oing quietly through Paris on foot, and having his friend
Mery continue to secure bargains at Marseilles. A most important event
at this period is the noticeable decline in the novelist's health.
Though these attacks of neuralgia and numerous colds were regarded as
rather casual, had he not been so imbued with optimism--an inheritance
from his father--he might have foreseen the days of terrible suffering
and disappointment that were to come to him in Russia. Nature was
beginning to revolt; the excessive use of coffee, the strain of long
hours of work with little sleep, the abnormal life in general which he
had led for so many years, and this suspense about the ultimate
decision of the woman he so adored, were weakening him physically.

In January, 1846, Madame Hanska was in Dresden again, and as was
always the case when in that city, she wrote accusing him. This time
the charge was that of indulging in ignoble gossip, and the reproach
was so unjust that, without finishing the reading of the letter, he
exposed himself for hours in the streets of Paris to snow, to cold and
to fatigue, utterly crushed by this accusation of which he was so
innocent. In his delicate physical condition, such shocks were
conducive to cardiac trouble, especially since his heart had long been
affected. After perusing the letter to the end, he reflected that
these grievous words came not from her, but from strangers, so he
poured forth his burning adoration, his longing for a _home_, where he
could drink long draughts of a life in common, the life of two.

In the following March the passionate lover was drawn by his
_Predilecta_ to the Eternal City, and a few months later they were in
Strasbourg, where a definite engagement took place. In October he
joined her again, this time at Wiesbaden, to attend the marriage of
Anna to the Comte George de Mniszech. This brief visit had a
delightful effect: "From Frankfort to Forbach, I existed only in
remembrance of you, going over my four days like a cat who has
finished her milk and then sits licking her lips."

Madame Hanska had constantly refused to be separated from her
daughter, but now Balzac hoped that he could hasten matters, so he
applied to his boyhood friend, M. Germeau, prefect of Metz, to see if
he, in his official capacity, could not waive the formality of the law
and accelerate his marriage; but since all Frenchmen are equal before
the _etat-civil_, this could not be accomplished.

It was