rich as well as beautiful, and having
an exquisite voice, she was highly attractive to the novelist, who
aspired to her hand, and who regarded her refusal with bitterness all
his life. Several years later she was married to her former voice
teacher, M. Rossini.

Balzac met the famous Olympe early in his literary career; he says of
her:

"Two years ago, Sue quarreled with a _mauvaise courtesone_
celebrated for her beauty (she is the original of Vernet's
_Judith_). I lowered myself to reconcile them, and they gave her
to me. M. de Fitz-James, the Duc de Duras, and the old count went
to her house to talk, as on neutral ground, much as people walk in
the alley of the Tuileries to meet one another; and one expects
better conduct of me than of those gentlemen! . . . As for
Rossini, I wish him to write me a nice letter, and he has just
invited me to dine with his mistress, who happens to be that
beautiful _Judith_, the former mistress of Horace Vernet and of
Sue you know. . . ."

Some months after this Balzac gave a dinner to his _Tigres_, as he
called the group occupying the same box with him at the opera.
Concerning this dinner, he writes:

"Next Saturday I give a dinner to the _Tigres_ of my opera-box, and
I am preparing sumptuosities out of all reason. I shall have
Rossini and Olympe, his _cara dona_, who will preside. . . . My
dinner? Why, it made a great excitement. Rossini declared he had
never seen eaten or drunk anything better among sovereigns. This
dinner was sparkling with wit. The beautiful Olympe was graceful,
sensible and perfect."[*]

[*] The present writer has not been able to find any date that would
prove positively that Balzac knew Madame Rossini before writing
_La Peau de Chagrin_ which appeared in 1830-1831.

Balzac was a great admirer of Rossini, wrote the words for one of his
compositions, and dedicated to him _Le Contrat de Mariage_.

Among the famous salons that Balzac frequented was that of Madame
Recamier, who was noted even more for her distinction and grace than
for her beauty. She appreciated the ability of the young writer, and
invited him to read in her salon long before the world recognized his
name. He admired her greatly; of one of his visits to her he writes:

"Yesterday I went to see Madame Recamier, whom I found ill but
wonderfully bright and kind. I have heard that she did much good,
and acted very nobly in being silent and maki