telling a secret to all Paris) she would go mad. If she has to be told,
let who will undertake to tell her, but if in a fortnight Alfred is out
of danger, it is useless for her to grieve now. Adieu."

"February 13, 1834.

"My friend, Alfred is saved. There has been no fresh attack, and we
have nearly reached the fourteenth day without the improvement having
altered. After the brain affection inflammation of the lungs declared
itself, and this rather alarmed us for two days. . . . He is extremely
weak at present, and he wanders occasionally. He has to be nursed night
and day. Do not imagine, therefore, that I am only making pretexts for
the delay in my work. I have not undressed for eight nights. I sleep on
a sofa, and have to get up at any minute. In spite of this, ever since
I have been relieved in my mind about the danger, I have been able to
write a few pages in the mornings while he is resting. You may be sure
that I should like to be able to take advantage of this time to rest
myself. Be assured, my friend, that I am not short of courage, nor yet
of the will to work. You are not more anxious than I am that I should
carry out my engagements. You know that a debt makes me smart like a
wound. But you are friend enough to make allowances for my situation and
not to leave me in difficulties. I am spending very wretched days here
at this bedside, for the slightest sound, the slightest movement causes
me constant terror. In this disposition of mind I shall not write any
light works. They will be heavy, on the contrary, like my fatigue and my
sadness.

"Do not leave me without money, I beseech you, or I do not know what
will happen to me. I spend about twenty francs a day in medicine of all
sorts. We do not know how to keep him alive. . . ."

These letters give the lie to some of the gossip that has been spread
abroad with regard to the episode of the Hotel Danieli. And I too,
thanks to these letters, shall have put an end to a legend! In the
second volume of Wladimir Karenine's work on George Sand, on page 61, we
have the following words--

"Monsieur Plauchut tells us that, according to Buloz, Musset had been
enticed into a gambling hell during his stay in Venice, and had lost
about four hundred pounds there. The imprudent young man could not pay
this debt of honour, and he never would have been able to do so. He had
to choose between suicide or dishonour. George Sand did not hesitate a
moment. She wrote at once