"I have this instant received, dear angel, your letter sealed with

black, and, after having read it, I could not perhaps have wished

to receive any other from you, in spite of the sad things you tell

me about yourself and your health. As for me, dear, adored one,

although this event enables me to attain to that which I have

ardently desired for nearly ten years, I can, before you and God,

do myself this justice, that I have never had in my heart anything

but complete submission, and that I have not, in my most cruel

moments, stained my soul with evil wishes. No one can prevent

involuntary transports. Often I have said to myself, 'How light my

life would be with /her/!' No one can keep his faith, his heart,

his inner being without hope. . . . But I understand the regrets

which you express to me; 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 knows how;

I always thought the remedy worse than the disease! It is you

alone who have supported me till now, . . . You said to me, 'Be

patient, you are loved as much as you love. Do not change, for

others change not.' We have both been courageous; why, therefore,

should you not be happy to-day? Do you think it was for myself

that I have been so persistent in magnifying my name? Oh! I am

perhaps very unjust, but this injustice comes from the violence of

my heart! I would have liked two words for myself in your letter,

but I sought them in vain; two words for him who, since the

landscape in which you live has been before his eyes, has not

passed, while working, ten minutes without looking at it; I have

there sought all, ever since it came to me, that we have asked in

the silence of our spirits."

He was concerned about her health and wished to depart at once, but

feared to go without her permission. She was anxious about her

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 been longing

to see her. "Adieu, my dear and beautiful life that I love so well,

and to whom I can now say it. /Sempre medisimo/."

The role played by M. de Hanski[*] in this friendship was a peculiar

one. The correspondence, as has been seen, began in secrecy, but

Balzac met him when he went to Neufchatel to see Madame Hanska. Their

relations were apparently cordial, for on his return to Paris, the

novelist wrote him a friendly note, enclosing 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 thanks or regards in sending little notes to

Madame Hanska, and thus he was early cognizant of their

correspondence. The future author of the /Comedie humaine/ seems to

have been taken into the family circle and to have become somewhat a

favorite of M. de Hanski, who was suffering with his "blue devils" at

that time.

[*] The present writer is following the predominant custom of using

the /de/ in connection with M. de Hanski's name, and omitting it

in speaking of his wife.

Since Balzac was not only an excellent story-teller but naturally very

jovial, and M. de Hanski suffered from ennui and wished to be amused,

they became friends. On his return to 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 two love letters he had written his wife, and this letter was

answered. The novelist was invited by him to visit them in

Wierzchownia--an invitation he planned to accept, but did not.

In the spring of 1836, M. de Hanski sent Balzac a very handsome

malachite inkstand, also a cordial letter telling him the family news,

how much he enjoyed his works, and that he hoped with his family 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 appreciative of the gift of

the beautiful inkstand, but felt that it was too magnificent for a

poor man to use, so would place it in his collection and prize it as

one of his most precious souvenirs.

Besides discussing business with the Polish gentleman, Balzac

apologized often for not answering his letters, offering lack of time

as his excuse, but he planned to visit Wierzchownia, where he and M.

de Hanski would enjoy hearty laughs while Madame Hanska 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 immune from attack. Balzac spoke of dedicating

one of his books in the /Comedie humaine/ to M. de Hanski, but no

dedication to him is found in this work. His death, which occurred

some months after this suggestion, doubtless prevented the realization

of it.

Balzac evidently received a negative reply to his letter to Madame

Hanska asking to be permitted to visit her immediately after her

husband's death. It would have been a breach of 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 Volhynia, and since his "Polar Star" had spoken of

being ill, he was seized with fear lest this be a misprint for Hanska,

and was confined to his bed for two days with a nervous fever.

What must have been Balzac's disappointment, when almost ready to

leave at any moment, to receive a letter which, as he expressed it,

killed the youth in him, and rent his heart! She felt that she owed

everything to her daughter, who had consoled her, and nothing to him;

yet she knew that she was everything to him.

He thought that she loved Anna too much, protested his fidelity to her

when she accused him, and reverted to his favorite theme of comparing

her to the devoted Madame de Berny. He complained of her coldness,

wanted to visit her in August at St. Petersburg, and desired her to

promise that they would be married within two years.

Princess Radziwill wrote: "When Madame Hanska's husband died, it was

supposed that her union with Balzac would occur at once, but obstacles

were interposed by others. 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 his devotion to the

heiress. The latter objection was removed, a few years later, by the

widow's giving up to her daughter the fortune left to her by Monsieur

Hanski."

It is at this period that Balzac furnishes us with the key to one of

his works, /Albert Savarus/, in writing to Madame Hanska:

"/Albert Savarus/ has had much success. You will read it in the

first volume of the /Comedie humaine/, almost after the /fausse

Maitresse/, where with childish joy 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? Alas, I was afraid that it would be too transparent.

Diodati makes my heart beat! Those four syllables, it is the cry

of the /Montjoie Saint-Denis!/ of my heart."

Francesca Colonna, the Princess Gandolphini, is the heroine of

/l'Ambitieux par Amour/, a novel supposed to have been published by

Albert Savarus and described in the book which bears his name. Using

her name, the hero is represented as having written the story of the

Duchesse d'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 acquaintance. She proves to be the Duchesse d'Argaiolo, an

Italian in exile. She had been married very young to the Duke

d'Argaiolo, who was rich and much older than she. The young man falls

in love with this beautiful lady, and she promises to be his as soon

as she becomes free.

Gabriel Ferry states that Balzac first saw Madame Hanska's face at a

window, and the Princess Radziwill says that Balzac went to the hotel

to meet her aunt. It is to be noted that the year 1834 is that in

which Balzac and Madame Hanska were in Geneva together.

The Villa Diodati, noted for having been inhabited by Lord Byron, is

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

where M. de Hanski and his family resided in the /maison Mirabaud-

Amat/.

[*] Balzac preserved a remembrance of the happy days he had spent with

Madame Hanska at Pre-Leveque, Lake Geneva, by dating /La Duchesse

de Langeais/, January 26, 1834, Pre-Leveque.

There are numerous allusions to Diodati in Balzac's correspondence,

from which one would judge that he had some very unhappy associations

with Madame de Castries, and some very happy ones with Madame Hanska

in connection with Diodati:

"When I want to give myself a magnificent fete, I close my eyes,

lie down on one of my sofas, . . . and recall that good day at

Diodati which effaced a thousand pangs I had felt there a year

before. You have made me know the difference between a true

affection and a simulated 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 image of a happy life, reappears

like a star for a moment clouded, and I began to laugh, as you

know I can laugh. I say to myself that so much work will have its

recompense, and that I shall have, like Lord Byron, my Diodati. I

sing in my bad voice: 'Diodati, Diodati!' "

Another excerpt shows that Balzac had in mind his own life in

connection with Madame Hanska's in writing /Albert Savarus/:

". . . It is six o'clock in the morning, I have interrupted myself

to think of you, reminded of you by Switzerland where I have

placed the scene 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 /maison Mirabaud/, for there are

people in the world who would make a crime of it for us. This

Princess is a foreigner, an Italian, loved by Savarus."

Many of Balzac's traits are seen in Albert Savarus. Like Balzac,

Albert Savarus was defeated in politics, but hoped for election; was a

lawyer, expected to rise to fame, and was about three years older than

the woman he loved. Like Madame Hanska, the Duchesse d'Argaiolo, known

as the Princess 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 at her Villa there. The two lovers

spent the winter together, and in the spring, the Duc d'Argaiolo

(Prince Gandolphini) and his wife went to Naples, and Albert Savarus

(Rodolphe) returned to Paris, just as M. de Hanski took his family to

Italy in the spring, while Balzac returned to Paris.

