Women in the Life of Balzac Part 9

"My mind itself was crushed; for the failure of the _Chronique_ came upon me at Sache, at M. de Margonne's, where, by a wise impulse, I was plunged in work to rid myself of that odious Bechet. I had undertaken to write in ten days (it was that which kept me from going to Nemours!) the two volumes which had been demanded of me, and in eight days I had invented and composed _Les Illusions perdues_, and had written a third of it. Think what such application meant! All my faculties were strained; I wrote fifteen hours a day. . . ."

In explaining Balzac's a.s.sociation with Madame Bechet, M. Henri d'Almeras states that Madame Bechet was interested, at first, in attaching celebrated writers to her publishing house, or those who had promise of fame. She organized weekly dinner parties, which took place on Sat.u.r.day, and here a.s.sembled Beranger, Henri de Latouche, Louis Reybaud, Leon Gozlan, Brissot-Thivars, Balzac and Dr. Gentil. It was with Madame Bechet as with Charles Gosselin. The publication, less lucrative than she expected, of the first series of the _Scenes de la Vie parisienne_ and the _Scenes de la Vie de Province_ made it particularly disagreeable to her to receive the reproaches of a writer who, with his admirable talent, could not become resigned to meet with less success than other litterateurs not so good as he.

The termination of their business relations is recounted thus: "_Illusions perdues_ appears this week. On the 17th I have a meeting to close up all claims from Madame Bechet and Werdet. So there is one cause of torment the less."

If M. Hughes Rebell is correct in his surmise, at least a part of Werdet's admiration for the novelist was inspired by his wife, who had become a great admirer of the works of the young writer, not well known at that time. Madame Werdet persuaded her husband to speak to Madame Bechet about Balzac, and to advise her to publish his works.

Her husband did so, but Madame Werdet did not stop at this. She convinced him that he should leave Madame Bechet and become Balzac's sole publisher; this he was for five years, and, moreover, served him as his banker. M. Rebell thinks also that Madame Werdet is the "delicious _bourgeoise_" referred to in Balzac's letter to Madame Surville.

MADAME ROSSINI--MADAME RECAMIER--LA d.u.c.h.eSSE DE DINO--LA COMTESSE APPONY--MADAME DE BERNARD--MADAME DAVID--LA BARONNE GERARD

"You wish to know if I have met Foedora, if she is true? A woman from cold Russia, the Princess Bagration, is supposed in Paris to be the model for her. I have reached the seventy-second woman who has had the impertinence to recognize herself in that character.

They are all of ripe age. Even Madame Recamier is willing to _foedorize herself_. Not a word of all that is true. I made Foedora out of two women whom I have known without having been intimate with them. Observation sufficed me, besides a few confidences. There are also some kind souls who will have it that I have courted the handsomest of Parisian courtesans and have concealed myself behind her curtains. These are calumnies. I have met a Foedora; but that one I shall not paint; besides, it has been a long time since _La Peau de Chagrin_ was published."

Quoting Amedee Pichot and Dr. Meniere, S. de Lovenjoul states that Mademoiselle Olympe Pelissier is the woman whom Balzac used as a model for his Foedora, and that, like Raphael, he concealed himself in her bedroom. She is indeed the woman without a heart; she kept in the rue Neuve-du-Luxembourg a salon frequented by noted political people such as the Duc de Fitz-James. Being rich as well as beautiful, and having an exquisite voice, she was highly attractive to the novelist, who aspired to her hand, and who regarded her refusal with bitterness all his life. Several years later she was married to her former voice teacher, M. Rossini.

Balzac met the famous Olympe early in his literary career; he says of her:

"Two years ago, Sue quarreled with a _mauvaise courtesone_ celebrated for her beauty (she is the original of Vernet's _Judith_). I lowered myself to reconcile them, and they gave her to me. M. de Fitz-James, the Duc de Duras, and the old count went to her house to talk, as on neutral ground, much as people walk in the alley of the Tuileries to meet one another; and one expects better conduct of me than of those gentlemen! . . . As for Rossini, I wish him to write me a nice letter, and he has just invited me to dine with his mistress, who happens to be that beautiful _Judith_, the former mistress of Horace Vernet and of Sue you know. . . ."

