o this, saying that as she had done all the
work, she ought to have all the honour. To satisfy both, Jules Sandeau,
who would not adorn himself with another's plumes, and the publishers,
who preferred a known to an unknown name, Delatouche gave Madame
Dudevant the name of George Sand, under which henceforth all her
works were published, and by which she was best known in society,
and generally called among her friends. "Valentine" appeared, like
"Indiana," in 1832, and was followed in 1833 by Lelia. For the first two
of these novels she received 3,000 francs. When Buloz bought the Revue
des deux Mondes, she became one of the contributors to that
journal. This shows that a great improvement had taken place in her
circumstances, and that the fight she had to fight was not a very hard
one. Indeed, in the course of two years she had attained fame, and was
now a much-praised and much-abused celebrity.

All this time George Sand had, according to agreement, spent alternately
three months in Paris and three months at Nohant. A letter written by
M. Dudevant to his wife in 1831 furnishes a curious illustration of the
relation that existed between husband and wife. The accommodating spirit
which pervades it is most charming:--

I shall go to Paris; I shall not put up at your lodgings, for
I do not wish to inconvenience you any more than I wish you
to inconvenience me (parceque je ne veux pas vous gener, pas
plus que je ne veux que vous me geniez).

In August, 1833, George Sand and Alfred de Musset met for the first time
at a dinner which the editor Buloz gave to the contributors to the Revue
des deux Mondes. The two sat beside each other. Musset called on
George Sand soon after, called again and again, and before long was
passionately in love with her. She reciprocated his devotion. But the
serene blissfulness of the first days of their liaison was of short
duration. Already in the following month they fled from the Parisian
surroundings and gossipings, which they regarded as the disturbers of
their harmony. After visiting Genoa, Florence, and Pisa, they settled
at Venice. Italy, however, did not afford them the hoped-for peace and
contentment. It was evident that the days of "adoration, ecstasy, and
worship" were things of the past. Unpleasant scenes became more and more
frequent. How, indeed, could a lasting concord be maintained by two such
disparate characters? The woman's strength and determination contrasted