Albert Savarus was falsely accused of being married, just as Madame

Hanska had accused Balzac. The letters to the Duchess from Savarus are

quite similar to some Balzac wrote to Madame Hanska. Like Balzac,

Savarus 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 was patient and willing to wait until the Duke should die. Like

Madame Hanska, the Duchess feared her lover was unfaithful to her, and

in both cases a woman sowed discord, though the results were

different.[*]

[*] Miss K. P. Wormeley does not think that /Albert Savarus/ was

inspired by Balzac's relations with Madame Hanska. For her

arguments, see /Memoir of Balzac/.

Madame Hanska did not care for this book, but Balzac told her she was

not familiar enough with French society to appreciate it.

Miss Mary Hanford Ford thinks that Madame Hanska inspired another of

Balzac's works: "It is probable that in Madame de la Chanterie we are

given Balzac's impassioned and vivid idealization of the woman who

became his wife at 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 Chanterie in a beautiful manner,

neither her life nor her character was at all like Madame Hanska's.

This work is dated December, 1847, Wierzchownia, and was doubtless

finished there, but he had been working on it for several years.

In the autumn of 1842,[*] Madame Hanska went to St. Petersburg. She

complained of a sadness and melancholy which Balzac's most ardent

devotion could not overcome. He became her /patito/, and she the queen

of his 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 to showing him coldness, she unjustly rebuked him, having

heard that he was gambling. She had a prolonged lawsuit, and he wished

her to turn the matter over to him, feeling sure that he could win the

case for her.

[*] Emile Faguet, /Balzac/, says that it was in 1843 that Madame

Hanska went to St. Petersburg. He has made several such slight

mistakes throughout this work.

Thus passed the year 1842. She eventually consented to let him come in

May to celebrate his birthday. But alas! A great /remora/ stood in the

way. Poor Balzac did not have the money to make the trip. Then also he

had literary obligations to meet, but he felt very much fatigued from

excessive work and wanted to leave Paris for a rest. Her letters were

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

described to him perfectly the woman he loved, told him that his love

was returned, that there would never be a cloud in their sky, in spite

of the intensity of their characters, and that he would be going to

see her within six months. The soothsayer was correct in this last

statement, at least, for Balzac arrived at St. Petersburg soon after

this interview.

Madame Hanska felt that she was growing old, but Balzac assured her

that he should love her even were she ugly, and he relieved her mind

of this fear by writing in her /Journal intime/ that although he had

not seen her since they were in Vienna, he thought her as beautiful

and young as then--after an interval of seven years.[*]

[*] Balzac should have said an interval of /eight/ years instead of

/seven/, for he visited her in Vienna in May and June, 1835, and

he wrote this in September 1843. This is only one of the

novelist's numerous mistakes in figuring, seen throughout his

entire works.

Balzac arrived in St. Petersburg on July 17/29, and left there late in

September,[*] 1843, stopping to visit in Berlin and Dresden. Becoming

very ill, he cut short his visit to Mayence and Cologne and arrived in

Paris November 3, in order to consult his faithful Dr. Nacquart.

Excess of work, the sorrow of leaving 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 apparently exhausted all the endearing names in the French

language, he resorted to the Hebrew, and finds that /Lididda/ means so

many beautiful things that he employs this word. He calls her /Liline/

or /Line/; she becomes his /Louloup/, his "lighthouse," his "happy

star," and the /sicura richezza, senza brama/.

[*] Unless the editor of /Lettres a l'Etrangere/ is confusing the

French and Russian dates, he has made a mistake in dating certain

of Balzac's letters from St. Petersburg. He had two dated October

1843, St. Petersburg, and on his way home from there Balzac writes

from Taurogen dating his letter September 27-October 10, 1843.

Hence the exact date of his departure from St. Petersburg is

obscure.

Madame Hanska and Balzac seem to have had many idiosyncrasies in

common, among which was their /penchant/ for jewelry, as well as

perfumes. Since their meeting at Geneva, the two exchanged gifts of

jewelry frequently, and the discussion, engraving, measuring, and

exchanging of various rings occupied much of Balzac's precious time.

His fondness for antiques was another extravagance, and he invested

not a little in certain pieces of furniture which had belonged to

Marie de Medicis and Henri IV; this 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 to Madame

Hanska or to her daughter Anna, but nothing could be compared with the

priceless gift he received from her. The Daffinger miniature arrived

February 2, 1844.

As a New Year's greeting for 1844, Balzac dedicated to Madame Hanska

/Les Bourgeois de Paris/, later called /Les petits Bourgeois/, saying

that the first work written after his brief visit with her should be

inscribed to her. This dedication is somewhat different from the one

published in his OEuvres:

"To Constance-Victoire:[*]

"Here, madame and friend is one of those works which fall, we know

not whence, into an author's mind and afford him pleasure before

he can estimate how they will be received by the public, that

great judge of our time. But, almost sure of your good-will, I

dedicate it to you. It belongs to you, as formerly the tithe

belonged to the church, in memory of God from 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 hypocrite at work. That which most encouraged me in

this difficult undertaking is to see it separated from every

religious question, which was so injurious to the comedy of

/Tartufe/, and which ought to be removed to-day. May the double

significance of your name be a prophecy for the author, and may

you be pleased to find here the expression of his respectful

gratitude.

"DE BALZAC.

"January 1, 1844."

[*] /Constance/ was either one of Madame Hanska's real names, or one

given her by Balzac, for he writes to her, in speaking of

Mademoiselle Borel's entering the convent: "My most sincere

regards to /Soeur Constance/, for I imagine that Saint Borel will

take one of your names." Although Balzac hoped at one time to have

/Les petits Bourgeois/ completed by July 1844, it was left

unfinished at his death, and was completed and published in 1855.

During the winter of 1844, Madame Hanska wrote a story and then threw

it into the fire. In doing this she carried out a suggestion given her

by Balzac several years before, when he wrote her that he liked to

have a woman write and study, but she should have the courage to burn

her productions. She told the novelist what she had done, and he

requested her to rewrite her study and send 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, /make a transit/ to the description of a poet in

Paris. A friend of the poet, who is to continue the correspondence,

must be a man of decided talent, and the /denouement/ must be in his

favor against the great poet. Also the manias and the asperities of a

great soul which alarm and rebuff inferior souls should be shown; in

doing this she would aid him in earning a few thousand francs.

Her story, in the hands of this great wizard, grew like a mushroom,

without pain or effort, and soon developed into the romantic novel,

/Modeste Mignon/. She had thrown her story into the fire, but the fire

had returned it to him and given him power, as did the coal of fire on

the lips of the great prophet, and he wished to give all the glory to

his adored collaborator.

When reading this book, Madame Hanska objected to Balzac's having made

the father of the heroine scold her for beginning a secret

correspondence with an author, feeling that Balzac was disapproving of

her conduct in writing to him 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 Canalis was at first

indifferent to the letters of the heroine, and allowed Ernest de la

Briere to answer them, so was Balzac rather indifferent to hers, and

Madame Carraud--as already stated--is supposed to have replied to one

of them.

There is no doubt that Balzac had his /Louloup/ in mind while writing

this story, for in response to the criticism that Modest was too

clever, he wrote Madame Hanska that 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/, but

seeing the mistake the public made in ascribing this dedication to the

Princesse Belgiojoso, he at a later date specified the nationality,

and inscribed the book:

"To a Polish Lady:

"Daughter of an enslaved land, an angel in love, a demon in

imagination, a child in faith, an old man in experience, a man in

brain, a woman in heart, a giant in hope, a mother in suffering

and a poet 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 poetry cherished in your soul--the poetry whose expression

when it lights up your countenance is, to those who admire you,

what the characters of a lost language are to the learned--this

work is yours.

"DE BALZAC."

In /La fausse Maitresse/, Balzac represented Madame Hanska in the role

of the Countess Clementine Laginska, who was silently loved by Thaddee

Paz, a Polish refugee. This Thaddee Paz was no other than Thaddee

Wylezynski, a cousin who adored her, and 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 Thaddee, which you announce to me, grieves me. You have

told me so much of him, that I loved one who loved you so well,

/although/! You have doubtless guessed why I called Paz, Thaddee. Poor

dear one, I shall love you for all those whose love you lose!"

