unflattering colors. The work was received by
the committee of the Theatre-Francais, but the censors stopped the
performance. Balzac was angry at this interdiction, for he too
disliked journalists, but Madame de Girardin took the censorship
philosophically. In her salon she read _L'Ecole des Journalistes_ to
her literary friends; there Balzac figured prominently, dressed for
this occasion in his blue suit with engraved gold buttons, making his
coarse Rabelaisian laughter heard throughout the evening.

Balzac's fame increased with the years, but he still regarded the
friendship of Madame de Girardin among those he most prized, and in
1842 he dedicated to her _Albert Savarus_. When she moved into the
little Greek temple in the Champs-Elysees, she was nearer Balzac, who
was living at that time in the rue Basse at Passy, so their relations
became more intimate. Yet when, after his return from St. Petersburg
where he had visited Madame Hanska in 1843, the _Presse_ published the
scandalous story about his connection with the Italian forger, he
vowed he would never see again the scorpions Gay and Girardin.

Madame de Girardin regretted Balzac's not being a member of the
Academy. In 1845, a chair being vacant, she tried to secure it for
him. Although her salon was not an "academic" one, she had several
friends who were members of the Academy and she exerted her influence
with them in his behalf; when, after all her solicitude, he failed to
gain a place among the "forty immortals," she had bitter words for
their poor judgment, Balzac at that time being at the zenith of his
reputation. Some time before this, too, she promised to write a
_feuilleton_ on the great conversationalists of the day, maintaining
that Balzac was one of the most brilliant; and she was thoughtful in
inserting in her _feuilleton_ a few gracious words about his recent
illness and recovery.

Balzac confided to Madame de Girardin his all absorbing passion for
Madame Hanska. She knew of the secret visit of the "Countess" to Paris
and of his four days' visit with her in Wiesbaden. She knew all the
noble qualities and countless charms of the adored "Countess," but
never having seen her, she felt that Madame Hanska did not fully
reciprocate the passionate love of her _moujik_. Becoming ironical,
she called Balzac a _Vetturino per amore_, and told him she had heard
that Madame Hanska was, to be sure, exceedingly flattered by his
homage and made him follow wherev