[*] _Memoir and Letters of Balzac_. The woman Balzac refers to here is
Madame de Berny, but this is an exaggeration.

He revealed to her his ideas regarding women and friendship; how he
longed to possess a tender affection which would be a secret between
two alone. He complained of her want of confidence in him, and of his
work in his loneliness. She tried to comfort him, and being artistic,
sent him a sepia drawing. He sought a second one to hang on the other
side of his fireplace, and thus replaced two lithographs he did not
like. As a token of his friendship he sent her a manuscript of one of
his works, saying:

"All this is suggested while looking at your sepia drawing; and
while preparing a gift, precious in the sight of those who love
me, and of which I am chary, I refuse it to all who have not
deeply touched my heart, or who have not done me a service; it is
a thing of no value, except where there is heartfelt friendship."

During his imprisonment by order of the National Guard, she sent him
flowers, for which he was very profuse in expressing his thanks. He
appreciated especially the roses which came on his birthday, and
wished her as many tender things as there were scents in the blooming
buds.

She apparently had some misfortune, and their correspondence
terminated abruptly in this, his last letter to her:

"_Carina_, . . . On my return from a long and difficult journey,
undertaken for the refreshment of my over-tired brain, I find this