Balzac longed to be free from his debts, and have undisturbed

possession of /Les Jardies/, where they could live /en pigeons

heureux/. Ever inclined to give advice, he suggested to her that she

should have her interests entirely separate form Anna's, quoting the

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 that she and her

daughter were lacking in business ability; this proved to be too true,

but Balzac was indeed a very poor person to advise her on this

subject; however, her lack of accuracy in failing to date her letters

was, to be sure, a great annoyance to him.

On the other hand, she suspected her /Nore/, had again heard that he

was married, and that he was given to indulging in intoxicating

liquors; she advised him not to associate so much with women.

Having eventually won her lawsuit, she returned to Wierzchownia in the

spring of 1844, after a residence of almost two years in St.

Petersburg. Her daughter Anna 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 with this

choice, and felt that the /protégé/ of the aged Comte Potocki would

make a better husband, for moral qualities were to be considered

rather than fortune.

After spending the summer and autumn at her home, Madame Hanska went

to Dresden for the winter. As early as August, Balzac sought

permission to visit her there, making his request in time to arrange

his work in advance and secure the money for the journey, 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 coming to Dresden, he would come to Berlin,

Leipsic, Frankfort, Aix-la-Chapelle, or anywhere else. He became

impatient to know his fate, and her letters were so irregular that he

exclaimed: "In heaven's name, write me regularly three times a month!"

Poor Balzac's dream was to be on the way to Dresden, but this was not

to be realized. It will be remembered, that Madame Hanska's family did

not approve of Balzac nor did they appreciate his literary 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 called him a /scribe exotique/,

Balzac indirectly told her of the appreciation of other women, saying

that Madame de Girardin considered him to be one of the most charming

conversationalists of the day.

This uncertainty as to his going to visit his "Polar Star" affected

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

work, and he became impatient to the point of scolding her:

"But, dear Countess, you have made me lose all the month of January

and the first fifteen days of February by saying to me: 'I start--

to-morrow--next week,' and by making me wait for letters; in

short, by throwing me into rages which I alone know! This has

brought a frightful disorder into my affairs, for instead of

getting my liberty February 15, I have before me a month of

herculean labor, 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 prove to that venerable invalid of Cythera how men of my

stamp love; men who have not received, like her prince, a Russian

pumpkin in place of a French heart from the hands of hyperborean

nature. . . . Tell your dear Princess that I have known you since

1833, and that in 1845 I am ready to go from Paris to Dresden to

see you for a day; and it is not impossible for me to make this

trip; . . ."

In the meantime she had not only forbidden his coming to visit her,

but had even asked him not to write to her again at Dresden, to which

he replies:

"May I write without imprudence, before receiving a counter-order?

Your last letter counseled me not to write again to Dresden.

However, I take up my pen on the invitation contained in your

letter of the 8th. Since you, as well as your child, are

absolutely determined to see your Lirette again, there is but one

way for it, viz., to come to Paris."

He planned how she could secure a passport for Frankfort and the Rhine

and meet him at Mayence, where he would have a passport for his sister

and his 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 visit Lirette at the convent, take drives, frequent

the theatres, shop at a great advantage, and keep everything in the

greatest secrecy. He continues:

"Dear Countess, the uncertainty of your arrival at Frankfort has

weighed heavily on me, for how can I begin to work, whilst

awaiting a letter, which may cause me 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

intelligence can comprehend this, as you know nothing of Parisian

economy nor the difficulties in the life of a man who is trying to

live on six thousand francs a year."

Thus was his time wasted; and when he dared express gently and

lovingly the feelings which were overpowering him, his beautiful

/Chatelaine/ was offended, and rebuked him for his impatience.

Desperate and almost frantic, he writes her:

"Dresden and you dizzy me; I do not know what is to be done. There

is nothing more fatal than the indecision in which you have kept

me for three months. If I had departed the first of January to

return February 28, I should be more advanced (in work) and I

would have had two good months at 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 increased the

nervous trouble of my eyes; . . . I am between two despairs, that

of not seeing you, of not having seen you, and the financial and

literary chagrin, the chagrin of self-respect. Oh! Charles II was

right in saying: 'But She? . . .' in all matters which his

ministers submitted to him."

On receipt of a letter from her April 18, 1845, saying, "I desire much

to see you," he rushed off at once to Dresden, forgetful of all else.

In July, Madame Hanska and her daughter accompanied him home,

traveling incognito as Balzac's sister and his niece, just as he had

planned. 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 took

much pleasure in showing them his treasures and Paris. Their identity

was not discovered, and in August he accompanied them as far as

Brussels on their return to Dresden. There they met Count George

Mniszech, the fiance of Anna, who had been with them most of the time.

Balzac could scarcely control his grief at parting, but he was not

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

several days with her at Baden-Baden, saying of his visit:

"Baden has been for me a bouquet of sweet flowers without a thorn.

We lived there so peacefully, so delightfully, and so completely

heart to heart. I have never been so happy before in my life. I

seemed to catch a glimpse of that future which I desire and dream

of in the midst of my overwhelming labors. . . ."

The happiness of Madame Hanska did not seem to be so great, for, ever

uncertain, she consulted a fortune-teller about him. To this he

replies: "Tell your fortune-teller that her cards have lied, and that

I 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

accusations; however true were some of his vindications of himself, he

certainly exaggerated in assuring her that he always told her the

exact truth and never hid from her the smallest trifle whether good or

bad.

In October, 1845, the novelist left Paris again, met his "Polar Star,"

her daughter and M. de Mniszech at Chalons, and accompanied them on

their Italian 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 favorite pursuit which eventually cost him a great

deal in worry and time as well as much money. Madame Hanska had

supplied his purse from time to time.

Although he was being pressed by debts and for unfinished work, having

wasted almost the entire year and having had much extra expense in

traveling, Balzac could not rise to the situation, and implored his

/Chatelaine/ to resign herself to keeping him near her, for he had

done nothing since he left Dresden. In this frame of mind, he writes:

"Nothing amuses me, nothing distracts me, nothing enlivens me; it

is the death of the soul, the death of the will, the collapse of

the entire being; I feel that I cannot take up my work until I see

my life decided, fixed, settled. . . . 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 traveler, super-humanly happy, and then to come back

to a dungeon! . . . is that possible? . . . I dream, I dream by

day, by night; and my heart's thought, folding upon itself,

prevents all action of the thought of the brain--it is fearful!"

Balzac was ever seeing objects worthy to be placed in his art

collection, going quietly through Paris on foot, and having his friend

Mery continue to secure bargains at Marseilles. A most important event

at this period is the noticeable decline in the novelist's health.

Though 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 was

beginning to revolt; the excessive use of coffee, the strain of long

hours of work with little sleep, the abnormal life in general which he

had led for so many years, and this suspense about the ultimate

decision of the woman he so adored, were weakening him physically.

In January, 1846, Madame Hanska was in Dresden again, and as was

always the case when in that city, she wrote accusing him. This time

the charge was that of indulging in ignoble gossip, and the reproach

was so unjust that, without finishing the reading of the letter, he

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 been

affected. After perusing the letter to the end, he reflected that

these grievous words came not from her, but from strangers, so he

poured forth his burning adoration, his longing for a /home/, where he

could drink long draughts of a life in common, the life of two.

In the following March the passionate lover was drawn by his

/Predilecta/ to the Eternal City, and a few months later they were in

Strasbourg, where a definite engagement 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 effect: "From Frankfort to Forbach, I existed only in

remembrance of you, going over my four days like a cat who has

finished her milk and then sits licking her lips."

Madame Hanska had constantly refused to be separated from her

daughter, but now Balzac hoped that he could hasten matters, so he

applied to his boyhood friend, M. Germeau, prefect of Metz, to see if

he, in his official capacity, could not waive the formality of the law

and accelerate his marriage; but since all Frenchmen are equal before

the /etat-civil/, this could not be accomplished.

