she was capable of any warm, deep
attachment. Sainte-Beuve even, with all his insight, believed that the
desire to be loved had satisfied her heart, and that she herself had
never loved. But he formed this opinion before the publication of Madame
Recamier's memoirs. Chateaubriand's letters, together with other
corroborating facts, warrant a totally different conclusion. It is very
evident that Madame Recamier loved Chateaubriand with all the strength
of a reticent and constant nature. That he was the only man she did
love, we think is also clear. Prince Augustus captivated her for a time,
but her conduct toward him, in contrast with that toward Chateaubriand,
proves that her heart had not then been touched. The one she treated
with caprice and coldness, the other with unvarying consideration and
tenderness. There is no reason to conclude that the Prince ever made her
unhappy, while it is certain that Chateaubriand made her miserable, and
a mere friendship, however deep, does not render a woman wretched. This
attachment not only shaped and colored the remainder of Madame
Recamier's life, but it threatened at one time to completely subvert all
other interests. She who was so equable, such a perfect mistress of
herself, so careful to give every one due meed of attention, became
fitful and indifferent. Her friends saw the change with alarm, and
Montmorency remonstrated bitterly with her. "I was extremely troubled
and ashamed," he writes, "at the sudden change in your manner toward
others and myself. Ah, Madame, the evil that your best friends have been
dreading has made rapid progress in a few weeks! Does not this thought
make you tremble? Ah, turn, while yet there is time, to Him who gives
strength to them who pray for it! He can cure all, repair all. God and a
generous heart are all-sufficient. I implore Him, from the bottom of my
heart, to sustain and enlighten you."

Ballanche, equally concerned and jealous, strove to interest her in
literature, and urged her to translate Petrarch. Madame Recamier
speedily recovered herself. She listened graciously to the admonitions
of Montmorency, and she consented to undertake Petrarch, but made little
progress in the work. Still, as far as her feelings for Chateaubriand
were concerned, the efforts of her friends were in vain. He occupied the
first place in her affections, and she regulated her time and pursuits
to please and accommodate him, though for a long time he but poorly
repa