e De
Musset-Sand story was not known in its entirety until 1896. Again M.
Spelboerch de Lovenjoul must be consulted, as he possessed a bundle of
letters that were written by George Sand and M. Buloz, the editor of
"La Revue des Deux Mondes," in 1858.

De Musset went to Venice with Sand in the fall of 1833. They had the
maternal sanction and means supplied by Madame de Musset. The story
gives forth the true Gallic resonance on being critically tapped. De
Musset returned alone, sick in body and soul, and thenceforth absinthe
was his constant solace. There had been references, vague and
disquieting, of a Dr. Pagello for whom Sand had suddenly manifested one
of her extraordinary fancies. This she denied, but De Musset's brother
plainly intimated that the aggravating cause of his brother's illness
had been the unexpected vision of Sand coquetting with the young
medical man called in to prescribe for Alfred. Dr. Pagello in 1896 was
interviewed by Dr. Cabanes of the Paris "Figaro" and here is his story
of what had happened in 1833. This story will explain the later
behavior of "la merle blanche" toward Chopin.

"One night George Sand, after writing three pages of prose full of
poetry and inspiration, took an unaddressed envelope, placed therein
the poetic declaration, and handed it to Dr. Pagello. He, seeing no
address, did not, or feigned not, to understand for whom the letter was
intended, and asked George Sand what he should do with it. Snatching
the letter from his hands, she wrote upon the envelope: 'To the Stupid
Pagello.' Some days afterward George Sand frankly told De Musset that
henceforth she could be to him only a friend."

De Musset died in 1857 and after his death Sand startled Paris with
"Elle et Lui," an obvious answer to "Confessions of a Child of the
Age," De Musset's version--an uncomplimentary one to himself--of their
separation. The poet's brother Paul rallied to his memory with "Lui et
Elle," and even Louisa Colet ventured into the fracas with a trashy
novel called "Lui." During all this mud-throwing the cause of the
trouble calmly lived in the little Italian town of Belluno. It was Dr.
Giuseppe Pagello who will go down in literary history as the one man
that played Joseph to George Sand.

Now do you ask why I believe that Sand left Chopin when she was bored
with him? The words "some days afterwards" are significant. I print the
Pagello story not only because it is new, but as a reminder that George
S