It was during their extensive travels in 1846 that Balzac began

calling the party "Bilboquet's troup of mountebanks": Madame Hanska

became Atala; Anna, Zephirine; George, Gringalet; and Balzac,

Bilboquet. Although Madame Hanska cautioned him about his extravagance

in gathering works of art, he persisted in buying them while

traveling, 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 calling this

book /Le Parasite/, but Madame Hanska objected to this name, which

smacked so strongly of the eighteenth century, and he changed it. As

he was also writing /La Cousine Bette/ at this time, we can see not

only that his power of application had returned to him, but that he

was producing some of his strongest work.

For some time Balzac had been looking for a home worthy of his

/fiancee/ and had finally decided on the Villa Beaujon, in the rue

Fortunee. Since this home was created "for her and by her," it was

necessary for her to be consulted in the reconstruction and decoration

of it, so he brought her secretly to Paris, and her 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/ over Paris, in having her near

him while he was writing some of his greatest masterpieces, and,

naturally, hoping that the everlasting debts would soon be defrayed

and the marriage ceremony performed, but fortunately, he was not

permitted to know beforehand of the long wait and the many obstacles

that stood in his way.

Just what happened during the spring and summer of 1847 is uncertain,

as few letters of this period exist in print. Miss Sandars (/Balzac/),

states that about the middle of April Balzac conducted Madame Hanska

to Forbach on her return to Wierzchownia, and when he returned to

Paris he found that some of her letters to him had been stolen, 30,000

francs being demanded for them at once, otherwise the letters to be

turned over to the Czar. Miss Sandars states 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 Balzac and Madame Hanska quarreled, she being jealous

and suspicious of his fidelity, and that he burned her letters. De

Lovenjoul (/Un Roman d'Amour/) makes the same statement and adds that

this trouble increased his heart disease. But he says also (/La Genese

d'un Roman de Balzac/) that Madame Hanska spent two months secretly in

Paris in April and May; yet, a letter written by Balzac, dated

February 27, 1847, shows that she was in Paris at that time.

Balzac went to Wierzchownia in September, 1847, and traveled so

expeditiously that he arrived there several days before his letter

which told of his departure. When one remembers how 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 accomplishing the great desire of his life. He was

royally entertained at the chateau and was given a beautiful little

suite of rooms composed of a salon, a sitting-room, and a bed-room.[*]

[*] This house, where all the mementos of Balzac, including his

portrait, were preserved intact by the family, has been utterly

destroyed by the Bolsheviks.

Regarding the vital question of his marriage, he writes his sister:

"My greatest wish and hope is still far from its accomplishment.

Madame Hanska is indispensable to her children; she is their

guide; she disentangles for them the intricacies of the vast and

difficult administration of 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. It

makes me all the more earnest to guard what is confided to me.

. . . It was necessary for me to come here to make me understand

the difficulties of all kinds which stand in the way of the

fulfilment of my desires."[*]

[*] The above shows that Balzac's ardent passion for his /Predilecta/

was for herself alone, and that he was not actuated by his greed

for gold, as has been stated by various writers.

During this visit, Balzac complained of the cold of Russia in January,

but his friends were careful to provide him with suitable wraps.

Business matters compelled him to 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 with his

old debts. This time, he went to his new home in the rue Fortunee, the

home that had cost the couple so much money and was to cause him so

much worry if not regret.

About the last of September, 1848, Balzac left Paris again for Russia,

and his family did not hear from him for more than a month after his

arrival. His mother was left 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 of being in

very good health, for immediately afterwards, he was seized with acute

bronchitis, and was ill much of the time during his prolonged stay of

eighteen months.

Madame Hanska planned to have him pay the debts on their future home

as soon as the harvest was gathered, but concerning the most important

question he writes:

"The Countess will make up her mind to nothing until her children

are entirely free from anxieties regarding their fortune.

Moreover, your brother'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 August; but in no circumstance

will I ever again separate myself from the person I love. Like the

Spartan, I intend to return with my shield or upon it."

Things were very discouraging at Wierzchownia; Madame Hanska had

failed to receive much money which she was to inherit from an uncle,

and, in less than six weeks, four fires had consumed several farm

houses and a large quantity of grain on the estate. Although they both

were anxious to see the rue Fortunee, their departure was uncertain.

But the most distressing complication was the condition of Balzac's

health, which was growing worse. He complained of the frightful

Asiatic climate, with its excessive heat and cold; he had a perpetual

headache, and his heart trouble had increased until 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 ideal, and each of the household had for

him an attachment tender, filial and sincere. It was necessary to his

welfare that his life should be without vexation, and he asked his

sister to entreat their mother to avoid anything which might cause him

pain.

On his part, he tried to spare his mother also from unpleasant news,

and desired his sister to assist him in concealing from her the real

facts. He had had another terrible crisis in which he had been ill for

more than a month with cephalalgic fever, and he had grown very thin.

Though several of Balzac's biographers have criticized Madame Hanska

most bitterly for holding Balzac in Russia, and some have even gone so

far as to censure her for his early 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 his

worn-out body to a sufficient degree. Balzac himself praised the

conduct of the entire Hanski family. The following is only one of his

numerous testimonies to their devotion.

"Alas! I have no good news to send. In all that regards the

affection, the tenderness of all, the desire to root out the evil

weeds which encumber the path of my life, mother and children are

sublime; but the chief thing 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, it

would be impossible to find another family like this. We live

together as if there were only one heart amongst the four; this is

repetition, but it cannot be helped, it is the only definition of

the life I lead here."

The situation of the author of the /Comedie humaine/ was at this time

most pitiable. Broken in health and living in a climate to which his

constitution refused to be acclimated,[*] weighed down by a load of

debt which he was unable to liquidate 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, possessing a pride

that was making him sacrifice his very life rather than give up his

long-sought treasure, the diamond of Poland, his very soul became so

imbued with this devouring passion that the pour /moujik/ was scarcely

master of himself.

[*] Concerning the climate of Kieff, the Princess Radziwill says: "The

story that the climate of Kieff was harmful to Balzac is also a

legend. In that 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 never have been anywhere else,

because not only did she love him with her whole heart, but her

daughter and the latter's husband were also devoted to him."

His family were suffering various misfortunes, and these, together

with his deplorable condition, caused Madame Hanska to contemplate

giving up an alliance 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 moved in a high aristocratic circle,

rather than to give up her property and assume the life of anxiety and

trials which awaited her as Madame Honore de Balzac.

At times he became most despondent; the long waiting was affecting him

seriously, and he hesitated urging a life so shattered as was his upon

the friend who, like a benignant star, had shone upon his path during

the past sixteen years.

"If I lose all I have hoped to gain here, I should no longer live;

a garret in the rue Lesdiguieres and a hundred francs a month

would suffice for all I want. My 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

me, I shall need nothing. I will have nothing. I care nothing for

la rue Fortunee for its own sake; la rue Fortunee has only been

created /for her/ and /by her/."

The novelist was cautious in his letters lest there should be gossip

about his secret engagement, and his possible approaching marriage.

Apropos of his marriage, he would say that it was postponed for

reasons which he could not give his family; Madame Hanska had met with

financial losses again through fires and crop failures. With his

continued illness, he had many things to trouble him.

But with all his trials, Balzac remained in many ways a child. After

the terrible Moldavian fever which had endangered his life, in the

fall of 1849 he took great pleasure in a dressing-gown of /termolana/

cloth. He had wanted one of these gowns since he first saw this 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 men ruined

the toilettes of the ladies by their roughness. In a mazurka where the

men contended for ladies' handkerchiefs, the young Countess had one

worth about five hundred francs torn in pieces, but her mother

repaired the loss by giving her another twice as costly.

