Part 17 (1/2)
”_Albert Savarus_ has had much success. You will read it in the first volume of the _Comedie humaine_, almost after the _fausse Maitresse_, where with childish joy I have made the name _Rzewuski_ s.h.i.+ne in the midst of those of the most ill.u.s.trious families of the North. Why have I not placed Francesca Colonna at Diodati? Alas, I was afraid that it would be too transparent.
Diodati makes my heart beat! Those four syllables, it is the cry of the _Montjoie Saint-Denis!_ of my heart.”
Francesca Colonna, the Princess Gandolphini, is the heroine of _l'Ambitieux par Amour_, a novel supposed to have been published by Albert Savarus and described in the book which bears his name. Using her name, the hero is represented as having written the story of the d.u.c.h.esse d'Argaiolo and himself, he taking the name of Rodolphe. Here are given, in disguise again, the details of Balzac's early relations to Madame Hanska. Albert Savarus, while traveling in Switzerland, sees a lady's face at the window of an upper room, admires it and seeks the lady's acquaintance. She proves to be the d.u.c.h.esse d'Argaiolo, an Italian in exile. She had been married very young to the Duke d'Argaiolo, who was rich and much older than she. The young man falls in love with this beautiful lady, and she promises to be his as soon as she becomes free.
Gabriel Ferry states that Balzac first saw Madame Hanska's face at a window, and the Princess Radziwill says that Balzac went to the hotel to meet her aunt. It is to be noted that the year 1834 is that in which Balzac and Madame Hanska were in Geneva together.
The Villa Diodati, noted for having been inhabited by Lord Byron, is situated on Lake Geneva, at Cologny, not far from Pre Leveque,[*]
where M. de Hanski and his family resided in the _maison Mirabaud-Amat_.
[*] Balzac preserved a remembrance of the happy days he had spent with Madame Hanska at Pre-Leveque, Lake Geneva, by dating _La d.u.c.h.esse de Langeais_, January 26, 1834, Pre-Leveque.
There are numerous allusions to Diodati in Balzac's correspondence, from which one would judge that he had some very unhappy a.s.sociations with Madame de Castries, and some very happy ones with Madame Hanska in connection with Diodati:
”When I want to give myself a magnificent fete, I close my eyes, lie down on one of my sofas, . . . and recall that good day at Diodati which effaced a thousand pangs I had felt there a year before. You have made me know the difference between a true affection and a simulated one, and for a heart as childlike as mine, there is cause there for an eternal grat.i.tude. . . . When some thought saddens me, then I have recourse to you; . . . I see again Diodati, I stretch myself on the good sofa of the Maison Mirabaud. . . . Diodati, that image of a happy life, reappears like a star for a moment clouded, and I began to laugh, as you know I can laugh. I say to myself that so much work will have its recompense, and that I shall have, like Lord Byron, my Diodati. I sing in my bad voice: 'Diodati, Diodati!'”
Another excerpt shows that Balzac had in mind his own life in connection with Madame Hanska's in writing _Albert Savarus_:
”. . . It is six o'clock in the morning, I have interrupted myself to think of you, reminded of you by Switzerland where I have placed the scene of _Albert Savarus_.--Lovers in Switzerland,--for me, it is the image of happiness. I do not wish to place the Princess Gandolphini in the _maison Mirabaud_, for there are people in the world who would make a crime of it for us. This Princess is a foreigner, an Italian, loved by Savarus.”
Many of Balzac's traits are seen in Albert Savarus. Like Balzac, Albert Savarus was defeated in politics, but hoped for election; was a lawyer, expected to rise to fame, and was about three years older than the woman he loved. Like Madame Hanska, the d.u.c.h.esse d'Argaiolo, known as the Princess Gandolphini, was beautiful, n.o.ble, a foreigner, and married to a man very rich and much older than she, who was not companionable. It was on December 26 that Albert Savarus arrived at the Villa on Lake Geneva to visit his princes, while Balzac arrived December 25 to visit Madame Hanska at her Villa there. The two lovers spent the winter together, and in the spring, the Duc d'Argaiolo (Prince Gandolphini) and his wife went to Naples, and Albert Savarus (Rodolphe) returned to Paris, just as M. de Hanski took his family to Italy in the spring, while Balzac returned to Paris.
Albert Savarus was falsely accused of being married, just as Madame Hanska had accused Balzac. The letters to the d.u.c.h.ess from Savarus are quite similar to some Balzac wrote to Madame Hanska. Like Balzac, Savarus saw few people, worked at night, was poor, ever hopeful, communed with the portrait of his adored one, had trouble in regard to the delivery of her letters, and was worried when they did not come; yet he was patient and willing to wait until the Duke should die. Like Madame Hanska, the d.u.c.h.ess feared her lover was unfaithful to her, and in both cases a woman sowed discord, though the results were different.[*]
[*] Miss K. P. Wormeley does not think that _Albert Savarus_ was inspired by Balzac's relations with Madame Hanska. For her arguments, see _Memoir of Balzac_.
