presented him with one gift which he considered as in bad taste. This
was a sort of monument with a muse crowning him, another writing on a
folio: _Comedie humaine_, with _Divo Balzac_ above.

Madame de Bocarme had been reared in a convent with a niece of Madame
Rosalie Rzewuska, had traveled much, and was rather brilliant in
describing what she had seen. She visited Balzac while he was living
_aux Jardies_. She was a great friend of the Countess Chlendowska,
whose husband was Balzac's bookseller, and the novelist counted on her
to lend the money for one of his business schemes. Being fond of
whist, she took Madame Chlendowska to Balzac's house during his
illness of a few weeks, and they entertained him by playing cards with
him.

Balzac called her _Bettina_, and after she left Paris for the Chateau
de Bury in Belgium, he took his housekeeper, Madame de Brugnolle, to
visit her. Madame de Chlendowska was there also, but he did not care
for her especially, as she pretended to know too much about his
intimacy with his "polar star." Madame de Bocarme had one fault that
annoyed him very much; she, too, was inclined to gossip about his
association with Madame Hanska.

In 1843, Balzac erased from _Le Colonel Chabert_ the dedication to M.
de Custine, and replaced it by one to Madame la Comtesse Ida de
Bocarme, nee du Chasteler.


One of the most attractive salons in Paris at the beginning of the
Monarchy of July was that of Countess Merlin, where all the
celebrities met, especially the musicians. Born in Havana, the young,