The year 1850, which was to prove so fatal to Balzac, opened with a

bad omen, had he realized it. His health, which he had never

considered as he should have done, was seriously affected, and early

in January another illness followed which kept him in bed for several

days. He thought that he had finally become acclimated, but after

another attack a few weeks later he concluded that the climate was

impossible for nervous temperaments.

Such was, in brief, the story of his stay in Russia, but his optimism

and devotion continued, and he writes:

"It is sanguine to think I could set off on March 15, and in that

case I should arrive early in April. But if my long cherished

hopes are realized, there would be a delay of some days, as I

should have to go to Kieff, to have my passport regulated. These

hopes have become possibilities; these four or 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 happy probability, the journey to Kieff

is not to be regretted, for the Countess has nursed me heroically

without once leaving the house, so you ought not to afflict

yourself for the little delay which will thus be caused. Even in

that case, my, or our, arrival would be in the first fortnight of

April."

Until the very last, Balzac was very careful that his family should

not announce his expected wedding. Finally, all obstacles overcome,

the long desired marriage occurred March 14, 1850.[*]

[*] Though Balzac speaks of having to obtain the Czar's permission to

marry, the Princess Radziwill states that no permission was

required, asked or granted. Balzac always gave March 14, 1850, as

the date of his marriage while de Lovenjoul and M. Stanislas

Rzewuski give the date 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 civil law, by a

French consul. There did not exist one in Berditcheff, so they had

perforce to repair to Kieff for this ceremony. The latter took

place on April 3/15 of the same year, and this explains the

discrepancy of dates you mention which refer to two different

ceremonies."

What must have been the novelist's feeling of triumph, after almost

seventeen years of waiting, suffering and struggle, to write:

"Thus, for the last twenty-four hours there has been a Madame Eve

de Balzac, nee Countess Rzewuska, or a Madame Honore de Balzac, or

a Madame de Balzac the elder. This 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-in-law of the Abbe Czarouski, the envoy of the

Bishop; and the cure of the parish of Berditcheff. The Countess

Anna accompanied her mother, both exceedingly happy . . ."

With great joy and childish pride, Balzac informed his old friend and

physician, Dr. Nacquart, who knew so well of his adoration for his

"Polar Star" and his seventeen long years of untiring pursuit, that he

had become the husband of the grandniece 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

honor to Her Majesty the Empress; the brother-in-law of Count Henri

Rzewuski, the Walter Scott of Poland as Mizkiewicz is the Polish Lord

Byron; the father-in-law of Count Mniszech, of one of the most

illustrious houses of the North, etc., etc.!

Though this was by far and away Balzac's greatest and most passionate

love, the present writer cannot agree with the late Professor Harry

Thurston Peck in the following dictum: "It was his first real love,

and it was her last; and, therefore, their association realized the

very characteristic aphorism which Balzac wrote in a letter to her

after he had known her but a few short weeks: 'It is only the last

love of a woman that can satisfy the first love of a man.' "

After their marriage, the homeward journey was delayed several weeks.

The baggage, which was to be conveyed by wagon, only left April 2, and

it required about two weeks for it to reach Radziwiloff, owing to the

general thaw just set in. Then Balzac had a severe relapse due to lung

trouble, and it was 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 suffering from heart trouble,

and she from rheumatism. On the way they stopped for a few days at

Dresden, where Balzac became very ill again. His eyes were in such a

condition that he could no longer see the letters he wrote. The

following was written from Dresden, gives a glimpse of their troubles:

"We have taken a whole month to go a distance usually done in six

days. Not once, but a hundred times a day, our lives have been in

danger. We have often been obliged to have fifteen or sixteen men,

with levers, 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 imagine what it is to fear killing each other, or to be

killed the one by the other, loving each other as we do. My wife

feels grateful for all you say about her, but her hands do not

permit her to write. . . ."

Madame de Balzac has been most severely criticized for her lack of

affection for Balzac, and their married life has generally been

conceded to have been very unhappy. This supposition seems to have

been based largely on hearsay. Miss Sandars quotes 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 writer has not seen this /unpublished/ letter;

but a /published/ letter dated a few days before the other, in which

she not only refers to Balzac as her husband but shows both her

affection for him and her interest in his condition, runs as follows:

"Hotel de Russie (Dresden). My husband has just returned; he has

attended to all his affairs with a remarkable activity, and we are

leaving to-day. I did not realize what an adorable being he is; I

have known him for seventeen years, and every day, I 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 shall be much to be pitied,

I assure you. It is such happiness to be loved and protected thus.

His eyes are also very bad; I do not know what all that means, and

at times, I am very sad. I hope to give you better news to-morrow,

when I shall write you."

Comments have been made on the fact that Balzac wrote his sister his

wife's hands were too badly swollen from rheumatism to write 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-law as

hostile as she knew hers to be. She probably did not care to write,

and Balzac, to smooth matters for her, gave this excuse.

The long awaited but tragic arrival took place late in the night of

May 20, 1850. The home in the rue Fortunee was brilliantly lighted,

and through the windows could be seen the many beautiful flowers

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. The

minutest details of Balzac's orders for their reception had been

obeyed, but the unfortunate, faithful Francois Munch, under the

excitement and strain of the preparations, had suddenly gone insane.

Was this a sinister omen, or was it an exemplification of the old

Turkish proverb, "The house completed, death enters"? Our hero's

marriage proved to be the last of his /illusions perdues/, for only

three months more were to be granted him. MM. Hanotaux et Vicaire have

pertinently remarked that five years 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 is rushing from his box or leaving his stall. Ghastly image

of life. One leaves it the moment the /felichitta/ is heard." After so

many years of waiting and struggle, he attained the summit of

happiness, but was to obey the summons of death and leave this world

just as the chorus was singing "/Felichitta/."

Some of Balzac's biographers have criticized Madame Honore de Balzac

not only for having been heartless and indifferent towards him, but

for having neglected him in his last days on earth. Her nephew, M.

Stanislas Rzewuski, defended her, he said, not because she was his

aunt but because of the injustice done to the memory of this 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, however worthy of

being adored and being his "star," had a high temper. This was the

natural temper of an aristocratic woman. It never passed the limits of

decorum, but it was violent and easily provoked.[*] Then too, she had

been accustomed to luxury and had never known poverty. She was ill

also and probably disappointed in life.

[*] The Princess Radziwill states that there are several inaccuracies

in this article by her half-brother. He was very young when their

aunt died, and he was influenced by his mother, who never liked

Madame de Balzac. She points out that her aunt's temper was most

even, that she never heard her raise her voice, and only once saw

her angry.

M. Rzewuski has resented, and doubtless justly so, the oft-quoted

death scene by Victor Hugo. He says that at such a time the great poet

was perhaps a most unwelcome guest and 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

could not have known that this was to be Balzac's last night on earth,

and that, worn out with watching and waiting, she was justified in

retiring to seek a much needed rest.[*]

[*] As to Octave Mirbeau's calumnious story, denied by both the

Countess Mniszech and Gigoux's nephew and heir, the Princess

Radziwill states that when Balzac died, her aunt did not know

Gigoux and had never seen him. He was introduced to her only in

1860 by her daughter, who asked him to paint her mother's

portrait; and they became good friends.

The story is told that when Dr. Nacquart informed Balzac that he must

die, the novelist exclaimed: "Go call Bianchon! Bianchon will save me!

Bianchon!" The Princess Radziwill states, however, that she has heard

her aunt say often that this story is not true. 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 humaine/, who had comforted in their dying

hours all ranks from the poverty-stricken Pere Goriot to the wealthy

Madame Graslin, from the corrupt Madame Marneffe to the angelic

Pierette Lorrain, whose incomparable fame had spread over a large part

of Europe.

Madame Hanska has been reproached also for the medical treatment given

Balzac in Russia. It is doubtless true that lemon juice is not

considered the proper treatment for heart disease in 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 will be remembered that Balzac not only had

a /penchant/ for such, but that he was very fond of these two

physicians and thought their treatment superior to that which was

given at Paris.