Some months after this Balzac gave a dinner to his _Tigres_, as he called the group occupying the same box with him at the opera.

Concerning this dinner, he writes:

"Next Sat.u.r.day I give a dinner to the _Tigres_ of my opera-box, and I am preparing sumptuosities out of all reason. I shall have Rossini and Olympe, his _cara dona_, who will preside. . . . My dinner? Why, it made a great excitement. Rossini declared he had never seen eaten or drunk anything better among sovereigns. This dinner was sparkling with wit. The beautiful Olympe was graceful, sensible and perfect."[*]

[*] The present writer has not been able to find any date that would prove positively that Balzac knew Madame Rossini before writing _La Peau de Chagrin_ which appeared in 1830-1831.

Balzac was a great admirer of Rossini, wrote the words for one of his compositions, and dedicated to him _Le Contrat de Mariage_.

Among the famous salons that Balzac frequented was that of Madame Recamier, who was noted even more for her distinction and grace than for her beauty. She appreciated the ability of the young writer, and invited him to read in her salon long before the world recognized his name. He admired her greatly; of one of his visits to her he writes:

"Yesterday I went to see Madame Recamier, whom I found ill but wonderfully bright and kind. I have heard that she did much good, and acted very n.o.bly in being silent and making no complaint of the ungrateful beings she has met. No doubt she saw upon my face a reflection of what I thought of her, and without explaining to herself this little sympathy, she was charming."

Although one would not suspect Madame Hanska of being jealous of Madame Recamier, perhaps it is because she wished to _foedorize_ herself that Balzac writes:

"_Mon Dieu!_ do not be jealous of any one. I have not been to see Madame Recamier or any one else. . . . As to my relations with the person you speak of, I never had any that were tender; I have none now. I answered a very unimportant letter, and apropos of a sentence, I explained myself; that was all. There are relations of politeness due to women of a certain rank whom one has known; but a visit to Madame Recamier is not, I suppose, _relations_, when one visits her once in three months."

One of the famous women whom Balzac met soon after he began to acquire literary fame was the d.u.c.h.esse de Dino, who was married to Talleyrand's nephew in 1809.

"When her husband's uncle became French Amba.s.sador at Vienna in 1814, she went with him as mistress of the emba.s.sy. When he was sent to London in 1830, she accompanied him in the same capacity.

She lived with him till his death in 1838, entirely devoted to his welfare, and she had given us in these pages a picture of the old Talleyrand which is among the masterpieces of memoir-writing. From this connection she was naturally for many years in the very heart of political affairs, as no one was, save perhaps that other Dorothea of the Baltic, the Princess de Lieven. To great beauty and spirit she added unusual talents, and in the best sense was a great lady of the _haute politique_."

Balzac had met her in the salon of Madame Appony, but had never visited her in her home until 1836, when he went to Rochecotte to see the famous Prince de Talleyrand, having a great desire to have a view of the "witty turkeys who plucked the eagle and made it tumble into the ditch of the house of Austria." Several years later, on his return from St. Petersburg, he stopped in Berlin, where he was invited to a grand dinner at the home of the Count and Countess Bresson. He gave his arm to the d.u.c.h.esse de Talleyrand (ex-Dino), whom he thought the most beautiful lady present, although she was fifty-two years of age.

The d.u.c.h.esse has left this appreciation of the novelist: ". . . his face and bearing are vulgar, and I imagine his ideas are equally so.

Undoubtedly, he is a very clever man, but his conversation is neither easy nor light, but on the contrary, very dull. He watched and examined all of us most minutely."

Notwithstanding that the beautiful Dorothea did not admire Balzac, he was sincere in his appreciation of her. A novel recently brought to light, _L'Amour Masque_, or as the author first called it, _Imprudence et Bonheur_, was written for her. Balzac had been her guest repeatedly; he had recognized in her one of the rare women, who by their intelligence and, as it were, instinctive appreciation of genius can compensate to a great _incompris_ like Balzac for the lack of recognition on the part of his contemporaries; one of those women near whom, thanks to tactful treatment, a depressed man will regain confidence in himself and courage to go on.

