Hanska. For her
arguments, see _Memoir of Balzac_.

Madame Hanska did not care for this book, but Balzac told her she was
not familiar enough with French society to appreciate it.

Miss Mary Hanford Ford thinks that Madame Hanska inspired another of
Balzac's works: "It is probable that in Madame de la Chanterie we are
given Balzac's impassioned and vivid idealization of the woman who
became his wife at last. . . . Balzac's affection for Madame Hanska
was to a large degree tinged with the reverence which the Brotherhood
shared for Madame de la Chanterie. . . ." While the Freres de la
Consolation adored Madame de la Chanterie in a beautiful manner,
neither her life nor her character was at all like Madame Hanska's.
This work is dated December, 1847, Wierzchownia, and was doubtless
finished there, but he had been working on it for several years.

In the autumn of 1842,[*] Madame Hanska went to St. Petersburg. She
complained of a sadness and melancholy which Balzac's most ardent
devotion could not overcome. He became her _patito_, and she the queen
of his life, but he too suffered from depression, and even consented
to wait three years for her if she would only permit him to visit her.
He insisted that his affection was steadfast and eternal, but in
addition to showing him coldness, she unjustly rebuked him, having
heard that he was gambling. She had a prolonged lawsuit, and he wished
her to turn the matter over to him, feeling sure that he could win the
case for her.

[*] Emile Faguet, _Balzac_, says that it was in 1843 that Madame
Hanska went to St. Petersburg. He has made several such slight
mistakes throughout this work.

Thus passed the year 1842. She eventually consented to let him come in
May to celebrate his birthday. But alas! A great _remora_ stood in the
way. Poor Balzac did not have the money to make the trip. Then also he
had literary obligations to meet, but he felt very much fatigued from
excessive work and wanted to leave Paris for a rest. Her letters were
so unsatisfactory that he implored her to engrave in her dear mind, if
she would not write it in her heart, that he wished her to use some of
her leisure time in writing a few lines to him daily. As was his
custom when in distress, he sought a fortune-teller for comfort, and
as usual, was delighted with his prophecy. The notorious Balthazar
described to him perfectly the woman he loved, told him that his love
was returned, that there woul