proofs of _Beatrix_, Balzac refers to the suppression of his play
_Vautrin_, and says that the director _des beaux-arts_ has come a
second time to offer him an indemnity which _ne faisait pas votre
somme_. This might lead one to think that he had had some financial
dealings with her.

In the dedication of _Beatrix_, dated _Aux Jardies_, December, 1838,
Balzac speaks of Sarah's being a pearl of the Mediterranean. In the
Island of Malta is a town called Cite-Vallette--suggestive of the name
Felicite Valette. Felicite is also the name of the heroine, Felicite
des Touches, although Marie is the name of Madame Valette that Balzac
liked best.

In 1836, after reading some of Balzac's novels, Madame de Valette
wrote to Balzac. Attracted by her, he went to Guerande where he took
his meals at a little hotel kept by the demoiselles Bouniol, mentioned
in _Beatrix_. Under her guidance he roamed over the country and then
wrote _Beatrix_. She pretended to him to have been born at Guerande
and to have been reared as a _paludiere_ by her godmother, Madame de
Lamoignon-Lavalette, whence the reference in the dedication to the
former "empire of your name." Her real godmother was Marie-Felicite
Burgaud. Balzac did not know that she had been married to the notary
Gougeon, and thought that her mother was still living.

When Madame de Valette went to Paris to reside, she was noted for her
beauty and eccentric manners; she rode horseback to visit Balzac _aux
Jardies_. She met a young writer, Edmond Cador, who revealed to Balzac
all that she had kept from him. This deception provoked Balzac and
gave rise to an exchange of rather sharp letters, and a long silence
followed. After Balzac's death she gave Madame Honore de Balzac