though not a lover of society, he was
acquainted with many varieties of people, while his own personality
was powerful, vivid, and eccentric.

Thus he appears at first sight to be a fascinating subject for
biography; but if we examine a little more closely, we shall realise
the web of difficulties in which the writer of a complete and
exhaustive Life of Balzac would involve himself, and shall understand
why the task has never been attempted. The great author's money
affairs alone are so complicated that it is doubtful whether he ever
mastered them himself, and it is certainly impossible for any one else
to understand them; while he managed to shroud his private life,
especially his relations to women, in almost complete mystery. For
some years after his death the monkish habit in which he attired
himself was considered symbolic of his mental attitude; and even now,
though the veil is partially lifted, and we realise the great part
women played in his life, there remain many points which are not yet
cleared up.

Consequently any one who attempts even in the most unambitious way to
give a complete account of the great writer's life, is confronted with
many blank spaces. It is true that the absolutely mysterious
disappearances of which his contemporaries speak curiously are now
partially accounted for, as we know that they were usually connected
with Madame Hanska, and that Balzac's sense of honour would not allow
him to breathe her name, except to his most intimate friends, and
under the pledge of the strictest secrecy. His letters to her have
allowed a flood of light to pour upon his hitherto veiled personality;
but they are almost our only reliable source of information.
Therefore, when they cease, because Balzac is with his ladylove, and
we are suddenly excluded from his confidence, we can only guess what
is happening.

In this way, we possess but the scantiest information about the
journeys which occupied a great part of his time during the last few
years of his life. We know that he travelled, regardless of expense
and exhaustion, as quickly as possible, and by the very shortest
route, to meet Madame Hanska; but this once accomplished, we can
gather little more, and we long for a diary or a confidential
correspondent. In the first rapture of his meeting at Neufchatel, he
did indeed open his heart to his sister, Madame Surville; but his
habitual discretion, and his care for the reputation of the woman he
loved,