M. de Fiennes complained that grass was allowed to grow on Balzac's

grave. To this M. Eugene de Mirecourt replied that what M. de Fiennes

had taken for grass was laurel, thyme, buckthorn and white jasmine;

the grave of Balzac was constantly and religiously kept in good order

by his widow. One could ask any of the gardeners of Pere-Lachaise

thereupon.

Whatever the attitude of Balzac's wife towards him during his life,

she acted most nobly indeed in the matter of his debts. Instead of

accepting the inheritance left her in her husband's will and selling

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 death, which

occurred March, 1854. She succeeded in accomplishing this liquidation,

which was of exceptional difficulty, and long before her death every

one of Balzac's creditors had been paid in full.

There seems to be no /authoritative/ proof that Balzac's married life

was either happy or unhappy. The Princess Radziwill always understood

from her aunt 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 died happy, for he died in the full

realization of a pure love which had upheld him through some of the

bitterest trials that ever fall to the lot of man."

"Say to your dear child the most tenderly endearing things in the

name of one of the most sincere and faithful friends she will ever

have, not excepting her husband, for I love her as her father

loved her."[*]

[*] The Countess Mniszech died in September, 1914, at the age of

eighty-nine, so must have been born about 1825 or 1826. She spent

the twenty-five years preceding her 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

present writer that she did not know of this before the Countess's

death, for the Countess could doubtless have given her much

information not to be obtained elsewhere.

Balzac was probably never more sincere than when he wrote this

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

than he loved Anna, the only child living of M. and Mme. de Hanski.

Most of Balzac's biographers who state that he met Madame Hanska on

the promenade, say that her little daughter was with her. Wherever he

first met her, she won his heart completely. Some pebbles she gathered

during his first visit to her mother at Neufchatel, Balzac had made

into a little cross, on the back of which was 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 to send her gifts, anxious for her health and

happiness, took great interest in her musical talent, and was ever

delighted to hear of her progress or pleasures. One of his rather

typical messages to her in her earlier years was: "Place a kiss on

Anna's brow from the most tranquil steed she will ever have in her

stables."

As she grew older, the novelist thought of dedicating one of his works

to her, and wrote to her mother that the first /young girl/ story he

should compose he would like to dedicate to Anna, if 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 one of those tender flowers of

melancholy which in advance are certain of success. As the book is for

Anna, I do not wish to tell you anything about it, but leave you the

pleasure of surprise."

"To Mademoiselle Anna de Hanska:

"Dear Child, you, the joy of an entire home, you whose white or

rose-colored scarf flutters in the summer through the groves of

Wierzchownia, like a will-o'-the-wisp, followed by the tender eyes

of your father and mother--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 unfortunate. It is so

difficult, Anna, to find in the history of our manners any

incident worthy of meeting your eye, that an author has no choice;

but perhaps you may discern how happy you are from reading this

story, sent by

"Your old friend,

"DE BALZAC."

Balzac was very proud of the success of /Pierrette/, and wished Madame

Hanska to have Anna read it, assuring her that there was nothing

"improper" in it.

"/Pierrette/ has appeared in the /Siecle/. The manuscript is bound

for Anna. /L'envoi/ has appeared; I enclose it to you. Friends and

enemies 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 in book form. People have placed it beside the /Recherche

de l'Absolu/. I am willing. I myself would like to place it beside

Anna."[*]

[*] The dedication was placed at the end, /en envoi/.

After the death of Anna's father, Balzac advised her mother in many

ways. His interest in Anna's musical ability, which was very rare,

increased and he had Liszt call on Madame Hanska and play for them

when he went to St. Petersburg. He expressed his gratitude to Liszt

for this favor by dedicating to him /La Duchesse de Langeais/. He

regretted this later, after the musician fell into such discredit.

Balzac was anxious that Madame Hanska should manage the estate wisely,

and that she should be very careful in selecting a husband for Anna.

The young girl had many suitors at St. Petersburg, and 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 well as for her own, and when

the fond mother wrote him about certain traits of her daughter he

encouraged her to be proud of Anna, for she was far superior to the

best-bred young people of Paris.

He did not approve, at first, of the young Count de Mniszech and

championed another suitor; later he and the Count became warm friends,

and in 1846, he dedicated to him /Maitre Cornelius/, written in 1831.

Besides having a very handsome cane made for him, he sent him many

gifts.

Balzac expressed his admiration of Anna not only to her mother, but to

others. He wrote the Count, who was soon to become her husband, that

she 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 had the bloom of a beautiful Norman, and he thought that

possibly some of his admiration for her was due to his great affection

for her mother.

One is surprised to see what foresight Balzac had--so many things he

said proved to be true. He thought, for instance, that Anna had the

physique to live a hundred years, that she had no sense of the

practical, that her mother--as he took care to warn her--would do 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 from refusing

her only child anything she wished, the results were disastrous. It

was fortunate for Balzac that he did not live to see the fate of this

paragon, for this would have grieved him deeply, while he probably

would not have been able to remedy matters.

While a part of Balzac's affection for Anna was doubtless owing to his

adoration for her mother, she must have had in her own person some

very charming traits, for after he had lived in their home for more

than a year, where he must have 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, an evenness

of temper, which cannot be believed unless you have lived with them.

With all this, there is a playfulness, a spontaneous gaiety, which

dispels weariness or monotony. Never have I been so thoroughly in my

right place as here."

Balzac certainly was not tactful in continually praising the young

Countess to his sister and his nieces, but he was doubtless sincere,

and no record has been found of his ever having changed his opinion of

this young Russian whom he loved so tenderly.

A woman who played an important role in Balzac's association with

Madame Hanska was Mademoiselle Henriette Borel, called Lirette. She

had been governess in the home of Madame Hanska since 1824.

Sympathetic and devoted to the 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 place to sojourn. They

arrived there in the summer of 1833, and left early in October of the

same year. While at Neufchatel they were very gracious to Lirette's

relatives and Madame Hanska invited them to visit her at Geneva.

Whether Lirette wrote with her own hand the first letter sent by

Madame Hanska to Balzac--letters which de Lovenjoul says were not in

the handwriting of the /Predilecta/--we shall probably never know, but

that she knew of the secret correspondence and aided in it is seen

from the following:

"My celestial love, find an impenetrable place for my letters. Oh!

I entreat you, let no harm come to you. Let Henriette be their

faithful guardian, and make her take all the precautions that the

genius of woman dictates in such a case. . . . Do not deceive

yourself, my dear Eve; one 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 here on

Sunday arrive on Wednesday. I will never, whatever may be the

urgency, post letters for you on any day except Sunday. Burn the

envelopes. Let Henriette scold the man at the post-office for

having delivered a letter which was marked /poste restante/, but

scold him laughing, . . ."

Balzac courteously sent greetings to Lirette in his letters to Madame

Hanska, and evidently liked her. Her religious tendencies probably

impressed him many years before she took the veil, for he writes of

her praying for him.

While Balzac naturally met Lirette in his visits to Madame Hanska, it

was while he was at St. Petersburg in the summer of 1843 that he

became more intimate with her, for she had decided to become a nun,

and consulted him on many points. Since 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, he did not approve of this step, but when she arrived in Paris,

he entertained her in his home, giving up his room for her. At various

times he went with her to the convent and his housekeeper, Madame de

Brugnolle, also was very kind to her.

Lirette impressed the novelist as being very stupid, and he wondered

how his "Polar Star" could have ever made a friend of her. She was as

blind a Catholic as she had been a blind Protestant. She seemed

willing now to have him marry Madame Hanska, after many years of

aversion to him. He tried to impress upon her that a rich nun was much

better treated than a poor one, but she would not 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 her, he conducted her to the

/Convent de la Visitation/ without a word of thanks from her, though

he had made sacrifices for her, and though his housekeeper had slept

on a mattress on the floor, giving up her room in order that Lirette

should have suitable quarters. But although hurt by her ingratitude he

had enjoyed talking with her, for she brought him news from his

friends in Russia.

