjutant-general of the army. M. Jarjayes was one of the best known persons belonging to the Royalist party during the Revolution, a champion of the Queen, whom he made many attempts to save. He was one of her most faithful friends, was intrusted with family keepsakes, and was made lieutenant- general under Louis XVIII. Madame Jarjayes was much loved by the Queen; she was

he age of forty, this /femme de quarante ans/ became for him the /amie/ and the companion who was to teach him life. Still beautiful, having been reared in intimate court circles, having been the confidante of plotters and the guardian of secrets, possessed of rare trinkets and souv

he secret of Balzac's royalism; here is where he first learned of the great ladies that appear in

and resided during the winters at 3, rue Portefoin, Paris. It is possible that he met her at the soirees, which he frequented with his sisters, and where his awkwardness provoked smiles from the ladies. While it is gen

her that Madame de Berny has become a grandmother, and that after forty years of reflection, realizing that money is everything, sh

collected all the traditions remaining in Villeparisis concerning the two families. According to Villeparisis tradition, Madame de Berny was a woman of great intelligence who wrote much,

. and Madame de Berny. Thus Balzac probably saw her daily and was struck by her patience and kindness toward her husband. She was apparently a gentle and symp

h himself as a printer. During the year 1825-1826, Madame de Berny loaned Balzac 9250 francs; after his failure, she entered in /name/ into the type-foundry association

M. de Berny told M. Rhone that the famous bust of Flore cost him 1500 francs. One day while visiting Balzac, his host told him to take whatever he liked as a reimbursement, since he could not pay him. M. de Berny took some trifle, and after Bal

ue des Marais that his /Dilecta/ began her daily visits, whic

Duc de Fitz-James who asked Balzac (1832) to write a sort of program for the Royalist party, and later (1834), wished him to become a candidate for deputy. This Duc de Fitz-Ja

ellent taste she writes him: "Act, my dear, as though the whole multitude sees you from all sides at the height where you will be placed, but do not cry to it to admire

cruel things, but she brought Balzac consolation for all his pains and a c

like a beneficent sleep, to still his sorrows. She did more; though under the control of a husband, she found means to lend me as much as forty-five thousand francs, of which I returned the last six thousand in 1836, with interest at five per cent., be it understood. But she never spoke to me of my debt, except now and then; without her, I

y manhood, and a reflection of these ideas is seen throughout his works. It was probably to give Mada

e de Berny whom Balza

ni/ he describ

ndly and gay, her politeness is unforced, her earnestness is not servile; she reduces respect to a mere gentle shade; she never tires you, and leaves you satisfied with her and yourself. You will see her gracious presence stamped on the things she collects about her. In her home everything charms the eye, and you breathe, as it seems, your native air. This woman is quite natural. You never feel an effort, she flaunts nothing, her feelings are expressed with s

erny's son, Alexandre

and he no doubt rec

association with women in his works. In co

han I could describe her. If I have made her a dream it

writing of /

ork in tapestry, eac

his new work has bee

hat are secrets b

nings and sufferings o

Vandenesse (/Le Lys d

hagrin/), Balzac is p

Louis Lambert/) and Pau

ly drawn from the sa

ame de Berny. Madame d

, though not so outspo

elist had in mind whe

t to you the eyes of the whole world, just as I long to c

adame de Berny say as did Pauline in

mine; his geniu

to find a rich wife for him. Madame de Castries, who had begun an anonymous correspondence with him, revealed her identity early in that year, and the first letter from l'Etrangere, who was soon to over-shadow all his other loves, arrived February 28, 1832. During the same period Mademoi

sort of farewell of soul to soul to the woman he had so loved, and whose equal in devotion he never found. In memory of his ten years' intimacy with her, he dedicated

hing on Balzac's soul when he relates, in /Le Cure de Village/, the tragi

Balzac's affection for this great friend of his youth has not been better expressed than in Balthasar Claes, she always ready to sacrifice all for him, and he, as Ba

thout tears! The attentions due to her cast uncertainty upon any time of which I could dispose, though she herself unites with the doctor in advising me some strong diversions. She pushes friendship so far

sted that Madame de Be

d'Aiglemont in /La Fem

/La Femme abandonnee/

y pointing out that G

fter she had been des

just as the youthful

r she had

love of a man." It is of interest to note that Antoinette is the Christian name of the heroine of this story. Throughout the /Comedie humaine/ are seen quite young men who fall in

Grandet/ B

drag him to the ditch. Powerful, he is a sort of deity; ruined, he is below Marat in his sewer, because he is alive, and Marat, d

e/ of Marie Antoinette, Balzac probably

ays, regarding this work: "I undertook the /Physiologie du Mariage/ and the /Peau de Chagrin/ against the advice of that angel who

whose caprices and even jealousy he was bound to respect, had exacted that this silent testimony should be repressed. He had the sincerity to avow to her both the dedication and its destruction, because he believed her to have a soul sufficiently lofty not to desire homage which would cause grief to one as noble and

ndence began he wrote her: "You have asked me the baptismal name of the /Dilecta/. In spite of my complete and blind faith, i

dly, and her last days were full of sorrow. Amo

whose brother has gone to bring him home from Belgium. . . . Suddenly, the only son who resembles her, a young man handsome as the day, tender and spiritual like herself, like her full of noble sentiments, fell ill, and ill of a cold which amounts to an affection of the lungs. The only child out of /nine/ with whom she can sympathize! Of the nine, only four remain; and her youngest daughter has become hysterically insane, without any hope of cure. That blow nearly kill

ollowing: "I am going to fulfil a rather sad duty this morning. The daughter of Madame de B . . . and of Campi . . . asks for me. In 1824, they wished me to marry her. She was bewitchingly beautiful, a flower of Bengal! After twenty years, I am going to see her again! At forty years of age! She asks a service of me; doubtles

re she is dying of her troubles. I cannot write you about them; they are things that can only be spoken of with the greatest secrecy." He might have revealed this secret to her in 1835 w

me evening at Wierzchownia, when the heart wounds are scars, I will tell it to you in murmurs so that the spiders cannot hear, and so that my voice can go from my li

other women in her earlier association with Ba

g this soul of my life has been in these days measured by illness, and with what fervor she desires that another be to me what she

ith Balzac in his devotion to Madame de Berny, and i

You can understand something of this, you who know so well what friendship is, you who are so affectionate, so good. . . . I thank you beforehand for your offer of Frapesle to h

uch sympathy from Madame Hanska

r heart and protects me from stings? Do not be jealous of her; she would be so glad of our happin

and withered her, Balzac's affection for her redoubled. He did not realize how rapidly she was failing, for she did not wish him to see her unless she felt well and could appear attractive. On his return to Fran

id not cease to re

e regrets; they injure the beautiful letter she writes.' Therefore, to-day I have piously effaced a hundred lines, which, according to many persons, disfigure that creation. I have not regretted a single word, and each time that my pen was drawn through one of them, never was the hear

er ceased to revere her memory. The following appreciations of her

ed and entire devotedness. If I am alive this day, it is to her that it is due. She was everything to me; and although during the last two years, time and illness kept us apart, we saw each other through the distance. She inspired me; she was for me a spiritual sun. Madame de

er, and, always coquettish, she imperiously forbade me to visit her, because she would not have me near her unless she were beautiful and well. The letter deceived me. . . . When I was wrecked the first time, in 1828, I was only twenty-nine years old and I had an angel at my side. . . . There is a blank which has saddened me. The adored is here no longer. Every day I have occasion to deplore the eternal absen

