ssing her as _Sofka_, _Sof_, _Sophie_ and _carissima Sofi_. Just
before the presentation of his play _Quinola_ he wrote her, asking for
the names and addresses of her various Russian friends who wished
seats, as many enemies were giving false names. He wanted to place the
beautiful ladies in front, and wished to know in what party she would
be, and the definite number of tickets and location desired for each
friend.

In this same jovial vein he writes her: "Mina wrote me that you were
ill, and that dealt me a blow as if one had told Napoleon his
aide-de-camp was dead." His attitude towards her changed some months
after writing this; she became the means of alienating his friend
Gavault from him, or at least he so suspected, and thought that she was
influenced by Madame Visconti. This coldness soon turned to enmity,
and she completely won from him his former friend, Gavault, who had
become very much enamored with her. The novelist expressed the same
bitterness of feeling for her as he did for Madame Visconti, but as
the years went by, either his aversion to these two women softened, or
he thought it good policy to retain their good will, for he wished
their names placed on his invitation list.

Balzac's feeling of friendship for her must have been sincere at one
time, for he dedicated _La Bourse_:

"To Sofka.

"Have you not observed, mademoiselle, that the painters and
sculptors of the Middle Ages, when they placed two figures in
adoration, one on each side of a fair Saint, never fail to give
them a family likeness? On seeing your name among those who are
dear to me, and under whose auspices I place my works, remember
that touching harmony, and you will see in this not so much an act
of homage as an expression of the brotherly affection of your
devoted servant,
"DE BALZAC."

LA COMTESSE TURHEIM--LA COMTESSE DE BOCARME--LA COMTESSE MERLIN
--LA PRINCESSE GALITZIN DE GENTHOL--LA BARONNE DE ROTHSCHILD
--LA COMTESSE MAFFEI--LA COMTESSE SERAFINA SAN-SERVERINO
--LA COMTESSE BOLOGNINI

"I have found a letter from the kind Comtesse Loulou, who loves you
and whom you love, and in whose letter your name is mentioned in a
melancholy sentence which drew tears to my eyes; . . . I am going
to write to the good Loulou without telling her all she has done
by her letter, for such things are difficult to express, eve