Women in the Life of Balzac/Chapter II/Part III
"Ah we are fine specimens in this blessed family of ours! What a
pity we can't put ourselves into novels."
Another member of Balzac's family circle was his affectionate and amiable grandmother, whom he loved from childhood. After her husband's death, Madame Sallambier lived with her daughter, Madame de Balzac. She seems to have had a kind disposition, and having the requisite means, she could indulge Honore in various ways. When he was brought back from college in wretched health, she condemned the schools for their neglect.
While studying at home, Balzac frequently spent his evenings playing whist or Boston with her. Through voluntary inattention or foolish plays, she allowed him to win money which he used to buy books. Throughout his life he loved these games in memory of her. She encouraged him in his writings, and when L'Heritiere de Birague was sold for eight hundred francs, he was sure of the sale of the first copy, for she had promised to buy it. He was devoted to her, and when he had neglected writing to her for some time, he atoned by sending to her a most affectionate letter.
After the marriage of his sister Laure, Balzac kept her informed in detail concerning the family life. Of his grandmother, we find the following:
"Grandmamma begs me to say all the pretty things she would write if
that unfortunate malady did not rob her of all her facilities!
Nevertheless she begins to think her head is better, and if the
spring comes there is every reason to hope she will recover her
wonted gaiety. . . . Grandmamma is suffering from a nervous
attack; . . . Papa says that grandmamma is a clever actress who
knows the value of a walk, of a glance, and how to fall gracefully
into an easy chair."
If Madame Sallambier with her nervous attacks annoyed Balzac in his youth, he spoke beautifully of her after her death, and referred to her as his "grandmother who loved him," or his "most excellent grandmother." In speaking of his grief over the death of Madame de Berny, he said that never, since the death of his grandmother, had he so deeply sounded the gulf of separation. One of his characteristics he inherited from his grandmother, that of keeping trivial things which had belonged to those he loved.
Not a great deal is said of Balzac's younger sister, Laurentia, but he has left this pen picture of her:
"On the whole you know that Laurentia is as beautiful as a picture
—that she has the prettiest of arms and hands, that her
complexion is pale and lovely. In conversation people give her
credit for plenty of sense, and find that it is all a natural
sense, which is not yet developed. She has beautiful eyes, and
though pale many men admire that. . . . You are not aware that
Laurentia has taken a violent fancy to Augustus de L——. Say
nothing that might lead her to suspect I have betrayed the secret,
but I have all the trouble in the world to get it into her head
that authors are the most villainous of matches (in respect of
fortune, be it understood). Really Laurentia is quite romantic.
How she would hate me if she knew with what irreverence I allude
to her tender attachment."
This attachment was evidently not very serious, for not long afterward Laurentia was married to Monsieur de Montzaigle. His family had a title and stood well in the town, so Laurentia's parents were pleased with the marriage. This was a great event in the family, and Balzac describes to his married sister, Laure, the accompanying excitement in the home:
"Grandmamma is in a great state of delight; papa is quite
satisfied,—so am I,—so are you. As to mamma, recall the last
days of your own demoisellerie, and you will have some idea of
what Laurentia and I have to endure. Nature surrounds all roses
with thorns: mamma follows nature."
The happiness of poor Laurentia was of short duration. She died five years after her marriage, having two children. Her husband did not prove to be what the Balzac family had expected, and her children were left destitute for Madame de Balzac to care for. Balzac always spoke tenderly of her, and once in despair he exclaimed that at times he envied his poor sister Laurentia, who had been lying for many years in her coffin.
After Balzac's return from St. Petersburg, his letters were filled with allusions to Madame de Brugnolle, his housekeeper and financial counselor. He brought presents to various friends, and her he presented with a muff. Besides being very practical, economical and kind, she was a good manager for Balzac financially and strict with him regarding his diet; the bonne montagnarde did almost everything possible, from running his errands to making his home happy. He sent business letters under her name, and her fidelity and devotion are seen in her denying herself clothes in order to buy household necessities for him.
She served the novelist as a spy when he and Gavault disagreed. When Lirette visited Paris, she treated her very kindly and gave up her own room in order to arrange comfortable quarters for her. She had some relatives who had entered a convent, and she talked of ending her days in one, but Balzac begged her to keep house for him. He felt that she was born for that! Madame de Brugnolle was of much help to him in looking after Lirette's financial affairs, visiting her in the convent, and carrying messages to her from him. Many times she comforted him by promising to look out for his family, even consenting to go to Wierzchownia, if necessary, as Lirette's visit had helped her to realize as never before the angelic sweetness of his Loup.
In return for this devotion, he took her with him to Frankfort and to Bury to visit Madame de Bocarme. He celebrated the birthday of the montagnarde in 1844, giving her some very attractive presents. Her economy and devotion seemed to increase with time, and enabled him to travel without any worry about his home. What must not have been the trial to him when this happy household came to be broken up later by her marriage!