Berny died J

affected on seeing at the /Cour d'Assises/ a woman about forty-five years of age, who strongly resemb

ASTRIES.-MADEMOI

y grace before knowing whether she was a beauty, a young woman with blond, deep-golden hair; he who has not seen appear then the young Marquise de

f the Duchesse (nee Fitz-James) and the Duc de Maille. She did not become a duchess until in 1842, and bore the title of marquise previous to that time. Separated from her husband as the result of a famous love

the month of September, 1831, he received an anonymous letter, dated at Paris, a circ

ogie du Mariage/, to which Balzac

should lay hold on the mind of my readers, awaken their attention and leave behind, reflections upon which they might meditate. Thus then any woman who has passed through the "storms of life" would see that I attribute the blame of all faults committed by the wives, entirely to their husbands. It is, in fact, a plenary absolution. Besides this, I plead for the natural and inalienable rights of woman. A happy marriage is impossible unless there be a perfect acquaintance between the two before marriage

y accepted her gracious offer to come, not as a literary man nor as an artist, but as himself. It is a striking coincidence

arning that his unknown correspondent belonged to the highest aristocracy of the

brilliant exterior accomplishments, qualities refined by education, luxury and aristocratic surroundings, but also with all her coldness and faults; in a

ge her accurately, but after frequenting h

ascribes a soul; a true duchess, very disdainful, very loving, subtle, witty, a coquette, like nothing I have ever yet seen, and who says she loves me, who wants to keep me in a palace at Venice (for I tell you everything),

later he wri

Much, because I see daily a person full of grace and ami

or her sake that the novelist offered himself as a candidate for deputy in several districts, but was defeated in all of them. He thought it quite probable that the Duc de

in his horses and carriage, his extra servant, his numerous waistcoats, his gold buttons, his appearance at th

His lunch came from the circle, and at six o'clock, he dined with Madame de Castries, and spent the evening with her. His intimacy wit

in-which includes everything, food, carriages, hotels-is a thousand francs for all of us to go from Geneva to Rome; making my share two hundred and fifty francs. . . . I shall make this splendid journey with the Duke, who will treat me as if I were his son. I also shall be in relation with the best society; I am not

here, we shall probably never know. Suddenly aban

February. I shall, therefore, come back, but not to Paris; my return will not be known to any one; and I shall start again for

us to his sudden de

the sight of Geneva, for I left it disconsolate, cursing everything, abhorri

f rejoining the Duchesse de Castries in Italy Balzac's first visit to that country

sudden breach, Mis

the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul. The present 'Confession' was substituted for it, because the first revealed too much of Balzac's private life. However, even in the original 'Confession,' we learn no reason for Madame de Castries' sudden resolve to dismi

in the summer of 1832 that Balzac and his /Dilecta/ decided to sever their intimate connection, and since his /Chatelaine/

from an amorous attachment, more serious than was his, for death had recently claimed the

ithout affectation. This woman-with her profile more Roman than Greek, her hair falling over her high, white brow-was the Duchesse de Castries, nee de Maille, related to the best families of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. Accompanying the young Comte de Metternich on the hunt, she was caught in the

as a frequent visitor o

at Vienna in the sum

se de Castries while

e of his /Contes drol

, M. le baron

tly to Count Metterni

sociation with M

but I do not judge her. . . . Madame de C-- insists that she has never loved any one except M. de M-- and that she loves him still, that Artemisia of Ephesus. . . . You asked me, I believe, about Madame de C-- She has taken the thing, as I told you, tragically, and now

on at Geneva, their relatio

! . . . I meant to speak to you of Madame de C--, but I have not the time. Twenty-five days hence I will tell you by word of mouth. In two words, your Honore, my Eva, grew angry at the coldness which simulated frie

s, and resented her leaving him in the depths of an abyss of coldness after

w of wounded vanity, oh! but disgust and contempt . . . If Madame de C--'s letter displeases you, say so frankly, my love. I will write to her that my affections are plac

how, on his previous visit, he had wept over his /illusions perdues/. While other writers suggest different causes, one might surmise that this serious disappointment was the beginning of Balzac's heart tr

he disclosed in one of his most noted stories, /La Duchesse de Langeais/, which he wrote largely in 1834 at the same fatal city of Geneva, but this time, while e

egenerated into artifice. With more wilfulness than force of character, impressionable rather than enthusiastic, gifted with more brain than heart; she was supremely a woman, supremely a coquette, and above all things a /Parisienne/, loving a brilliant life and gaiety, reflecting never, or too late; imprudent to the verge o

onceived some of his ideas of the aristocracy of the exclusive Faubourg Saint-Germain, a picture of which he has drawn in this story of which she is the heroine. Her influe

do not want for an enemy when my book comes out and the best means of obtaining a defender against the Faubourg Saint-Germain is to make her approve of the work in advance; and she greatly approved of it." But a few weeks later, h

you may perhaps know, illustrious and elegant, has approved everything, corrected everything like a roy

c to her illness, especially as her Parisian friends seemed to have abandoned her. Though

. Oh! I pity her. She suffers horribly and inspires pity only. She is the only person I visit, and then, for on

dency he trie

bread of the soul, and when the soul is not fed it grows starved, like the body. The bonds of the soul and body are such that each suffers with the other. . . . A thousand kindly things in return for your flowers, which bring me much happiness, but I wish for something more. . . . You h

as is seen in his association of them with various women, a

n the last frail relations of politeness with Madame de C--. She enjoys the society of MM. Janni and Sain

her as teacher of English, and used her as a means of ensnaring Balzac by having her write him a love letter and sign it "Lady Nevil." Though suspicious about this letter, he answered it, and a rendezvous was arranged at the opera.

