kindness and lively interest which Madame Hanska takes in the dear children.  Thus it is more than a duty in my mother, and all belonging to me, to do nothing to hinder me from the happy accomplishment of a union which before all is my happiness.  Again, it must not be forgotten that this lady is illustrious, not only on account of her high descent, but for her great reputation for wit, beauty, and fortune (for she is credited with all the millions of her daughter); she is constantly receiving proposals of marriage from men of the highest rank and position.  But she is something far better than rich and noble; she is exquisitely good, with the sweetness of an angel, and of an easy compatibility in daily life which every day surprises me more and more; she is, moreover, thoroughly pious.  Seeing all these great advantages, the world treats my hopes with something of mocking incredulity, and my prospects of success are denied and derided on all sides.  If we were all to live . . . under the same roof, I could conceive the difficulties raised by my mother about her dignity; but to keep on the terms which are due to a lady who brings with her (fortune apart) most precious social advantages, I think you need only confine yourself to giving her the impression that my relations are kind and affectionate amongst themselves, and kindly affectionate towards the man she loves.  It is the only way to excite her interest and to preserve her influence, which will be enormous.  You may all of you, in a great fit of independence, say you have no need of any one, that you intend to succeed by your own exertions.  But, between ourselves, the events of the last few years must have proved to you that nothing can be done without the help of others; and the social forces that we can least afford to dispense with are those of our own family.  Come, Laura, it is something to be able, in Paris, to open one’s salon and to assemble all the elite of society, presided over by a woman who is refined, polished, imposing as a queen, of illustrious descent, allied to the noblest families, witty, well-informed, and beautiful; there is a power of social domination.  To enter into any struggle whatever with a woman in whom so much influence centers is—­I tell you this in confidence—­an act of insanity.  Let there be neither servility, nor sullen pride, nor susceptibility, nor too much compliance; nothing but good natural affection.  This is the line of conduct prescribed by good sense towards such a woman.”

One can see how Madame Surville would resent such a letter, especially when she might have arranged another marriage, advantageous and sensible, for him.  But poor Balzac, knowing her interest in his happiness, writes to her a joyful letter the day after his marriage:  “As to Madame de Balzac, what more can I say about her?  I may be envied for having won her:  with the exception of her daughter, there is no woman in this land who can compare with her.  She is indeed the diamond of Poland, the gem of this illustrious house of Rzewuski.”  After explaining to her that this was a marriage of pure affection, as his wife had given her fortune to her children and wished to live only for them and for him, Balzac tells his sister that he hoped to present Madame Honore de Balzac to her soon, signing the letter, “Your brother Honore at the summit of happiness.”