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.

As a New Year’s greeting for 1844, Balzac dedicated to Madame Hanska Les Bourgeois de Paris, later called Les petits Bourgeois, saying that the first work written after his brief visit with her should be inscribed to her.  This dedication is somewhat different from the one published in his OEuvres: 

 “To Constance-Victoire:[*]

“Here, madame and friend is one of those works which fall, we know not whence, into an author’s mind and afford him pleasure before he can estimate how they will be received by the public, that great judge of our time.  But, almost sure of your good-will, I dedicate it to you.  It belongs to you, as formerly the tithe belonged to the church, in memory of God from whom all things come, who makes all ripen, all mature!  Some lumps of clay left by Moliere at the base of his statue of Tartufe have been molded by a hand more audacious than skilful.  But, at whatever distance I may be below the greatest of humorists, I shall be satisfied to have utilized these little pieces of the stage-box of his work to show the modern hypocrite at work.  That which most encouraged me in this difficult undertaking is to see it separated from every religious question, which was so injurious to the comedy of Tartufe, and which ought to be removed to-day.  May the double significance of your name be a prophecy for the author, and may you be pleased to find here the expression of his respectful gratitude.

                                                     “DE BALZAC. 
 “January 1, 1844.”

[*] Constance was either one of Madame Hanska’s real names, or one
    given her by Balzac, for he writes to her, in speaking of
    Mademoiselle Borel’s entering the convent:  “My most sincere
    regards to Soeur Constance, for I imagine that Saint Borel will
    take one of your names.”  Although Balzac hoped at one time to have
    Les petits Bourgeois completed by July 1844, it was left
    unfinished at his death, and was completed and published in 1855.