ironical and written for the purpose of making a woman masquerading as a false lady blush, she (Miss Patrickson) had recovered them. I had the upper hand of Madame de C-- She ended by divining that in this intrigue she was on the down side. From that time forth sh

t some translations and found her overcome by drink in the midst of poverty and

dame Hanska believe he was married. He enjoyed telling her of Madame Hanska's admiration for and devotion to him, and sarcastically remarked to her that she was such a "true friend" she would be happy to learn of his financial success. Thus, during a period

t tragic for the author of the /Comedie humaine/. No other woman left so deep a mark

e day I asked her to. . . . This /liaison/ which, whatever may be said, be assured has remained by the will of the woman in the most reproachable conditions, has been one of the great sorrows of my life. The secret misfortunes of my situation actu

t-Colonel of the Artillery of the Royal guard under the Restoration, a former /émigré/, and of Madame Alexandra-Anna de Montiers. This request was received by her father, who tra

re novelist was working on the /Chouans/ and the /Physiologie du Mariage/, and at the time Balzac was revising the latter for publication, he went to dine frequently at the home of the Baron, who used to work with him until late in the e

his three daughters; but one can understand how the young novelist, who had not yet attained great fame, might not favorab

iest and noblest in the young girl, I have named for her," some think that the lady he had in mind was not Mme. Hanska, but Eleonore de Trumilly, who really was a young unmarried girl, while Madame Hanska was not only married, but the mother of several children. Again, letters written by the

nt which, as has been seen, was to be repeated some months later with more serious resu

S WYLEZYNSKA.-LA COMTESSE ROSALIE RZEWUSKA.- MADEMOISELLE CALISTE RZEWU

first love! I know not

is stra

r arrived February 28, 1832. The friendship soon developed into a more sentimental relationship culminating March 14, 1850, when Madame Hanska beca

f Quinola may well be applied to his experience. So fervent was his adoration, so pathetic his sufferings and so persistent his p

, substantival, occurs to us as we read the thousand and odd pages of the two volumes. . . . Nothing in his fiction or any other, records a love great

fter Balzac had arrived "at the summit of happiness," has been shrouded in mystery. This mystery has

henticity of some of the letters publishe

twenty-six or twenty-eight years old, resided at the chateau of Wierzchownia, in Volhynia. An enthusiastic reader of the /Scenes de la Vie privee/, uneasy at the different turns which the mind of the author was taking in /La Peau de Chagrin/, she addressed to Balzac-then thirty-three years old, in the care of the publisher Gosselin, a letter signed /l'Etrangere/, which was delivered to him February 18, 1832. Other letters followed; that of November 7 ended t

g to prove this, she cited a letter from Balzac written to Madame Hanska, dated January 4, 1846, in which he says that the thirteen years will soon be completed since he received her first letter. She corrects this statement, however, in writing her /Memoir of Balzac/ three years later. The mistake in this

, and January 8, 1833, and signed /l'Etrangere/, Miss Wormeley says it is not necessary to n

did Balzac receive thus? No one knows. But we possess two, neither of which is in

de of all the letters he had received from Madame Hanska; perhaps also, by dint of rereading it, he had worn it out and involuntarily destroyed it himself. We do not know. In any case, we have not found it

d received from Madame Hanska," how could de Lovenjoul publish in 18

alzac in the rue Fortunee, has been both gracious and generous to the present writer in giving her much va

aunt found them all, and I am sorry to say that /it was she who burned them/, and that I was present at this /autodafe/, and remember to this day my horror and indignation. But my aunt as well as

Roman d'Amour/, is so inaccurate that the Princess Radziwill has ver

now that the Roman Catholic church celebrates on the 24th of December the fete of Adam and Eve, and it is because they were born on that day that my father and his sister were called Adam and Eve. I am also quite sure that the year of my aunt's birth was 1801, and my father's 1803, and should be very much surprised if my memory served m

and had General Witte for a husband; but Witte was a great admirer of hers at the time she was Mme. Sobanska. There is also a detail connected with her which is very little known, and that is that she nearly married Sainte-Beauve, and that the marriage was

h, but he was /neither a General nor a Baron/. Her second daughter, Alexandrine, married Mr. Ciechanowiecki

s marriage, had nothing to do with it. My grandfather,-this by the way,-was a very remarkable man, a personal friend of Voltaire. You will find interesting details about him in an amusing book published by Ernest Daudet, called /La Correspondence du Comte Valentin Esterhazy/, in the first volume, where among other things is described the birth of my au

second son of his parents, but

lisher to advertise in the /Gazette/ and the /Quotidienne/, as they were the only papers admitted into Russia, Italy, etc. He repeated thi

y day that the novelist wrote accepting the invitation of the Duchesse de Castries. Balzac doubtless little dre

sts how is one to prove what it contained? Yet it must have impressed Balzac, for he wanted to dedicate to her the fourth volume of the /Scenes de la Vie privee/ in placing her seal and "Diis ignotis 28 fevrier 1832" at the head of /l'Expiation/, the

ska's letters to Madame Carraud, and she answered it for him; but wit

e days in the year, without being on that account the least in the world versatile. This mobility comes from an imagination

d rereading all your letters,-I have but three of them, . . ." If this last statement be true, the answ

rbitrary system of dating. There are others which are inconsistent, if not impossible, but if Spoelberch de Lovenjoul after the death of Madame Hono

e the injustice of the

Revue/, November, 189

ishing her lett

n suffered from ennui in her beautifully furnished chateau of Wierzchownia, which Balzac described as being "as large as the Louvre." This was a great exaggeration, for it was comparatively small, having only about thirty rooms. With her husband, her little daughter Anna, her

deepest feelings of her heart were devoted to her daughter Anna, who also was dest

dienne/ in which his notice is inserted. She tells him that M. de Hanski with his family are coming nearer France, and she wishes to arrange some way for him

atel in July, having stopped in Vienna on the way. Here Balzac was to meet l'Etrangere for the first time. He left Paris September 22, stopping to make a business visit to his friend, Charles Bernard, at Besancon, and arriving at Neufchatel Septemb

one o'clock till four. I shall remain during that

er that Balzac called at her hotel to meet her and that there was nothing romantic in their intr

ded himself with a similar one in which to keep hers. If we are to credit the disputed letter of Saturday, October 12, we may learn something of what took place.

