characters. It is believed that this study will show that the
influence of women on Balzac was much wider and his acquaintance with
them much broader than has previously been supposed.

Apropos of remarks made by Sainte-Beuve and Brunetiere regarding
Balzac's admission to the higher circles of society, Emile Faguet has
this to say:

"I would point out that the duchesses and viscountesses at the end
of the Restoration were known neither to Sainte-Beuve nor to
Balzac, the former only having begun to frequent aristocratic
drawing-rooms in 1840, and Balzac, in spite of his very short
_liaison_ with Madame de Castries, having become a regular
attendant only a few months before that date. Sainte-Beuve himself
has told us that the Faubourg Saint-Germain _was closed to men of
letters before 1830_, and since it had to spend a few years
becoming accustomed to their admittance, Sainte-Beuve's testimony
is not at all valid as regards the great ladies of the
Restoration, even at the end."

Perhaps it is due partly to the above statement and partly to the fact
that Balzac tried to give the impression that he led a sort of
monastic life, that it is generally believed the novelist never had
access to the aristocratic society of his time, and never had an
opportunity of observing the great ladies or of frequenting the
marvelous balls and receptions that fill so large a place in his
writings. Whether he made a success of such descriptions is not the
question here, but the following pages will at least furnish proof
that he not only had many social opportunities, but that his presence
was sought by many women belonging to high life and the nobility.