"Daughter of an enslaved land, an angel in love, a demon in imagination, a child in faith, an old man in experience, a man in brain, a woman in heart, a giant in hope, a mother in suffering and a poet in your dreams,—this work, in which your love and your fancy, your faith, your experience, your suffering, your hopes and your dreams are like chains by which hangs a web less lovely than the poetry cherished in your soul—the poetry whose expression when it lights up your countenance is, to those who admire you, what the characters of a lost language are to the learned—this work is yours.
"DE BALZAC."
In /La fausse Maitresse/, Balzac represented Madame Hanska in the role of the Countess Clementine Laginska, who was silently loved by Thaddee Paz, a Polish refugee. This Thaddee Paz was no other than Thaddee Wylezynski, a cousin who adored her, and who died in 1844. Balzac learned of the warm attachment existing between Madame Hanska and her cousin soon after meeting her, and compared his faithful friend Borget to her Thaddee. On hearing of the death of Thaddee, he writes her: "The death of Thaddee, which you announce to me, grieves me. You have told me so much of him, that I loved one who loved you so well, /although/! You have doubtless guessed why I called Paz, Thaddee. Poor dear one, I shall love you for all those whose love you lose!"
Balzac longed to be free from his debts, and have undisturbed possession of /Les Jardies/, where they could live /en pigeons heureux/. Ever inclined to give advice, he suggested to her that she should have her interests entirely separate form Anna's, quoting the axiom, /N'ayez aucune collision d'interet avec vos enfants/, and that she was wrong in refusing a bequest from her deceased husband. She should give up all luxuries, dismiss all necessary employees and not spend so much of her income but invest it. He felt that she and her daughter were lacking in business ability; this proved to be too true, but Balzac was indeed a very poor person to advise her on this subject; however, her lack of accuracy in failing to date her letters was, to be sure, a great annoyance to him.
On the other hand, she suspected her /Nore/, had again heard that he was married, and that he was given to indulging in intoxicating liquors; she advised him not to associate so much with women.
Having eventually won her lawsuit, she returned to Wierzchownia in the spring of 1844, after a residence of almost two years in St. Petersburg. Her daughter Anna had made her debut in St. Petersburg society, and had met the young Comte George de Mniszech, who was destined to become her husband. Balzac was not pleased with this choice, and felt that the /protégé/ of the aged Comte Potocki would make a better husband, for moral qualities were to be considered rather than fortune.
After spending the summer and autumn at her home, Madame Hanska went to Dresden for the winter. As early as August, Balzac sought permission to visit her there, making his request in time to arrange his work in advance and secure the money for the journey, in case she consented. While in St. Petersburg, she had given him money to buy some gift for Anna, so he planned to take both of them many beautiful things, and /une cave de parfums/ as a gift /de nez a nez/. If she would not consent to his coming to Dresden, he would come to Berlin, Leipsic, Frankfort, Aix-la-Chapelle, or anywhere else. He became impatient to know his fate, and her letters were so irregular that he exclaimed: "In heaven's name, write me regularly three times a month!"
Poor Balzac's dream was to be on the way to Dresden, but this was not to be realized. It will be remembered, that Madame Hanska's family did not approve of Balzac nor did they appreciate his literary worth, they felt that the marriage would be a decided /mesalliance/, and exerted their influence against him. Discouraged by them and her friends, she forbade his coming. While her family called him a /scribe exotique/, Balzac indirectly told her of the appreciation of other women, saying that Madame de Girardin considered him to be one of the most charming conversationalists of the day.
This uncertainty as to his going to visit his "Polar Star" affected him to such a degree that he could not concentrate his mind on his work, and he became impatient to the point of scolding her:
"But, dear Countess, you have made me lose all the month of January and the first fifteen days of February by saying to me: 'I start— to-morrow—next week,' and by making me wait for letters; in short, by throwing me into rages which I alone know! This has brought a frightful disorder into my affairs, for instead of getting my liberty February 15, I have before me a month of herculean labor, and on my brain I must inscribe this which will be contradicted by my heart: 'Think no longer of your star, nor of Dresden, nor of travel; stay at your chain and work miserably! . . . Dear Countess, I decidedly advise you to leave Dresden at once. There are princesses in that town who infect and poison your heart, and were it not for /Les Paysans/, I should have started at once to prove to that venerable invalid of Cythera how men of my stamp love; men who have not received, like her prince, a Russian pumpkin in place of a French heart from the hands of hyperborean nature. . . . Tell your dear Princess that I have known you since 1833, and that in 1845 I am ready to go from Paris to Dresden to see you for a day; and it is not impossible for me to make this trip; . . ."