m Neufchatel the tone of his letters to Madame Hanska changed; he used the /tutoiement/, and his adoratio

e of fame alone, having apparently grown weary of the poor Duchesse d'Abrantes, about to cease his intimacy with Madame de Berny, having been rejected by Mademoisel

invited to the home of one of the beautiful society ladies of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, what must have been his joy in learning that his new /Chatelaine/ belonged to one of

se d'Abrantes; or the frail, dazzling, blond coquette, the Duchesse de Castries. With more strength physically and mentally than her rivals, she possessed a marked aut

m he was indebted for the development of his marvelous genius, and as his collaborator in many of his works. According to the Princess, /Modeste Mignon/ is almos

nt with her pen. She had that large glance only given to superior minds which allows them, according to the words of Catherine of Russia, 'to read the future in the history of the past.' She observed everything, was indulgent to every one. . . . Her

ut he did not arrive until Christmas day. In the meantime, he referred to their promise (to marry) which was as holy and sacred to him as their mutual life, and he truly described his love as the most ardent, the most persistent of lo

her /moujik/ and signed his name /Honoreski/. She became his "love," his "life," his "rose of the Occident," his "star of the North," his "fairy of the /

unciation of /tilleuls/ in having Madame Vauq

er that you do not come between them. I can think of nothing but you. In spite of myself my imagination brings me back to

ut his work was not entirely neglected. While there, he wrote almost all of /La Duchesse d

e de Hanska, nee

to the effort-such an effort as Jacob's-by telling me that even the most imperfect outline of the figure dreamed of by you, as it has been by me from my infancy, would still be something in your eyes? Here, then, is that something. Why cannot this book be set apart exclusively for those lofty spirits who, like you, are preserved from worldly pettiness by solitude? They might impress on it the melod

BALZ

g the summer, where they remained for about a year. But Balzac continued his correspondence with Madame Hanska. She was interested

him to visit them at Rome. Then he felt that he must go to Vienna, see the Danube, explore the bat

ging him on the scene in /La Recherche de l'Absolu/. That was a longing I could not resist, and I beg your pardon and that of M. de Hanski for the great liberty. You could not believe how that printed page fascinates me!" He writes her of ano

gly remarked to him, beside the lake of Geneva, that she would like to know what a love-letter was like, so he promised to write her one. Being reminded of this promise, he sent her one, and received a cold letter of reproof from her after another letter was on the way to her. Receiving a second rebuke, he was

short, lasting only to June 4. While there, he was quite busy, working on /Le Lys dans la Vallee/, and declined many invitations. To get his twelve hours of work, he had to retire at nine o'clock in order

cab for the package, telling him where he could secure the money and, dead or alive, to bring the package. After spending four hours in an agony of anticipation, wondering what Madame Han

time and means to consult a somnambulist frequently as to his /Predilecta/, and regretted that he did not have one or two soothsayers, so that he might know daily about her. His superstition is seen early in their correspondence where he considered it a good omen that Madame Hanska had sent him the /Imitation de J

nd writing some books dealing with it,

fe, a mother, a friend, a relation, I would not seek to dissuade you, for then you might go and shut yourself up in a convent at your pleasure without hurting anybody, although you would soon die there. In your situation, and in your isolation in the midst of those deserts, this kind of read

ac in his literary work. He used her ideas frequently, and

rait again.' After which they said:-'That is your masterpiece. You have never before had that /laisser-aller/ of a writer which shows the hidden strength.' 'Ha, ha!' I answered, striking my head; 'that comes from the forehead of /an analyst/.' I kneel at your feet for this violation; but I left out all that was personal. . .

us allusions Balzac made to the an

each year seemed to add to his admiration and "dog-like fidelity." She, on the ot

is sister, and called attention to the same intense maternal feeling of the two women, and the same sickly, morose husband. The Princess Radziwill also believes that this is a portrait of her aunt, which hypothesis is furthe

Balzac was "inditing oaths of fidelity to his 'earth-angel' in far-away Russia while worshipping at shrines more accessible. Lady Dudley may well have been, for all his denial, the Countess Viscont

vate lives. I have very curious letters on this subject. It appears that there are as many Messieurs de

ir home at Wierzchownia after an absence of more than two years. It was during this long stay at Vienna that M

ife of leisure-write as often as he wished. But if he scolded her for this, she had other matters to worry her. She was ever anxious about the safety of her letters, asked for many explanations of his conduct, for interpretations of various things in his works, and who certain friends were, so much so that his letters are filled with vindications of himself. Even before they

ing than lose a true friendship. . . . In short, you distrust me at a distance, just as you distrusted me near by, without any reason. I read quite despairingly the paragraph of your letter in which you do the honors of my heart to my mind, and sacrifice my whole personal

amily added to

I have the horrible privilege of being horribly calumniated. A few more controversies like the last, and I shall retire to the remotest part of Touraine, isolating myself from everything, renouncing all, . . . Think always that what I do has a reason and an object, that my actions are /necessary/. There is, for two souls that are a little above others, something mortifying in repeating to you for the tenth time not to believe in calumny. When you said to me three letters ago, that I gambled, it was just as true as my marriage at Geneva. . . . You attribute to me little defects which I do not hav

once, Madame Hanska sent the novelist a sum for this purpose. For a Christmas greeting, 1836, she sent him a copy of the Daffinger miniature made at Vienna the preceding year. Agai

ission to have a copy of it, half size, made for himself, to place on his writing desk. This journey aroused Madame Hanska's suspicions again, but he assured h

d almost a complete journal of his life. He explained that the tour he purposed making to the Mediterranean was neither for marriage nor for anything adventurous or silly, but he was pledged to secrecy, and, whether it turned out well or ill,

s/ to reside, which was later to be the cause of another financial disaster. Replying to her criticism of his journey to Sardinia, he begged her never to censure those who feel themselves sunk in deep waters and

and feel that he was the most constant, least volatile, most steadfast of men. He was willing to obey her in all things except in his affections, and she wa

the same to her; it was because of his unchangeableness of heart that he was so painfully wounded by her neglect. Carried away, as he often was, by his torrential

estic troubles seemed at times to deprive him of his usual hope an

e have been days when I proudly ate a roll of bread on the boulevard. I have had the greatest sufferings: self-love, pride, hope, prospects, all have been attacked. But I shall, I hope, surmount everything. I had not a penny, but I earned for those atrocious Lecou and Delloye seventy thousand francs in a year. The Peytel affair cost me ten thousand francs, and people said I was

bts; he felt that he was growing old, and would not live long. His comfort while working was a picture of Wierzchownia which she had sent him, but in

e were ill. He was told that within six weeks he would receive a letter that would change his entire life. Almost four more months passed, howe

six months, the letter came that was to change Balzac's entire life. On January 5, 1842, a letter ar

the most beautiful o

they seem to me natural and true, especially after the protection which has never failed you since that letter at Vienna. I am, however, joyful to know that I can write to you with open heart to tell you all those things on which I have kept silence, and disperse the melancholy complaints you have founded on misconceptions, so difficult to explain at a distance. I know you too well, or I think I know you too well, to doubt you for one moment; and I have often suffered, very cruelly suffered, that you have doubted me, because, since Neufchatel, you are my life. Let me say this to you plainly, after having so often proved it to you. The miseries of my struggle and of my terrible work would have tired out the greatest and strongest men; and often my sister has desired to put an end to them, God k

er letters, but he assured her that they were safe, and begged her to inform him when he could visit her; for six years he had b

