n Madame Recamier had an interview with
him in regard to the affairs of the King and Queen of Naples, that the
relations between them assumed a serious aspect. He left her at the end
of this interview violently enamored. According to Madame Lenormant,
Benjamin Constant had not the slightest encouragement to justify his
madness, but it is clear from other testimony that Madame Recamier was
not free from blame in respect to him. Sainte-Beuve hints that the
subject is unpleasant, and summarily dismisses it; and Madame Moehl, ever
ready to defend Madame Recamier, acknowledges that in this case she was
to blame, and that Madame Recamier thought so herself, and wished
Constant's letters to be published after her death, in order to justify
him. She adds, that it was a mistake not to publish them, as their
suppression has given occasion for surmises utterly false. There is
nothing in the "Souvenirs" to explain either the vague hints of
Sainte-Beuve or the obscure allusions of Madame Moehl; and the
biographical sketches of Constant throw no light upon the subject: they
are chiefly narratives of his political career.

If we except Chateaubriand, who was more loved than loving, Benjamin
Constant stands last on the list of Madame Recamier's conquests; for,
after the author of "Atala" and of the "Genius of Christianity" crossed
her path, we hear of no more flirtations, no more despairing lovers.
Chateaubriand and Madame Recamier first met, familiarly, at the
death-bed of Madame de Stael, whose loss they mutually deplored. It was
not, however, until the next year, 1818, when Madame Recamier had
retired to the Abbaye-aux-Bois, that the acquaintance ripened into
intimacy. A second reverse of fortune was the cause of this retirement,
to which we shall briefly refer before entering upon the more
complicated subject of this friendship.

New and unfortunate speculations on the part of Monsieur Recamier had
not only left him penniless, but had to some extent involved his wife's
fortune, which she had confided to him. In this emergency, Madame
Recamier acted with her usual promptitude and decision. She had two
objects in view in her plans for the future,--economy, and a separation
from her husband. An asylum in the Abbaye-aux-Bois secured to her both
advantages. She established her husband and father in the vicinity of
the Convent, and they with Ballanche dined with her every day. From
Monsieur Recamier she exacted a promise to engage in no