health.  Though these attacks of neuralgia and numerous colds were regarded as rather casual, had he not been so imbued with optimism—­an inheritance from his father—­he might have foreseen the days of terrible suffering and disappointment that were to come to him in Russia.  Nature was beginning to revolt; the excessive use of coffee, the strain of long hours of work with little sleep, the abnormal life in general which he had led for so many years, and this suspense about the ultimate decision of the woman he so adored, were weakening him physically.

In January, 1846, Madame Hanska was in Dresden again, and as was always the case when in that city, she wrote accusing him.  This time the charge was that of indulging in ignoble gossip, and the reproach was so unjust that, without finishing the reading of the letter, he exposed himself for hours in the streets of Paris to snow, to cold and to fatigue, utterly crushed by this accusation of which he was so innocent.  In his delicate physical condition, such shocks were conducive to cardiac trouble, especially since his heart had long been affected.  After perusing the letter to the end, he reflected that these grievous words came not from her, but from strangers, so he poured forth his burning adoration, his longing for a home, where he could drink long draughts of a life in common, the life of two.

In the following March the passionate lover was drawn by his Predilecta to the Eternal City, and a few months later they were in Strasbourg, where a definite engagement took place.  In October he joined her again, this time at Wiesbaden, to attend the marriage of Anna to the Comte George de Mniszech.  This brief visit had a delightful effect:  “From Frankfort to Forbach, I existed only in remembrance of you, going over my four days like a cat who has finished her milk and then sits licking her lips.”

Madame Hanska had constantly refused to be separated from her daughter, but now Balzac hoped that he could hasten matters, so he applied to his boyhood friend, M. Germeau, prefect of Metz, to see if he, in his official capacity, could not waive the formality of the law and accelerate his marriage; but since all Frenchmen are equal before the etat-civil, this could not be accomplished.

It was during their extensive travels in 1846 that Balzac began calling the party “Bilboquet’s troup of mountebanks”:  Madame Hanska became Atala; Anna, Zephirine; George, Gringalet; and Balzac, Bilboquet.  Although Madame Hanska cautioned him about his extravagance in gathering works of art, he persisted in buying them while traveling, so it became necessary to find a home in which to place his collection.  It is an interesting fact that while making this collection, he was writing Le Cousin Pons, in which the hero has a passion for accumulating rare paintings and curios with which he fills his museum and impoverishes himself.  Balzac had purposed calling this book Le Parasite, but Madame Hanska objected to this name, which smacked so strongly of the eighteenth century, and he changed it.  As he was also writing La Cousine Bette at this time, we can see not only that his power of application had returned to him, but that he was producing some of his strongest work.