The Princess Radziwill states, however, that she has heard
her aunt say often that this story is not true. But were it true,
Balzac's condition was such that no physician could have saved him,
even though possessing all the ability portrayed by the novelist in
the notable and omnipresent Dr. Horace Bianchon, who had saved so many
characters of the _Comedie humaine_, who had comforted in their dying
hours all ranks from the poverty-stricken Pere Goriot to the wealthy
Madame Graslin, from the corrupt Madame Marneffe to the angelic
Pierette Lorrain, whose incomparable fame had spread over a large part
of Europe.

Madame Hanska has been reproached also for the medical treatment given
Balzac in Russia. It is doubtless true that lemon juice is not
considered the proper treatment for heart disease in this enlightened
age, but seventy years ago, in the wilds of Russia, there was probably
no better medical aid to be secured; and even if Dr. Knothe and his
son were "charlatans," it will be remembered that Balzac not only had
a _penchant_ for such, but that he was very fond of these two
physicians and thought their treatment superior to that which was
given at Paris.

M. de Fiennes complained that grass was allowed to grow on Balzac's
grave. To this M. Eugene de Mirecourt replied that what M. de Fiennes
had taken for grass was laurel, thyme, buckthorn and white jasmine;
the grave of Balzac was constantly and religiously kept in good order
by his widow. One could ask any of the gardeners of Pere-Lachaise
thereupon.

Whatever the attitude of Balzac's wife towards him during his life,
she acted most nobly indeed in the matter of his debts. Instead of
accepting the inheritance left her in her husband's will and selling
her rights in all his works, the beautiful _etrangere_ accepted
courageously the terrible burden left to her, and paid the novelist's
mother an annuity of three thousand francs until her death, which
occurred March, 1854. She succeeded in accomplishing this liquidation,
which was of exceptional difficulty, and long before her death every
one of Balzac's creditors had been paid in full.

There seems to be no _authoritative_ proof that Balzac's married life
was either happy or unhappy. The Princess Radziwill always understood
from her aunt that they were as happy as one could expect, considering
that Balzac's days were numbered. The present writer is fain to say,
with Mr. Edward King: "He died happy, for he died in