he asked her to write a preface to the _Comedie humaine_. The plan of
the work, however, was very much modified, and did not appear until
after Balzac's death.

Balzac dined frequently with Madame Dudevant and political as well as
social and literary questions were discussed. He enjoyed opposing her
views; after his return from his prolonged visit to Madame Hanska in
St. Petersburg (1843), George Sand twitted him by asking him to give
his _Impressions de Voyage_.

A story told at Issoudun illustrates further the genial association of
the two authors: Balzac was dining one day at the Hotel de la Cloche
in company with George Sand. She had brought her physician, who was to
accompany her to Nohant. The conversation turned on the subject of
insane people, and the peculiar manner in which the exterior signs of
insanity are manifested. The physician claimed to be an expert in
recognizing an insane person at first sight. George Sand asked very
seriously: "Do you see any here?" Balzac was eating, as always,
ravenously, and his tangled hair followed the movement of his head and
arm. "There is one!" said the Doctor; "no doubt about it!" George Sand
burst out laughing, Balzac also, and, the introduction made, the
confused physician was condemned to pay for the dinner.

Balzac expresses his admiration for her in the dedication of the
_Memoires de deux jeunes mariees_:

"To George Sand.

"This dedication, dear George, can add nothing to the glory of your
name, which will cast its magic luster on my book; but in making