"My very dear Mother,--Yesterday, at seven in the morning, thanks
be to God, my marriage was blessed and celebrated in the church of
Saint Barbara, at Berditchef, by the deputy of the Bishop of
Jitomir. Monseigneur wished to have married me himself, but being
unable, he sent a holy priest, the Count Abbe Czarouski, the
eldest of the glories of the Polish Roman Catholic Church, as his
representative. Madame Eve de Balzac, your daughter-in-law, in
order to make an end of all obstacles, has taken an heroic and
sublimely maternal resolution, viz., to give up all her fortune to
her children, only reserving an annuity to herself. . . . There
are now two of us to thank you for all the good care you have
taken of our house, as well as to testify to you our respectful
_tendresses_."

Balzac was not only anxious that his bride should be properly
received, but also that his mother should preserve her dignity. On
their way home he writes her from Dresden to have the house ready for
their arrival (May 19, 20, 21), urging that she go either to her own
home or to Laure's, for it would not be proper for her to receive her
daughter-in-law in the rue Fortunee, and that she should not call
until his wife had called on her. After reminding her again not to
forget to procure flowers, he suggests that owing to his extremely
feeble health he meet her at Laure's, for there he would have one less
flight of stairs to climb. These suggestions, however, were
unnecessary, as his mother had been ill in bed for several weeks in
Laure's house.

After the novelist's return to Paris with his bride, his physical
condition was such that in spite of the efforts of his beloved
physician, Dr. Nacquart, little could be done for him, and he was