could have behaved more like a mother, or been
more adorable than she has been throughout all this business. She
has been a mother, I will be a son."

But if she remained one of his principal creditors, she received many
literary proofs of his appreciation. As early as 1831 he dedicated to
her a volume of his _Romans et Contes philosophiques_, but later
changed the title to _Etudes philosophiques_, and dedicated to her _La
Recherche de L'Absolu_:

"To Madame Josephine Delannoy, nee Doumerg.

"Madame, may God grant that this book have a longer life than mine!
The gratitude which I have vowed to you, and which I hope will
equal your almost maternal affection for me, would last beyond the
limits prescribed for human feeling. This sublime privilege of
prolonging the life in our hearts by the life of our works would
be, if there were ever a certainty in this respect, a recompense
for all the labor it costs those whose ambition is such. Yet again
I say: May God grant it!

"DE BALZAC."

Balzac once thought of buying from Madame Delannoy a house that was
left her by her friend, M. Ferraud, but which she could not keep. He
felt that this would be advantageous to them both, but the plan was
never carried out. Besides their financial and literary relations,
their social relations were most cordial. He speaks of accompanying
her and her daughter to the Italian opera twice during the absence of
Madame Visconti.

In 1842, Balzac dedicated _La Maison-du-Chat-qui-pelote_ to
Mademoiselle Marie de Montbeau, the daughter of Camille Delannoy, a
friend of his sister, and the granddaughter of Madame Delannoy.

Another friend of Balzac's family was Madame de Pommereul. In the fall
of 1828 after his serious financial loss, Balzac went to visit Baron
and Madame de Pommereul in Brittany, where he obtained the material
for _Les Chouans_, and became familiar with the chateau de Fougere. To
please Madame de Pommereul, Balzac changed the name of his book from
_Le Gars_ to _Les Chouans_, after temporarily calling it _Le Dernier
Chouan_.

She has given a beautiful pen portrait of the youthful Balzac in which
she describes minutely his appearance, noting his beautiful hands, his
intelligent forehead and his expressive golden brown eyes. There was
something in his manner of speaking, in his gestures, in his general
appearance, so much goodness, confidence, naivete and fr