business, and in no way involves my affection for you, which is
always the same; so believe in the tenderness of your devoted
son."

Later, when Balzac purchased his home in the rue Fortunee, his mother
had the care of it while he was in Russia. He asked her to visit the
house weekly and to keep the servants on the alert by enquiring as
though she expected him; yet Balzac wrote his nieces to have their
grandmother visit them often, lest she carry too far the duties she
imposed on herself in looking after his little home. He cautioned her
to allow no one to enter the house, to insist that his old servant
Francois be discreet, and especially that she be prudent in not
talking about his plans; and that by all means she should take a
carriage while attending to his affairs; this request was not only
from him but also from Madame Hanska.

She was most faithful in looking after his home and watching the
workmen to see that his instructions were carried out. In fact, she
never left the house except when, on one occasion, owing to the
excessive odors of the paint, she spent two nights in Laure's home.

Balzac's stay at Wierzchownia, however, was far from tranquil, for his
mother was discontented with the general aspect of his affairs and
increased his vexations by writing a letter in which she addressed him
as _vous_, declaring that her affection was conditional on his
behavior, a thing he naturally resented. "To think," he writes, "of a
mother reserving the right to love a son like me, seventy-two years on
the one side, and fifty on the other!"

This letter caused a serious complication in his affairs in Russia,