the refuse from
the mines: the dross contained 10 per cent of lead, and the lead 10
per cent of silver. But a Marseilles company as well as his Genoese
friend had been beforehand with him, had obtained from the Government
at Turin the right to work the mines, and were already in possession.
Balzac's monetary sacrifices, and the hardships he had suffered on his
journey, were in vain; he must return to sleepless nights of work, and
must redouble his efforts in the endeavour to pay back the money he
had borrowed for his expedition. He showed his usual pluck at this
juncture; there were no complaints in his letters, and with singular
forbearance he does not even abuse the faithless Genoese merchant. His
expedition was useful to others, if not to himself; as he travelled on
to Italy, and made a long stay at Milan in order to work for the
interests of the Viscontis, whose property, without his efforts, would
have been sequestrated owing to political complications. It is
significant that Madame Hanska, who was always suspicious about Madame
Visconti, was not informed of this reason for his long sojourn at
Milan, which we hear of from a letter to his sister. Balzac was
terribly low-spirited at this time; his whole life seemed to have been
a failure, and he was approaching the age of forty, the date at which
he had always determined to give up his aspirations, to fight no more,
and to join the great company of the resigned. He was tired out, and
very homesick. He admired the Cathedral, the churches, the pictures;
but he was weary of Italy, and longed for France with its grey skies
and cold winds. Behind this longing, and possibly the origin of it,
was a passionate desire in his disappointment and disgust of life to
be again near his "polar star."

It was a comfort when, the affairs of the Viscontis being at last
satisfactorily arranged, he was able on June 6th to start on his
journey back to France. He travelled by the Mont Cenis, and was nearly
blinded by clouds of fine dust, so that he was unable to write for
some days.

When he reached Paris he only remained for a short time in the Rue des
Batailles, as in July, 1838, in defiance of his doctor's warnings
about damp walls, he took up his residence at Les Jardies, having at
the same time a _pied-a-terre_ in Paris at the house of Buisson, his
tailor, 108, Rue Richelieu. Les Jardies was a quaint abode. Built on a
slippery hill, it overlooked the Ville d'Avray with smoky Paris b