an autograph of Rossini whom M. de Hanski admired. The Polish gentleman (he was never a count) must have been willing to have Balzac visit his wife again, at Geneva, when their friendship seemed to grow warmer. Balzac called him /l'honorable Marechal de l'Ukraine/ or the /Grand Marechal/, and extended to him his t

custom of using the /de/ in connection with M. de Ha

Paris, they exchanged a few letters, and Balzac introduced stories to amuse him in his letters to Madame Hanska. He wrote most graciously to the /Marechal/, apologizing for the tw

amily to visit him in Paris within two years. He mentioned that his wife was preparing for Balzac a long letter of several pages, and assured him of his sincere friendship. Balzac was most appre

ska could work at his comedies. In spite of this friendly correspondence, the /Marechal/ probably hinted to his wife that her admiration for the author was too warm, for Balzac asked her to reassure her husband that he was not only invulnerable, but imm

the /convenances/ had he gone to visit her so early in her widowhood. Soon after learning of M. de Hanski's death, he saw an announcement of the death of a Countess Kicka of Volh

r which, as he expressed it, killed the youth in him, and rent his heart! She felt that she owed everythi

his favorite theme of comparing her to the devoted Madame de Berny. He complained of her coldness, wanted to

Her own family looked down upon the great French author as a mere story-teller; and by her late husband's people sordid motives were imputed to him, to account for h

us with the key to one of his works, /Alb

oy I have made the name /Rzewuski/ shine in the midst of those of the most illustrious families of the North. Why have I not placed Francesca Colonna at Diodati?

'Argaiolo and himself, he taking the name of Rodolphe. Here are given, in disguise again, the details of Balzac's early relations to Madame Hanska. Albert Savarus, while traveling in Switzerland, sees a lady's face at the window of an upper room, admires it and seeks the lady's

rincess Radziwill says that Balzac went to the hotel to meet her aunt. It is to be not

situated on Lake Geneva, at Cologny, not far from Pre Leveque,[*] whe

spent with Madame Hanska at Pre-Leveque, Lake Geneva, by dat

one would judge that he had some very unhappy associations with Madame de Cas

mulated one, and for a heart as childlike as mine, there is cause there for an eternal gratitude. . . . When some thought saddens me, then I have recourse to you; . . . I see again Diodati, I stretch myself on the good sofa of the Maison Mirabaud. . . . Diodati, that i

mind his own life in connection with Ma

of /Albert Savarus/.-Lovers in Switzerland,-for me, it is the image of happiness. I do not wish to place the Princess Gandolphini in the /maiso

ess Gandolphini, was beautiful, noble, a foreigner, and married to a man very rich and much older than she, who was not companionable. It was on December 26 that Albert Savarus arrived at the Villa on Lake Geneva to visit his princes, while Balzac arrived December 25 to visit Madame Hanska

arus saw few people, worked at night, was poor, ever hopeful, communed with the portrait of his adored one, had trouble in regard to the delivery of her letters, and was worried when they did not come; yet he

Savarus/ was inspired by Balzac's relations with Mad

but Balzac told her she was not familiar e

last. . . . Balzac's affection for Madame Hanska was to a large degree tinged with the reverence which the Brotherhood shared for Madame de la Chanterie. . . ." While the Freres de la Consolation adored Madame de la Chanter

s life, but he too suffered from depression, and even consented to wait three years for her if she would only permit him to visit her. He insisted that his affection was steadfast and eternal, but in addition t

that Madame Hanska went to St. Petersburg. He has m

so unsatisfactory that he implored her to engrave in her dear mind, if she would not write it in her heart, that he wished her to use some of her leisure time in writing a few lines to him daily. As was his custom when in distress, he sought a fortune-teller for comfort, and as usual, was delighted with his prophecy. The notorious Balthazar describe

y, and he relieved her mind of this fear by writing in her /Journal intime/ that although he had not seen her

ted her in Vienna in May and June, 1835, and he wrote this in September 1843. This is on

g Madame Hanska, disappointment, and deferred hopes were too much for his nervous system. His letters to Madame Hanska were, if possible, filled with greater detail than ever concerning his debts, his household and family matters, his works and society gossip. The /tu/ frequently replaces the /vous/, and having

of Balzac's letters from St. Petersburg. He had two dated October 1843, St. Petersburg, and on his way home from there Balzac writes

jewelry, as well as perfumes. Since their meeting at Geneva, the two exchanged gifts of jewelry frequently, an

his purchase he regretted later, and talked of selling, but, instead, added continually to his collection. He was constantly sending, or wanting to send some present

called /Les petits Bourgeois/, saying that the first work written after his brief visit with her sh

tance-Vi

whom all things come, who makes all ripen, all mature! Some lumps of clay left by Moliere at the base of his statue of Tartufe have been molded by a hand more audacious than skilful. But, at whatever distance I may be below the greatest of humorists, I shall be satisfied to have utilized these little pieces of the stage-box of his work to show the modern hypocri

BA

ry 1,

entering the convent: "My most sincere regards to /Soeur Constance/, for I imagine that Saint Borel will take one of your names." Although Balzac ho

d it to him, and he would correct it and publish it under his name. In this way she could enjoy all the pleasure of authorship in reading what he would preserve of her beautiful and charming prose. In the first place, she must paint a provincial family, and place the romantic, enthusiastic young girl in the midst of the vulgarities of such an existence; and then, by correspondence,

ntic novel, /Modeste Mignon/. She had thrown her story into the fire, but the fire had returned it to him and given him powe

im first, but Balzac assured her that such was not his intention, and that he considered this /demarche/ of hers as /royale and reginale/. Another trait, which she probably did not recognize, was that just as the great poet Cana

hat she and her cousin Caliste who had served him as models for his heroine were superior to her. He first dedicated this work to her under the name of /un Etrangere/,

Polish

oet in your dreams,-this work, in which your love and your fancy, your faith, your experience, your suffering, your hopes and your dreams are like chains by which hangs a web less lovely than the p

