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 would never be a cloud in their sky, in spite of the intensity of their characters, and that he would be going to see her within six months. The soothsayer was correct in this last statement, at least, for Balzac arrived at St. Petersburg soon after this interview.
Madame Hanska felt that she was growing old, but Balzac assured her that he should love her even were she ugly, and he relieved her mind of this fear by writing in her /Journal intime/ that although he had not seen her since they were in Vienna, he thought her as beautiful and young as then—after an interval of seven years.[*]
[*] Balzac should have said an interval of /eight/ years instead of /seven/, for he visited her in Vienna in May and June, 1835, and he wrote this in September 1843. This is only one of the novelist's numerous mistakes in figuring, seen throughout his entire works.
Balzac arrived in St. Petersburg on July 17/29, and left there late in September,[*] 1843, stopping to visit in Berlin and Dresden. Becoming very ill, he cut short his visit to Mayence and Cologne and arrived in Paris November 3, in order to consult his faithful Dr. Nacquart. Excess of work, the sorrow of leaving Madame Hanska, disappointment, and deferred hopes were too much for his nervous system. His letters to Madame Hanska were, if possible, filled with greater detail than ever concerning his debts, his household and family matters, his works and society gossip. The /tu/ frequently replaces the /vous/, and having apparently exhausted all the endearing names in the French language, he resorted to the Hebrew, and finds that /Lididda/ means so many beautiful things that he employs this word. He calls her /Liline/ or /Line/; she becomes his /Louloup/, his "lighthouse," his "happy star," and the /sicura richezza, senza brama/.
[*] Unless the editor of /Lettres a l'Etrangere/ is confusing the French and Russian dates, he has made a mistake in dating certain of Balzac's letters from St. Petersburg. He had two dated October 1843, St. Petersburg, and on his way home from there Balzac writes from Taurogen dating his letter September 27-October 10, 1843. Hence the exact date of his departure from St. Petersburg is obscure.
Madame Hanska and Balzac seem to have had many idiosyncrasies in common, among which was their /penchant/ for jewelry, as well as perfumes. Since their meeting at Geneva, the two exchanged gifts of jewelry frequently, and the discussion, engraving, measuring, and exchanging of various rings occupied much of Balzac's precious time.
His fondness for antiques was another extravagance, and he invested not a little in certain pieces of furniture which had belonged to Marie de Medicis and Henri IV; this purchase he regretted later, and talked of selling, but, instead, added continually to his collection. He was constantly sending, or wanting to send some present to Madame Hanska or to her daughter Anna, but nothing could be compared with the priceless gift he received from her. The Daffinger miniature arrived February 2, 1844.