Madame Hanska did not care for this book, but Balzac told her she was not familiar enough with French society to appreciate it.
Miss Mary Hanford Ford thinks that Madame Hanska inspired another of Balzac's works: ”It is probable that in Madame de la Chanterie we are given Balzac's impa.s.sioned and vivid idealization of the woman who became his wife at last. . . . Balzac's affection for Madame Hanska was to a large degree tinged with the reverence which the Brotherhood shared for Madame de la Chanterie. . . .” While the Freres de la Consolation adored Madame de la Chanterie in a beautiful manner, neither her life nor her character was at all like Madame Hanska's.
This work is dated December, 1847, Wierzchownia, and was doubtless finished there, but he had been working on it for several years.
In the autumn of 1842,[*] Madame Hanska went to St. Petersburg. She complained of a sadness and melancholy which Balzac's most ardent devotion could not overcome. He became her _pat.i.to_, and she the queen of his life, but he too suffered from depression, and even consented to wait three years for her if she would only permit him to visit her.
He insisted that his affection was steadfast and eternal, but in addition to showing him coldness, she unjustly rebuked him, having heard that he was gambling. She had a prolonged lawsuit, and he wished her to turn the matter over to him, feeling sure that he could win the case for her.
[*] Emile f.a.guet, _Balzac_, says that it was in 1843 that Madame Hanska went to St. Petersburg. He has made several such slight mistakes throughout this work.
Thus pa.s.sed the year 1842. She eventually consented to let him come in May to celebrate his birthday. But alas! A great _remora_ stood in the way. Poor Balzac did not have the money to make the trip. Then also he had literary obligations to meet, but he felt very much fatigued from excessive work and wanted to leave Paris for a rest. Her letters were so unsatisfactory that he implored her to engrave in her dear mind, if she would not write it in her heart, that he wished her to use some of her leisure time in writing a few lines to him daily. As was his custom when in distress, he sought a fortune-teller for comfort, and as usual, was delighted with his prophecy. The notorious Balthazar described to him perfectly the woman he loved, told him that his love was returned, that there would never be a cloud in their sky, in spite of the intensity of their characters, and that he would be going to see her within six months. The soothsayer was correct in this last statement, at least, for Balzac arrived at St. Petersburg soon after this interview.
Madame Hanska felt that she was growing old, but Balzac a.s.sured her that he should love her even were she ugly, and he relieved her mind of this fear by writing in her _Journal intime_ that although he had not seen her since they were in Vienna, he thought her as beautiful and young as then--after an interval of seven years.[*]
[*] Balzac should have said an interval of _eight_ years instead of _seven_, for he visited her in Vienna in May and June, 1835, and he wrote this in September 1843. This is only one of the novelist's numerous mistakes in figuring, seen throughout his entire works.
Balzac arrived in St. Petersburg on July 17_29, and left there late in September,[*] 1843, stopping to visit in Berlin and Dresden. Becoming very ill, he cut short his visit to Mayence and Cologne and arrived in Paris November 3, in order to consult his faithful Dr. Nacquart.
Excess of work, the sorrow of leaving Madame Hanska, disappointment, and deferred hopes were too much for his nervous system. His letters to Madame Hanska were, if possible, filled with greater detail than ever concerning his debts, his household and family matters, his works and society gossip. The _tu_ frequently replaces the _vous_, and having apparently exhausted all the endearing names in the French language, he resorted to the Hebrew, and finds that _Lididda_ means so many beautiful things that he employs this word. He calls her _Liline_ or _Line_; she becomes his _Louloup_, his ”lighthouse,” his ”happy star,” and the _sicura richezza, senza brama_.
[*] Unless the editor of _Lettres a l'Etrangere_ is confusing the French and Russian dates, he has made a mistake in dating certain of Balzac's letters from St. Petersburg. He had two dated October 1843, St. Petersburg, and on his way home from there Balzac writes from Taurogen dating his letter September 27-October 10, 1843.
Hence the exact date of his departure from St. Petersburg is obscure.
Madame Hanska and Balzac seem to have had many idiosyncrasies in common, among which was their _penchant_ for jewelry, as well as perfumes. Since their meeting at Geneva, the two exchanged gifts of jewelry frequently, and the discussion, engraving, measuring, and exchanging of various rings occupied much of Balzac's precious time.