. . . Her
verses were doubtless the expression of her life; in them she is
reflected in hues both warm and bright; they ring with her cries of
love and grief. . . . Hers was the most courageous, tender and
compassionate of souls."

A letter written to Madame Duchambye (December 7, 1841), shows what
part she played in Balzac's literary career:

"You know, my other self, that even ants are of some use. And so it
was I who suggested, not M. de Balzac's piece, but the notion of
writing it and the distribution of the parts, and then the idea of
Mme. Dorval, whom I love for her talent, but especially for her
misfortunes, and because she is dear to me. I have made such a
moan, that I have obtained the sympathy and assistance of--whom do
you guess?--poor Thisbe, who spends her life in the service of the
_litterrateur_. She talked and insinuated and insisted, until at
last he came up to me and said, 'So it shall be! My mind is made
up! Mme. Dorval shall have a superb part!' And how he laughed!
. . . Keep this a profound secret. Never betray either me or poor
Thisbe, particularly our influence on behalf of Mme. Dorval."

His friendship for her is seen in a letter written to her in 1840:

"Dear Nightingale,--Two letters have arrived, too brief by two
whole pages, but perfumed with poetry, breathing the heaven whence
they come, so that (a thing which rarely happens with me) I
remained in a reverie with the letters in my hand, making a poem
all alone to myself, saying, 'She has then retained a recollection
of the heart in which she awoke an echo, she and all her poetry of
every kind.' We are natives of the same country, madame, the
country of tears and poverty. We are as much neighbors and
fellow-citizens as prose and poetry can be in France; but I draw
near to you by the feeling with which I admire you, and which made
me stand for an hour and ten minutes before your picture in the
Salon. Adieu! My letter will not tell you all my thoughts; but
find by intuition all the friendship which I have entrusted to it,
and all the treasures which I would send you if I had them at my
disposal."

Soon after Balzac met Madame Hanska, he reserved for her the original
of an epistle from Madame Desbordes-Valmore which he regarded as a
masterpiece. Balzac's friendship for the poetess, which began so early
in his literary life, was a permanent one. Just before leaving for his
prolonged visit