BALZ

who died in 1844. Balzac learned of the warm attachment existing between Madame Hanska and her cousin soon after meeting her, and compared his faithful friend Borget to her Thaddee. On hearing of the death of Thaddee, he writes her: "The death of Th

e axiom, /N'ayez aucune collision d'interet avec vos enfants/, and that she was wrong in refusing a bequest from her deceased husband. She should give up all luxuries, dismiss all necessary employees and not spend so much of her income but invest it. He felt th

t he was married, and that he was given to indulging in intoxica

a had made her debut in St. Petersburg society, and had met the young Comte George de Mniszech, who was destined to become her husband. Balzac was not pleased w

ourney, in case she consented. While in St. Petersburg, she had given him money to buy some gift for Anna, so he planned to take both of them many beautiful things, and /une cave de parfums/ as a gift /de nez a nez/. If she would not consent to his

ary worth, they felt that the marriage would be a decided /mesalliance/, and exerted their influence against him. Discouraged by them and her friends, she forbade his coming. While her family call

ted him to such a degree that he could not concentrate his mind

r, and on my brain I must inscribe this which will be contradicted by my heart: 'Think no longer of your star, nor of Dresden, nor of travel; stay at your chain and work miserably! . . . Dear Countess, I decidedly advise you to leave Dresden at once. There are princesses in that town who infect and poison your heart, and were it not for /Les Paysans/, I should have started at once to prov

ming to visit her, but had even asked him not to

to Dresden. However, I take up my pen on the invitation contained in your letter of the 8th. Since you, as well as y

niece so that they could come to Paris to remain from March 15 until May 15. Once in Paris, in a small suite of rooms furnished by him, they could v

to set out immediately? I have not written a line of the /Paysans/. From a material point of view, all this has been fatal to me. Not even your penetrating intell

sted; and when he da

which were overpower

ended, and rebuked h

almost frantic

t St. Petersburg. Dear sovereign star, how do you expect me to be able to conceive two ideas, to write two sentences, with my heart and head agitated as they have been since last November; it is enough to drive a man mad! I have drenched myself with coffee to no avail, I have only increas

lanned. Anna is said to have taken the name of Eugenie, perhaps in remembrance of Balzac's heroine, Eugenie Grandet. After stopping at various places on the way, they spent a few weeks at Paris. Balzac had prepared a little house in Passy near him for his friends, and he t

ot separated from his /Predilecta/ long. The following month he

ightfully, and so completely heart to heart. I have never been so happy before in my life. I seemed to

am not preoccupied with any blonde, except Dame Fortune." As to whether she was justified in being suspicious, one can judge from the preceding pages. Balzac always denied or explained to her these accusa

lian tour by way of Marseilles as far as Naples. On his return to Marseilles on November 12, he invested in wonderful bargains in bric-a-brac, a fav

d much extra expense in traveling, Balzac could not rise to the situation, and implored his /Chatelaine/ to resign

I am quite exhausted; I have waited too long, I have hoped too much, I have been too happy this year; and I no longer wish anything else. After so many years of toil and misfortune, to have been free as a bird of the air, a thoughtless t

hough these attacks of neuralgia and numerous colds were regarded as rather casual, had he not been so imbued with optimism-an inheritance from his father-he might have foreseen the days of terrible suffering and disappointment that were to come to him in Russia. Nature w

e exposed himself for hours in the streets of Paris to snow, to cold and to fatigue, utterly crushed by this accusation of which he was so innocent. In his delicate physical condition, such shocks were conducive to cardiac trouble, especially since his heart had long b

nt took place. In October he joined her again, this time at Wiesbaden, to attend the marriage of Anna to the Comte George de Mniszech. This brief visit had a delightful

applied to his boyhood friend, M. Germeau, prefect of Metz, to see if he, in his official capacity, could not waive the formality

raveling, so it became necessary to find a home in which to place his collection. It is an interesting fact that while making this collection, he was writing /Le Cousin Pons/, in which the hero has a passion for accumulating rare paintings and curios with which he fills his museum and impoverishes himself. Balzac had purposed

daughter and son- in-law returned to Wierzchownia. This was not only a long separation for so devoted a mother and daughter, but there was some danger lest her incognito be discovered; Balzac, accordingly, took every precaution. It is easy to picture the extreme happiness of the novelist in conducting his /Louloup/ o

tates also that this trouble hastened the progress of his heart disease, and that when the letters were eventually secured (without the payment) Balzac burned them, lest such a catastrophe should occur again. The Princess Radziwill says that the story of the letters was invented by Balzac and is ridiculous; also, that it angered her aunt because Balzac revealed his ignorance of Russian matters, by saying such things. Lawton (/Balzac/) intimates that

ow he had planned with M. de Hanski more than ten years before to be his guest in this chateau, one can imagine his great delight now in journeying thither with the hope of accompl

cluding his portrait, were preserved intact by the f

estion of his marriage

this property. She has given up everything to her daughter. I have known of her intentions ever since I was at St. Petersburg. I am delighted, because the happiness of my life will thus be freed from all self-interest.

dilecta/ was for herself alone, and that he was not actuated

o return to Paris in February. In leaving this happy home, he must have felt the contrast in arriving in Paris during the Revolution, and having to be annoyed again wit

with two servants to care for his home in the rue Fortunee, as he expected to return within a few months. It is worthy of note that in this first letter to her, he spoke

eir future home as soon as the harvest was gathered,

s debts, whether his own, or those he has in common with the family, trouble her enormously. Nevertheless, I hope to return toward the end of Augus

herit from an uncle, and, in less than six weeks, four fires had consumed several farm houses and a large quantit

he could not mount the stairs. But he had implicit faith in his physician, and with his usual hopefulness felt that he would soon be cured, congratulating himself on having two such excellent physicians as Dr. Knothe and his son. His surroundings were

to assist him in concealing from her the real facts. He had had another terrible crisis in w

y death, it will be remembered that his health had long begun to fail, and that no constitution could long endure the severe strain he had given his. No climate could help hi

of all is still subject to entanglements and delays, which make me doubt whether it is God's will that your brother should ever be happy, at least in that way; but as regards sincere mutual love, delicacy and goodness,

iquidate in his state of health (his work having amounted to very little during his stay in Russia), consumed with a burning passion for the woman who had become the overpowering figure in the latter half of his literary career, possess

part of Russia, the climate is almost as mild as is the Isle of Wight, and Balzac, when he was staying with Madame Hanska, was nursed as he would nev

with a man whose family was so unfortunate and whose social standing was so far beneath hers. She preferred to remain in Russia where she was rich, and move

ly, and he hesitated urging a life so shattered as was his upon the friend who

heart, my soul, my ambition, all that is within me, desires nothing, except the one object I have had in view for sixteen years. If this immense happiness escapes

riage. Apropos of his marriage, he would say that it was postponed for reasons which he could not give his family; Madame Hanska h

is cloth at Geneva in 1834. Again he was ill, for twenty days, and his only amusement was in seeing Anna depart for dances in costumes of royal magnificence. The Russian toilettes were wonderful, and while the women ruined their husbands with their extravagance, the

should have done, was seriously affected, and early in January another illness followed which kept him in bed for several days. He thought that

stay in Russia, but his optimism an

five successive illnesses-the sufferings of a period of acclimatization-which my affection has enabled me to take joyfully, have touched this sweet soul more than the few little debts which remain unpaid have frightened her as a prudent woman, and I foresee that all will go well. In the face of this h

