letter[+]
that some unwritten ground for complaint really caused his withdrawal.
After Balzac's death, the Society des Gens-de-Lettres acknowledged
with gratitude the debt owed him as one of the founders of the
Society, and the help received from his intelligence and activity.

[*] This may be found in the Edition Definitive of Balzac's works, or
in "Balzac Chez Lui," by Leon Gozlan.

[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 20.

In 1840, before he ceased to belong to the Societe des Gens-de-Lettres,
he had left Les Jardies; and had hidden himself under the name of
Madame de Brugnolle, his housekeeper, in a mysterious little house at
No. 19, Rue Basse, Passy; to which no one was admitted without many
precautions, even after he had given the password. Behind this was a
tiny garden where Balzac would sit in fine weather, and talk over the
fence to M. Grandmain, his landlord. In his new abode he established
many of his treasures: his bust by David d'Angers, some of the
beautiful furniture he was collecting in preparation for the home he
longed for, and many of his pictures, those treasures by Giorgione,
Greuze, and Palma, which were the delight of his heart. With great
difficulty, by publishing books and articles in quick succession, he
had prevented the sale of Les Jardies by his creditors. As he had no
money to pay cab fares this entailed rushing from Passy to Paris on
foot, often in pouring rain; with the result that he became seriously
ill, and found it necessary to recruit in Touraine and Brittany.

On June 15th, 1841, a fictitious sale for 15,500 francs was made of
Les Jardies, which had cost Balzac 100,000 francs; but he did not
really part with the villa till later, when he had decided that it
would not be suitable ultimately as a residence. To add to his
troubles, he found it necessary to take his mother to live with him,
an arrangement which gave rise to many little storms, and made writing
a difficult matter. Madame Visconti's society gave him no consolation
at this time,--he was disappointed in her; and decided that his abuse
of Englishwomen in the "Lys dans la Vallee," was perfectly justified.

Fortunately, he was now feeling tolerably cheerful about money
matters; as he had paid off the hundred thousand francs he owed from
his treaty in 1836, and hoped in fifteen months to have made
arrangements for discharging all his debts; while three publishers,
Dubochet, Furme, and Hetzel & Paulin, had undertaken to pu