Lirette evidently did not realize what she was doing in the matter of

the convent, and was displeased with many things after entering it.

Balzac was vexed at what she wrote to Madame Hanska, but felt 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 friends, she did penance

by keeping a letter from Anna eighteen days before opening it. He

found her stupidity unequaled, but he sent his housekeeper to see her,

and visited her himself when he had time.

[*] It has been stated that Mademoiselle Borel was so impressed by the

chants, lights and ceremony at the funeral of M. de Hanski in

November 1841, that it caused her to give up her protestant faith

and enter 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 this sudden religious enthusiasm, and

whether the Sister in the Convent of the Visitation in Paris gave

herself extra penance for her sins of connivance." Mademoiselle

died in this convent, rue d'Enfer, in 1857.

In addition to all this, the poor novelist had one more trial to

undergo; this was to see her take the vows (December 2, 1845). He was

misinformed as to the time of the ceremony, so went too soon and

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 correspondence, she was

soon to be the means of bringing him and his /Chatelaine/ together

again; the devotion of Madame Hanska and Anna to the former governess

being such that they came to Paris to see her.

In the home of the de Hanskis in the Russian waste were two other

women, Mesdemoiselles Severine and Denise Wylezynska, who were to play

a small part in Balzac's life. Both of these relatives probably came

with M. de Hanski and his family to Switzerland 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 probably were sisters of M. Thaddee Wylezynski,

mentioned in connection with Madame Hanska. After her husband's death,

Madame Hanska must have invited these two ladies to live with her, for

Balzac inquires about the two young people she had with her.

Mademoiselle Denise has been suspected of having written the first

letter for Madame Hanska, and the dedication of /La Grenadiere/ has

been replaced by the initials "A. D. W.," supposed to mean "a Denise

Wylezynska"; the actual dedication is an unpublished correction of

Balzac himself.

The relative that caused Balzac the most discomfort was the Countess

Rosalie Rzewuska, nee Princess Lubomirska, wife of Count Wenceslas

Rzewuski, Madame Hanska's uncle. She seems to have been continually

hearing either that he was married, or something that was detrimental,

and kept him busy denying these reports:

"I have here your last letter in which you speak to me of Madame

Rosalie and of /Seraphita/. Relative to your aunt, I confess that

I am ignorant by what law it is that persons so well bred can

believe such calumnies. I, a gambler! Can your aunt neither

reason, calculate nor combine anything except whist? I, who work,

even here, sixteen hours a day, how should I go to a gambling-

house that takes whole nights? It is as absurd 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 Saint Peter's. She judges a work

from at least the same range in literature without putting herself

at a distance and awaiting its end. She judges the artist without

knowing him, and by the sayings of ninnies. All that give me

little pain for myself, but much for her, if you love her. But

that you should let yourself be influenced by such errors, that

does grieve me and makes me very uneasy, for I live by my

friendships only."

In spite of this, Balzac wished to obtain the good will of "Madame

Rosalie," and sympathized with her when she lost her son. But she had

a great 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 sworn enemy, and that she went too far in her hatred of everything

implied in the word /Paris/[*]; yet he pardoned her for the sake of

her niece.

[*] The reason why Madame Rosalie had such a horror of Paris was that

her mother was guillotined there,--the same day as Madame

Elizabeth. Madame Rosalie was only a child at that time, and was

discovered in the home of a washerwoman.

It was Caliste Rzewuska, the daughter of this aunt, whom Balzac had in

mind when he sketched /Modeste Mignon/. She was married to M. Michele-

Angelo Cajetani, Prince de Teano and Duc de Sermoneta, to whom /Les

Parents pauvres/ is dedicated.

Balzac seems to have had something of the same antipathy for Madame

Hanska's sister Caroline that he had for her aunt Rosalie, but since

he wrote to his /Predilecta/ many unfavorable things of a private

nature about his family, she may have done the same concerning hers,

so that he may not have had a fair opportunity of judging her. He was

friendly towards her at times, and she is the Madame Cherkowitch of

his letters.

It was probably Madame Hanska's sister Pauline, Madame Jean Riznitch,

whose servants were to receive a reward from a rich /moujik/ in case

they could 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 every week, and was anxious to meet him. Since

Madame Riznitch lived not far from Madame Hanska, he hoped to see

Balzac when he visited Wierzschownia.

The relative whose association with Balzac seems to have caused Madame

Hanska the most discomfort was her cousin, the Countess Marie Potocka.

He met her when he visited 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 deliver a

letter for her. Before going to Geneva he had heard of her, and had

confused her identity with that of the /belle Grecque/ who had died

several years before.

During his visit to Geneva the novelist deemed it wise to explain his

attentions to Madame P-----: "It would have seemed ridiculous (to the

others) for 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 P-----. What I wrote you this morning is of a

nature to show you how false are your fears. I never ceased to look at

you while talking to Madame P-----."

After his return to Paris he wrote a letter to Madame P-----, and was

careful to explain this also:

"Do not be jealous of Madame P-----'s letter; that woman must be

/for us/. I have flattered her, and I want her to think that you

are disdained. . . . My enemies are spreading a rumor of my

/liaison/ with a Russian princess; they name Madame P----- . . .

Oh! my love, I swear to you I wrote to Madame P----- only to

prevent the road to Russia being closed to me."

He received a letter from her which he did not answer, for he wished

to end this correspondence. It is within the bounds of possibility

that Balzac cared more for the Countess Potocka than he admitted to

his "Polar Star," but several years later, when she had become

avaricious, he formed an aversion to her and warned Madame Hanska to

beware of her cousin.

CONCLUSION

"I live by my friendships only."

Many people write their romances, others live them; Honore de Balzac

did both. This life so full of romantic fiction mingled with stern

reality, where the burden of debt is counter-balanced by dramatic

passion, where hallucination 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 an opera, dressed in the most

gaudy attire, where he lacks many of the comforts of life, yet

suddenly crosses half the continent, allured by the fascinations of a

woman, this life is indeed a /roman balzacien par excellence/!

He tried to shroud his life, especially his association with women, in

mystery. Now since the veil is partially lifted, one can see how great

was 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 recognize themselves in a delightful personage he

had created, others to thank him or condemn him for certain attitudes

he had sustained towards woman.

For him to have so thoroughly understood the feminine mind and

temperament, to have given to this subtle chameleon its various hues,

to have portrayed woman with her many charms and caprices, and to have

described woman in her various classes and at all ages, he must have

observed her, or rather, he must have known her. He very justly says

in his /Avant-propos/:

"When Buffon described the lion, he dismissed the lioness with a

few phrases; but in society the wife is not always the female of

the male. There may be two perfectly dissimilar beings in one

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 not

found in the natural world; it is nature /plus/ society. The

description of the social species would thus be at least double

that of the animal species, merely in view of the two sexes."

Thus, he made a special study of woman, penetrated, like a father

confessor, into her innermost secrets, and if he has not painted the

duchesses with the delicacy due them, it was not because he did not

know or had not studied them, but probably because he was picturing

them with his Rabelaisian pen.

He knew many women who were active during the reign of Louis XVI,

women who were conspicuous under the Empire, and women who were

prominent in society during the Restoration, hence, one would

naturally expect to find traces of them in his works.

But it is not only this type of woman that Balzac has presented. He

painted the /bourgeoise/ in society, as seen in the daughters of /Pere

Goriot/, and many others, the various types of the /vieille fille/

such as Mademoiselle Zephirine Guenic (/Beatrix/) who never wished to

marry, Cousine Bette who failed in her matrimonial attempts, and

Madame Bousquier (/La vieille Fille) who finally succeeded in hers.

