Madame de Girardin made constant effort to keep the peace between Balzac and her husband, the potentate of the Presse.  Balzac had known Emile de Girardin since 1829, having been introduced to him by Levavasseur, who had just published his Physiologie du Mariage.  Later Balzac took his Verdugo to M. de Girardin which appeared in La Mode in which Madame de Girardin and her mother were collaborating; but these two men were too domineering and too violent to have amicable business dealings with each other for any length of time.  Balzac, while being un bourreau d’argent, would have thought himself dishonored in subordinating his art to questions of commercialism; M. de Girardin only esteemed literature in so far as it was a profitable business.  They quarreled often, and each time Madame de Girardin defended Balzac.

Their first serious controversy was in 1834.  Balzac was no longer writing for La Mode; he took the liberty of reproducing elsewhere some of his articles which he had given to this paper; M. de Girardin insisted that they were his property and that his consent should have been asked.  Madame de Girardin naturally knew of the quarrel and had a difficult role to play.  If she condemned Balzac, she would be lacking in friendship; if she agreed with him, she would be both disrespectful to her husband and unjust.  Like the clever woman that she was, she said both were wrong, and when she thought their anger had passed, she wrote a charming letter to Balzac urging him to come dine with her, since he owed her this much because he had refused her a short time before.  She begged that they might become good friends again and enjoy the beautiful days laughing together.  He must come to dinner the next Sunday, Easter Sunday, for she was expecting two guests from Normandy who had most thrilling adventures to relate, and they would be delighted to meet him.  Again, her sister, Madame O’Donnel, was ill, but would get up to see him, for she felt that the mere sight of him would cure her.

Anybody but Balzac would have accepted this invitation of Madame de Girardin’s, were it only to show his gratitude for what she had done for him; but Balzac was so fiery and so mortified by the letter of M. de Girardin that, without taking time to reflect, he wrote to Madame Hanska: 

“I have said adieu to that mole-hill of Gay, Emile de Girardin and Company.  I seized the first opportunity, and it was so favorable that I broke off, point-blank.  A disagreeable affair came near following; but my susceptibility as man of the pen was calmed by one of my college friends, ex-captain in the ex-Royal Guard, who advised me.  It all ended with a piquant speech replying to a jest.”

However, in answering the invitation of Madame de Girardin, Balzac wrote most courteously expressing his regrets at Madame O’Donnel’s illness and pleading work as his excuse for not accepting.  This did not prevent the ardent peacemaker from making