ould not announce his expected wedding. Finally, all obstacles

as April 15, 1850. The Princess Radziwill writes: "Concerning the date of Balzac's marriage, it was solemnized as he wrote it to his family on March 2/14/1850, at Berditcheff in Poland. Balzac, however, was a French subject, and as such had to be married according to the French

of triumph, after almost seventeen years of

is no longer a secret, as you see I tell it to you without delay. The witnesses were the Countess Mniszech, the son-in-law of my wife, the Count Gustave Olizar, brother

ndniece of Marie Leczinska and the brother-in-law of an aide-de-camp general of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Count Adam Rzewuski, step-father of Count Orloff; the nephew of the Countess Rosalia Rzewuska, first lady of hono

he following dictum: "It was his first real love, and it was her last; and, therefore, their association realized the very characteristic aphorism which Bal

s twelve days before he recovered sufficiently to travel. He had an attack of ophthalmia at Kieff, and could scarcely see; the Countess Anna fell ill with the measles, and her mother would not leave until the Countess recovered. They started late in April for what proved to be a terrible journey, he

evers, to get us out of the bottomless mudholes into which we have sunk up to the carriage-doors. . . . At last, we are here, alive, but ill and tired. Such a journey ages one ten years, for you can imagin

es from a letter written to her daughter on May 16 from Frankfort, in which, speaking of Balzac as "poor dear friend," she seems to be quite ignorant of his condition, and to show more interest in her necklace than in her husband. The present wri

perceive that there is a new quality in him which I did not know. If he could only enjoy health! Speak to M. Knothe about it, I beg you. You have no idea how he suffered last night! I hope his natal air will help him, but if this hope fails me, I sh

and yet she wrote to her daughter, but there is a difference between a mother's letter to her only child, and one to a mother-in-l

arranged in accordance with his oft repeated request to his poor old mother. But alas! to their numerous tugs at the door-bell no response came, so a locksmith had to be sent for to open the doors. T

before his death, Balzac closed /Les petites Miseres de la Vie conjugal/ with these prophetic words: "Who has not heard an Italian opera of some kind in his life? . . . You must have noticed, then, the musical abuse of the word /felichitta/ lavished by the librettist and the chorus at the time every one

poor /etrangere/, whose faithful tenderness, admiration and devotion had comforted the earthly exile of a man of genius. Balzac, realizing his hopeless condition, was despondent; his hopes were blighted, and his physical sufferings doubtless made him irritable. On the other hand, Madame de Balzac, however, seductive and charming,

very young when their aunt died, and he was influenced by his mother, who never liked Madame de Balzac. She poin

d she had left the room to avoid him; that she probably returned before Balzac's last moments came; that Hugo was only there a short while; that if she did not return she cou

Princess Radziwill states that when Balzac died, her aunt did not know Gigoux and had never seen him. He was introdu

e. But were it true, Balzac's condition was such that no physician could have saved him, even though possessing all the ability portrayed by the novelist in the notable and omnipresent Dr. Horace Bianchon, who had saved so many characters of the /Comedie h

n this enlightened age, but seventy years ago, in the wilds of Russia, there was probably no better medical aid to be secured; and even if Dr. Knothe and his son were "charlatans," it w

t what M. de Fiennes had taken for grass was laurel, thyme, buckthorn and white jasmine; the grave of Balzac was cons

elling her rights in all his works, the beautiful /etrangere/ accepted courageously the terrible burden left to her, and paid the novelist's mother an annuity of three thousand francs until her dea

that they were as happy as one could expect, considering that Balzac's days were numbered. The present writer is fain to say, with Mr. Edward King: "He

e of one of the most sincere and faithful friends she will ever have,

r demise in a convent in the rue de Vaugirard in Paris and retained her right mind until the day of her death. It will always be one of the greatest regrets of the p

age, for perhaps no father ever loved his own child more devotedly

engraved: /adoremus in aeternum/. She was at this time about seven or eight years of age. When he visited them again at Geneva, their friendship increased, and in writing to her mother he sent the child kisses from /son pauvre cheval/. He loved her little playthings, some of which he kept on his desk; was always wanting

f agreeable to both of them. The mother's consent was granted, and he assured her that the story Pierrette (written, by the way, in ten days) was suitable for Anna to read. "/Pierrette/ is on

iselle Ann

her-how can I dedicate to you a story full of melancholy? But is it not well to tell you of sorrow such as a young girl so fondly loved as you are will never know? For some day your fair hands may comfort the unfortun

old

BALZ

, and wished Madame Hanska to have Anna read it, as

nemies proclaim this little book a masterpiece; I shall be glad if they are not mistaken. You will read it soon, as it is being printed

n was placed at t

increased and he had Liszt call on Madame Hanska and play for them when he went to St. Petersburg. He expressed his gratitude to Lisz

d he expressed his opinion freely about them. He wanted her to be happily married, and wrote her mother regarding the essential qualities of a husband. He loved Anna for her mother's sake as we

ater he and the Count became warm friends, and in 1846, he dedicated to him /Maitre Cornelius

was the most charming young girl he had ever seen in the most refined circles of society. He found her far more attractive than his niece, who

well to keep her estate separate from her daughter's, or otherwise she might some day have cause for regret. Whether Madame Honore de Balzac was too busy with literary and business duties after her husband's death, or whether her extreme affection prevented her

studied her most carefully, he says of her: "It is true that the Countess Anna and Count George are two ideal perfections; I did not believe two such beings could exist. There is a nobleness of life and sentiment, a gentleness of manners,

ister and his nieces, but he was doubtless sincere, and no record has been found of

e children, she grieved when death took them. She helped save Anna's life, for which the entire family loved her. It was doubtless due to her influence that M. de Hanski and his family chose Neufchatel, her home city, as a

which de Lovenjoul says were not in the handwriting of the /Predilecta/-we shall probably never

does not return to Mademoiselle Henriette Borel a letter so carefully folded and sealed without looking at it. There are clever dissimulations. Now I entreat you, take a carriage that you may never get wet in going to the post. . . . Go every Wednesday, because the letters posted he

a, and evidently liked her. Her religious tendencies probably impressed him

she was to enter a convent at Paris, he visited a priest there for her, secured the necessary documents, and advised her about many matters, especially her property and the convent she should enter. Though he aided her in every way he could,

listen to him, and insisted on making what he considered a premature donation of everything she possessed to her convent. She annoyed him very much while he was trying to save her property, yet he was pleased to do this for the sake of his /Predilecta/ and Anna. He looked after her with the same solicitude that a father would have for his child, and after doing everything possible for

that she was not altogether responsible for her actions, believing that it was a very personal sentiment which caused her to enter the convent.[*] He could not understand her indifference to her fri

the convent. Miss Sandars (/Balzac/) has well remarked: "We may wonder, however, whether tardy remorse for her deceit towards the dead man, who had treated her with kindness, had not its influence in causing t

