One of the first of these friendships was that formed with Madame de Berny, nee (Laure-Louise-Antoinette) Hinner.  She was the daughter of a German musician, a harpist at the court of Louis XVI, and of Louise-Marguerite-Emelie Quelpec de Laborde, a lady in waiting at the court of Marie Antoinette.  M. Hinner died in 1784, after which Madame Hinner was married to Francois-Augustin Reinier de Jarjayes, adjutant-general of the army.  M. Jarjayes was one of the best known persons belonging to the Royalist party during the Revolution, a champion of the Queen, whom he made many attempts to save.  He was one of her most faithful friends, was intrusted with family keepsakes, and was made lieutenant-general under Louis XVIII.  Madame Jarjayes was much loved by the Queen; she was also implicated in the plots.  Before dying, Marie Antoinette sent her a lock of her hair and a pair of earrings.  Laure Hinner was married April 8, 1793, to M. Gabriel de Berny, almost nine years her senior, who was of the oldest nobility.  Madame de Berny, her husband, her mother and her stepfather were imprisoned for nine months, and were not released until after the fall of Robespierre.

The married life of Madame de Berny was unhappy; she was intelligent and sentimental; he, capricious and morose.  She seems to have realized the type of the femme incomprise; she too was an etrangere, and bore some traits of her German origin.  Coming into Balzac’s life at about the age of forty, this femme de quarante ans became for him the amie and the companion who was to teach him life.  Still beautiful, having been reared in intimate court circles, having been the confidante of plotters and the guardian of secrets, possessed of rare trinkets and souvenirs—­what an open book was this memoire vivante, and with what passion did the young interrogator absorb the pages!  Here he found unknown anecdotes, ignored designs, and here the sources of his great plots, Les Chouans, Madame de la Chanterie, and Un Episode sous la Terreur.

All this is what she could teach him, aided perhaps by his mother, who lived until 1837.  Here is the secret of Balzac’s royalism; here is where he first learned of the great ladies that appear in his work, largely portrayed to him by the amie who watched over his youth and guided his maturity.

Having consulted the Almanach des 25,000 adresses, Madame Ruxton thinks that Balzac met Madame de Berny when the two families lived near each other in Paris; M. de Berny and family spent the summers in Villeparisis, and resided during the winters at 3, rue Portefoin, Paris.  It is possible that he met her at the soirees, which he frequented with his sisters, and where his awkwardness provoked smiles from the ladies.  While it is generally supposed that they met at Villeparisis, MM.  Hanotaux et Vicaire also believed that they must have known each other before this, if Balzac is referring to his own life in Oeuvres diverses:  Une Passion au College.