The working class is represented in such characters as Madame

Remonencq (/Le Cousin Pons/) and Madame Cardinal (/Les petits

Bourgeois/), while the servant class is well shown in the person of

the /grand/ Nanon (/Eugenie Grandet/), the faithful Fanny (/La

Grenadiere/), 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. The novelist

must have known many such women, for his mother and sisters had

servants, and in the homes of Madame de Berny, Madame Carraud and

Madame de Margonne, he certainly knew the servants, not to mention

those he observed at the cafes and in his wanderings.

Balzac knew several young girls at different periods of his life. His

sister Laure was his first and only companion in his earlier years,

and he knew his sister Laurence especially well in the years

immediately preceding her marriage. Madame Carraud was a schoolmate of

Madame Surville and visited 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 have known Mademoiselle de

Trumilly as he presented himself as her suitor, and being entertained

in her home frequently, doubtless saw her sisters also. Since he

accompanied his sister to balls in his youth, it is natural to suppose

that he met young girls there, even if there is no record of it.

A few years later he became devoted to the two daughters of his sister

Laure, and lived with her for a short time. He knew Madame Hanska's

daughter Anna in her childhood, but was most intimate with her when

she was about twenty. While Madame de 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

daughter of the family friend, Madame Delannoy. Though not intimate

with her, he met and observed Eugenie, the daughter of Madame de

Bolognini at Milan, and probably was acquainted with Inez and

Hyacinthe, the two daughters of Madame Desbordes-Valmore.

In his various works, he has portrayed quite a number of young girls

varying greatly in rank and temperament, among the most prominent

being Marguerite Claes (/La Recherche de l'Absolu/), noted for her

ability 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, pitiable Pierrette Lorrain, dutiful and devout Ursule Mirouet,

unfortunate Fosseuse (/Le Medecin de Campagne/), bold and unhappy

Rosalie de Watteville (/Albert Savarus/), and the well-known Eugenie

Grandet.

The novelist has revealed to us that he modeled one of these heroines

on a combination of the woman who later became his wife, and her

cousin, a most charming woman. It is quite possible that some if not

all of the other heroines would be found to have equally interesting

sources, could they be discovered.

Concerning the much discussed question as to whether Balzac portrayed

young girls well, M. Marcel Barriere remarks:

"There are critics stupid enough to say that Balzac knew nothing of

the art of painting young girls; they make use of the inelegant,

unpolished word /rate/ to qualify his portraits of this /genre/.

To be sure, Balzac's triumph is, we admit, in his portraits of

mothers or passionate women who know life. Certain authors,

without counting George Sand, have given us sketches of young

girls far superior to Balzac's, but that is no reason for scoffing

in so 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 Beauvan, Mademoiselle Guillaume, Emilie

de Fontaine, Mademoiselle Evangelista, Adelaide du Rouvre,

Ginervra di Piombo, etc., without mentioning, in other /Scenes/,

Eugenie Grandet, Eve Sechard, Pierrette Lorrain, Ursule Mirouet,

Mesdemoiselles Birotteau, Hulot d'Ervy, de Cinq-Cygne, La

Fosseuse, Marguerite Claes, Juana de Mancini, Pauline Gaudin, and

I hope they will keep silence, otherwise they will cause us to

question their good sense of criticism."

Balzac said it would require a Raphael to create so many virgins;

accordingly, from time to time the type of woman of the other extreme

is also seen. She is portrayed in the /grande dame/ 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 Esther Gobseck, Valerie Marneffe, and

others. Some of the novelist's most striking antitheses were attained

by placing these horrible creatures by the side of his noblest and

purest creations.

In his /Avant-propos/, he criticized Walter Scott for having portrayed

his women as Protestants, saying: "In Protestantism there is no

possible future for the woman who has sinned; while, in the Catholic

Church, the hope of forgiveness makes her sublime. Hence, for the

Protestant writer there is but one 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 various

women as Catholics, convent life for the young girl is seen in

/Memoires de deux jeunes mariees/, and for the woman weary of society,

in /La Duchesse de Langeais/. Extreme piety is shown in Madame de

Granville (/Une double Famille/), and Madame Graslin devoted herself

to charity to atone for her crime.

Various pictures are given of woman in the home. Ideal happiness is

portrayed in the life of Madame Cesar Birotteau. Madame Grandet,

Madame Hulot (/La Cousine Bette/), and Madame Claes (/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/), yet some of the mothers in Balzac are

most heartless. A few professions among women are represented,

actresses, artists, musicians and dancers being prominent in some of

the stories.

It is quite possible and even probable that Balzac pictured many more

women whom he knew in real life than have been mentioned here, and

these may yet 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 Mademoiselle des Touches. And lest one might

not recognize the appearance of Madame Merlin as Madame Schontz

(/Beatrix/), he boldly made her name public.

In presenting the women whom we know, the novelist was usually

consistent. As has been seen, he regarded the home of Madame Carraud

at Frapesle as a haven of rest, and went there like a wood-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 could easily give this minute

description of Frapesle with its towers, as well as the chateau de

Sache, the home of M. de Margonne, having spent so much of his time at

both of these places.

The reader, having seen in the early pages of this book, Balzac's

relation to his mother,--in case Felix de Vandenesse represents Balzac

himself--is not surprised to learn that the mother 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 early in life and remained there eight years, that

his mother often reproached him and repressed his tenderness, and that

to escape all contact with her he buried himself in his reading.

Felix was in this unhappy state when he met Madame de Mortsauf, whose

shoulders he kissed suddenly, and whose love for him later made him

forget the miseries of childhood; in the same manner, Balzac made his

first declaration to Madame de Berny. Madame de Mortsauf could easily

be Madame de Berny with all her tenderness and sympathy, or she could

be Madame Hanska. The intense maternal 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 that Madame Hanska was suspicious of Balzac's relations

with an English lady, Countess Visconti, although the novelist states

that he had written this work before he knew Madame Visconti. The

novelist has doubtless combined traits of various women in a single

character, but the fact still remains that he was depicting life as he

knew it, even if he did not attempt exact portraiture.

While the famous Vicomtesse de Beauseant (/La Femme abandonnee/) has

many characteristics of the Duchesse d'Abrantes, and some of those of

Madame de Berny, and /La Femme abandonnee/ was written the year Balzac

severed his relations with his /Dilecta/. But 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 strikingly represented. She was all this and

more to Balzac. Furthermore, he may have obtained from her his

historical color for /Un Episode sous la Terreur/, just as he was

influenced by Madame Junot in writing stories of the Empire and

Corsican vengeance.

It was perhaps to avoid recognition of the heroine and to revenge

himself on Madame de Castries that he made the Duchesse de Langeais

enter a convent and die, after her failure to master the Marquis de

Montriveau, while for his part the hero soon forgot her.

Soon after introducing Madame de Mortsauf (/Le Lys dans la Vallee/),

Balzac compares her to the fragrant heather gathered on returning from

the Villa Diodati. After studying carefully his long period of

association with Madame Hanska, one can see the importance which the

Villa Diodati had in his 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; was honored, under

different names, with the dedication of three works besides the one

dedicated to her daughter; and was the originator of one of his most

popular novels for young girls, while many traces of herself and her

family connections are found throughout the whole /Comedie humaine/.

Though by far the most important of them all, she was only one of the

many /etrangeres/ he knew. As has been observed, he knew women of

Russia, Poland, Germany, Austria, England, Italy and Spain, and had

traveled in most of these countries; hence one is not 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 Savarus/), who was in reality Madame

Hanska, although presented as being Italian; Madame Claes (/La

Recherche de l'Absolu/), of Spanish origin though born in Brussels;

Paquita Valdes (/La Fille aux Yeux d'Or/); and the Corsican Madame

Luigi Porta (/La Vendetta/).

In regard to Balzac's various women friends, J. W. Sherer has very

appropriately observed: "And the man was worthy of them: the student

of his work knows what a head he had; the student of his life, what a

heart."