nd wasted much precious time, but he remained through the long service in order to see her afterwards. But in all this Lirette was to accomplish one thing for him. As she had helped in his correspo

and in 1833; their names are mentioned frequently in his letters to Madame Hanska, and soon after his visit at Neufchatel the novelist asks that Mademoiselle Severine preserve her gracious indifference. These ladies were cousins of M. de Hanski, and

d the dedication of /La Grenadiere/ has been replaced by the initials "A. D. W.," supposed to m

irska, wife of Count Wenceslas Rzewuski, Madame Hanska's uncle. She seems to have been continually hearin

as it is crazy. . . . Your letter was sad; I felt it was written under the influence of your aunt. . . . Let your aunt judge in her way of my works, of which she knows neither the whole design nor the bearing; it is her right. I submit to all judgements. . . . Your aunt makes me think of a poor Christian who, entering the Sistine chapel just as Michael-Angelo has drawn a nude figure, asks why the popes allow such horrors in S

reat dislike for Paris, and after the death of M. de Hanski, she objected to her niece's going there. The novelist felt that she was his swo

me Rosalie had such a h

llotined there,-th

alie was only a child

the home of

, the daughter of this

Modeste Mignon/. She wa

e de Teano and Duc de

uvres/ is

wrote to his /Predilecta/ many unfavorable things of a private nature about his family, she may have done the same concerning hers, so that

arrange to have him see Balzac. This /moujik/ was a great admirer of the novelist, had read all his books, burnt a candle to Saint Nicholas for him

his /Chatelaine/ in Geneva/, where the Countess Potocka entertained him, and after his return to Paris, he called on Madame Appony, wife of the Austrian ambassador, to

me to have occupied myself with you only. I was bound to respect you, and in order to talk to you so much, it was necessary for me to talk to Madame

te a letter to Madame P---, and

f Madame P---'s lett

tered her, and I want

. My enemies are sp

sian princess; they

r to you I wrote to

d to Russia bei

s of possibility that Balzac cared more for the Countess Potocka than he admitted to his "Polar Star," but several year

CLU

my friend

nation can scarcely be distinguished from fact, where the weary traveler is ever seeking gold, rest, or love, ever longing to be famous and to be loved, where the hero, secluded as in a monastery, suddenly emerges to attend

the role they played. It has been said that twelve thousand letters were written to Balzac by women, some to express their admiration, some to rec

rious hues, to have portrayed woman with her many charms and caprices, and to have described woman in her various classes

e household. The wife of a shopkeeper is sometimes worthy of a prince and the wife of a prince is often worthless compared with the wife of an artisan. The social state has freaks which are

ets, and if he has not painted the duchesses with the delicacy due them, it was not because he did n

conspicuous under the Empire, and women who were prominent in society during the

re Goriot/, and many others, the various types of the /vieille fille/ such as Mademoiselle Zephirine Guenic (/Beatrix/) who never wished

iere/), and many others. As has been seen, there is a trace of his old servant, Mere Comin, in the person of Madame Vaillant (/Facino Cane/), and Mere Cognette and La Rabouilleuse (/La Rabouilleuse/) are said to be people he met while visiting Madame Carraud. T

ted in his home as a young girl. He was not only acquainted with the various daughters of Madame de Berny, but at one time there was some prospect of his marrying Julie. Josephine and Constance, daughters of Madame d'Abrantes, were acquaintances of his during their early womanhood. He must hav

Girardin was not so young, he met her several years before her marriage, called her Delphine, and regarded her somewhat as his pupil. He liked Marie de Montbeau and her mother, Camille Delannoy, who was a friend of his sister Laure and the daugh

ity and her strength of character, headstrong and much petted Emilie de Fontaine (/Le Bal de Sceaux/), Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, the very zealous Royalist (/Une tenebreuse Affaire/), romantic Modeste Mignon,

o later became his wife, and her cousin, a most charming woman. It is quite possible that some if not

as to whether Balzac portrayed young

impertinent a manner at the author of the /Comedie humaine/, when his unquestionable glory ought to silence similar pamphletistic criticisms. We advise those who reproach Balzac for not having understood the simplicity, modesty and graces so full of charm, or often the artifice of the young girl, to please reread in the /Scenes de la Vie privee/ the portraits of Louise de Chaulieu, Renee de Maucombe, Modeste Mignon, Julie de Chatillonest, Honorine de

and in the /courtisane/, that is, at the top and the bottom of the social ladder. On the one side are the Princesse de Cadignan, the Comtesse de Seriby, etc., while on the other are Esth

woman, while the Catholic writer finds a new woman in each new situation." Naturally, most of the women of the /Comedie humaine/ are Catholic, but among the exceptions is Madame Jeanrenaud (/L'Interdiction/), who is a Protestant; Josepha Mirah and Esther Gobseck are of Jewish origin. In portraying variou

(/La Recherche de l'Absolu/) were martyrs to their husbands, while Madame Serizy made a martyr of hers. Beautiful motherhood is often seen, as in Madame Sauviat (/Le Cure de Village/)

t be traced. For obvious reasons, he avoided exact portraiture, yet in a few instances he indulged in it, notably in the sketch of George Sand as Mad

d-pigeon regaining its nest. The suffering Felix de Vandenesse (/Le Lys dans la Vallee/) could not, therefore, find calm until he went to the chateau de Frapesle to recuperate. The novelist

her of Felix was cold and tyrannical, indifferent to his happiness, that he had but little or no money to spend, that his brother was the favorite, that he was sent away to school ea

ernal love of the heroine could represent either, but especially the latter. M. de Mortsauf could be either M. de Berny or M. de Hanski. Balzac left Madame de Berny and became enraptured with Madame de Castries, and had had a similar infatuation for Madame d'Abrantes, just as Felix made Madame de Mortsauf jealous by his devotion to Lady Arabelle Dudley. It will be remembered tha

it is especially in the gentleness and patience portrayed in Madame Firmiani, in the affection and self-sacrifice of Pauline de Villenoix for Louis Lambert, and the devotion of Pauline Gaudin to Raphael in /La Peau de Chagrin/ that Madame de Berny is most

Castries that he made the Duchesse de Langeais enter a convent and die, after her fai

is life. This is only another incident, small though it be, showing how this woman impressed herself so deeply on the novelist that almost unconsciously he brought memories of his /Predilecta/ into his work. It has been shown that she served as a model for some of his most attractive heroines;

surprised at the large number of foreign women who have appeared in his work. Among the most noted of these are Lady Brandon (/La Grenadiere/); Lady Dudley (/Le Lys dans la Vallee/); Madame Varese (/Massimilla Doni/); la Duchesse de Rhetore (/Albert Savaru

opriately observed: "And the man was worthy of them: the student of his