Of the distinguished houses which were open to Balzac, that of the Comte Appony was one of the most beautiful. This protege of the Prince of Metternich, having had the rare good fortune to please both governments, was retained by Louis-Philippe, and was as well liked and appreciated in the role of amba.s.sador and diplomat as in that of man of the world. The Countess Appony possessed a very peculiar charm, and was a type of feminine distinction. b.a.l.l.s and receptions were given frequently in her home, where all was of a supreme elegance.

Balzac visited the Count and Countess frequently, often having a letter or a message to deliver for the Comtesse Marie Potocka. He realized that it would be of advantage to be friendly toward the Amba.s.sador of Austria, and he doubtless enjoyed the society of his charming wife. He writes of one of these visits:

"Alas! your _moujik_ also has been _un poco_ in that market of false smiles and charming toilets; he has made his debut at Madame Appony's,--for the house of Balzac must live on good terms with the house of Austria,--and your _moujik_ had some success. He was examined with the curiosity felt for animals from distant regions.

There were presentations on presentations, which bored him so that he placed himself in a corner with some Russians and Poles. But their names are so difficult to p.r.o.nounce that he cannot tell you anything about them, further than that one was a very ugly lady, friend of Madame Hahn, and a Countess Schouwalof, sister of Madame Jeroslas. . . . Is that right? The _moujik_ will go there every two weeks, if his lady permits him."

The novelist met many prominent people at these receptions, among them Prince Esterhazy; he went to the beautiful soirees of Madame Appony while refusing to go elsewhere, even to the opera.

Several women Balzac probably met through his intimacy with their husbands. Among these were Madame de Bernard, whose name was Clementine, but whom he called "Mentine" and "La Fosseuse," this character being the frail nervous young girl in _Le Medecin de Campagne_. In August, 1831, M. Charles de Bernard wrote a very favorable article about _La Peau de Chagrin_ in the _Gazette de Franche-Comte_, which he was editing at that time. This naturally pleased the novelist; their friendship continued through many years, and in 1844, Balzac dedicated to him _Sarrazine_, written in 1830.

Early in his literary career Balzac knew Baron Gerard, and in writing to the painter, sent greetings to Madame Gerard. Much later in life, while posing for his bust, made by David d'Angers, he saw Madame David frequently, and learned to like her. He felt flattered that she thought he looked so much younger than he really was. On his return from St. Petersburg, in 1843, he brought her a pound of Russian tea, which, as he explained, had no other merit than the exceeding difficulties it had encountered in pa.s.sing through twenty custom-houses.

LA COMTESSE VISCONTI--MADAME DE VALETTE--MADEMOISELLE KOZLOWSKA

"Madame de Visconti, of whom you speak to me, is one of the most amiable of women, of an infinite, exquisite kindness; a delicate and elegant beauty. She helps me much to bear my life. She is gentle, and full of firmness, immovable and implacable in her ideas and her repugnances. She is a person to be depended on. She has not been fortunate, or rather, her fortune and that of the Count are not in keeping with this splendid name. . . . It is a friendship which consoles me under many griefs. But, unfortunately, I see her very seldom."

Madame Emile Guidoboni-Visconti, nee (Frances Sarah) Lowell, was an Englishwoman another _etrangere_. Balzac shared the same box with her at the Italian opera, and in the summer of 1836, he went to Turin to look after some legal business for the Viscontis. He had not known them long before this, for he writes, in speaking of _Le Lys dans la Vallee_: "Do they not say that I have painted Madame Visconti? Such are the judgments to which we are exposed. You know that I had the proofs in Vienna, and that portrait was written at Sache and corrected at La Bouleauniere, before I had ever seen Madame Visconti."[*]

[*] La Bouleauniere was the home of Madame de Berny, at Nemours.