Madame Delannoy was an old family friend of the Balzacs. She aided Balzac in his financial troubles as early in his career as 1826, and though he remained indebted to her for more than twenty years, he tried to repay her and was ever grateful to her, calling her his second mother. The following, written late in his career, reveals his general attitude towards her:
"I have just written a long letter to Madame Delannoy, with whom I
have settled my business; but this still leaves me with
obligations of conscientiousness towards her, which my first book
will acquit. No one could have behaved more like a mother, or been
more adorable than she has been throughout all this business. She
has been a mother, I will be a son."
But if she remained one of his principal creditors, she received many literary proofs of his appreciation. As early as 1831 he dedicated to her a volume of his Romans et Contes philosophiques, but later changed the title to Etudes philosophiques, and dedicated to her La Recherche de L'Absolu:
"To Madame Josephine Delannoy, nee Doumerg.
"Madame, may God grant that this book have a longer life than mine!
The gratitude which I have vowed to you, and which I hope will
equal your almost maternal affection for me, would last beyond the
limits prescribed for human feeling. This sublime privilege of
prolonging the life in our hearts by the life of our works would
be, if there were ever a certainty in this respect, a recompense
for all the labor it costs those whose ambition is such. Yet again
I say: May God grant it!
"DE BALZAC."
Balzac once thought of buying from Madame Delannoy a house that was left her by her friend, M. Ferraud, but which she could not keep. He felt that this would be advantageous to them both, but the plan was never carried out. Besides their financial and literary relations, their social relations were most cordial. He speaks of accompanying her and her daughter to the Italian opera twice during the absence of Madame Visconti.
In 1842, Balzac dedicated La Maison-du-Chat-qui-pelote to Mademoiselle Marie de Montbeau, the daughter of Camille Delannoy, a friend of his sister, and the granddaughter of Madame Delannoy.
Another friend of Balzac's family was Madame de Pommereul. In the fall of 1828 after his serious financial loss, Balzac went to visit Baron and Madame de Pommereul in Brittany, where he obtained the material for Les Chouans, and became familiar with the chateau de Fougere. To please Madame de Pommereul, Balzac changed the name of his book from Le Gars to Les Chouans, after temporarily calling it Le Dernier Chouan.
She has given a beautiful pen portrait of the youthful Balzac in which she describes minutely his appearance, noting his beautiful hands, his intelligent forehead and his expressive golden brown eyes. There was something in his manner of speaking, in his gestures, in his general appearance, so much goodness, confidence, naivete and frankness that it was impossible to know him without loving him, and his exuberant good nature was infectious. In spite of his misfortunes, he had not been in their company a quarter of an hour, and they had not even shown him to his room, before he had brought the general and herself to tears with laughter.
"On some evenings he remained in the drawing-room in company with
his hosts, and entered into controversies with Madame de
Pommereul, who, being very pious herself, tried to persuade him to
make a practice of religion; while Balzac, in return, when the
discussion was exhausted, endeavored to teach her the rules of
backgammon. But the one remained unconverted and the other never
mastered the course of the noble game. Occasionally he helped to
pass the time by inventing stories, which he told with all the
vividness of which he was master."
A few months after this prolonged visit, Balzac wrote to General de Pommereul, expressing his deep appreciation of their hospitality, and in speaking of the book which he had just written, hoped that Madame de Pommereul would laugh at some details about the butter, the weddings, the stiles, and the difficulties of going to the ball, etc., which he had inserted in his work,—if she could read it without falling asleep.
Balzac made perhaps his most prolonged visits in the home of another old family friend, M. de Margonne, who was living with his wife at Sache. He describes his life there thus:
"Sache is the remains of a castle on the Indre, in one of the most
delicious valleys of Touraine. The proprietor, a man of fifty-five,
used to dandle me on his knee. He has a pious and intolerant
wife, rather deformed and not clever. I go there for him; and
besides, I am free there. They accept me throughout the region as
a child; I have no value whatever, and I am happy to be there,
like a monk in a monastery. I always go there to meditate serious
works. The sky there is so blue, the oaks so beautiful, the calm
so vast! . . . Sache is six leagues from Tours. But not a woman,
not a conversation possible!"
Not only did Balzac visit them when he wished to compose a serious work, but he often went there to recuperate from overwork. He probably did not enjoy their company, as he spoke of "having" to dine with them and he is perhaps even chargeable with ingratitude when he speaks of their parsimony.
Like his own family, these old people were interested in seeing him married to a rich lady, but to no avail. In spite of his unkind remarks about them, Balzac appreciated their hospitality, and expressed it by dedicating to M. de Margonne Une Tenebreuse Affaire.
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ It was from the father of Laurentia's husband that M. and Madame de Berny bought their home in Villeparisis.