Balzac visited Madame Hanska at Vienna in the spring of 1835.

Either this new friendship became too ardent for the comfort of Madame Hanska, or she heard false reports concerning it, for she made objections to which Balzac responds:

"Must I renounce the Italian opera, the only pleasure I have in Paris, because I have no other seat than in a box where there is also a charming and gracious woman? If calumny, which respects nothing, demands it, I shall give up music also. I was in a box among people who were an injury to me, and brought me into disrepute. I had to go elsewhere, and, in all conscience, I did not wish Olympe's box. But let us drop the subject."

The friendship continued to grow, however, and in December, 1836, the novelist offered her the ma.n.u.script of _La vieille Fille_. He visited her frequently in her home, and on his return from an extended tour to Corsica and Sardinia in 1838 he spent some time in Milan, looking after some business interests for the Visconti family.

When Balzac was living secluded from his creditors, Madame Visconti showed her friendship for him in a very material way. The bailiff had been seeking him for three weeks, when a vindictive Ariadne, having a strong interest in seeing Balzac conducted to prison, presented herself at the home of the creditor and informed him that the novelist was residing in the Champs-Elysees, at the home of Madame Visconti.

Nothing could have been more exact than this information. Two hours later, the home was surrounded, and Balzac, interrupted in the midst of a chapter of one of his novels, saw two bailiffs enter, armed with the traditional club; they showed him a cab waiting at the door. A woman had betrayed him--now a woman saved him. Madame Visconti flung ten thousand francs in the faces of the bailiffs, and showed them the door.[*]

[*] Eugene de Mirecourt, _Les Contemporains_, does not give the date of this incident. Keim et Lumet, _H. de Balzac_, state that it occurred in 1837, but E. E. Saltus, _Balzac_, states that it was in connection with the indebtedness to William Duckett, editor of the _Dictionnaire de la Conversation_, in 1846. F. Lawton, _Balzac_, states that it was in connection with his indebtedness to Duckett on account of the _Chronicle_, and that Balzac was sued in 1837. If the letter to Mme. de V., _Memoir and Letters of Balzac_, was addressed to Madame Visconti, he was owing her in 1840. M. F. Sandars, _Honore de Balzac_, states that about 1846-1848, Balzac borrowed 10,000 or 15,000 francs from the Viscontis, giving them as guarantee shares in the Chemin de Fer du Nord.

During Balzac's residence _aux Jardies_ he was quite near Madame Visconti, as she was living in a rather insignificant house just opposite the home Balzac had built. He enjoyed her companionship, and when she moved to Versailles he regretted not being able to see her more frequently than once a fortnight, for she was one of the few who gave him their sympathy at that time.

Several months later Balzac was disappointed in her, and referred to her bitterly as _L'Anglaise_, _L'Angleterre_, or "the lady who lived at Versailles." He felt that she was ungrateful and inconsiderate, and while he remained on speaking terms with her, he regarded this friendship as one of the misfortunes of his life.

After the death of Madame Visconti (April 28, 1883), a picture of Balzac which had been in her possession was placed in the museum at Tours. This is supposed to be the portrait painted by Gerard-Seguin, exhibited in the _Salon_ in 1842, and presented to her by Balzac at that time.

In answering several of Madame Hanska's questions, Balzac writes: "No, I was not happy in writing _Beatrix_; you ought to have known it. Yes, Sarah is Madame de Visconti; yes, Mademoiselle des Touches is George Sand; yes, Beatrix is even too much Madame d'Agoult." A few months later he writes: "The friendship of which I spoke to you, and at which you laughed, apropos of the dedication, is not all I thought it.

English prejudices are terrible, they take away what is an essential to all artists, the _laisser-aller_, unconstraint. Never have I done so well as when, in the _Lys_, I explained the women of that country in a few words."[*]

[*] This is probably the basis for Mr. Monahan's statement that Balzac pictured Madame Visconti as Lady Dudley in _Le Lys dans la Vallee_.

From the above, one would suppose that Madame Visconti is the "Sarah"