femme_. She did, however, write the sonnet on the _Marguerite_ which
Lucien de Rubempre displayed as one of the samples of his volume of
verses to the publisher Dauriat; also _Le Chardon_. Balzac made use of
this poem, however, only in the original edition of his work; it was
replaced in the _Comedie humaine_ by another sonnet, written probably
by Lassailly. Madame de Girardin brings her master before the public
by mentioning his name in her _Marguerite, ou deux Amours_, where a
personage in the book tells about Balzac's return from Austria and his
inability to speak German when paying the coachman.

It was at the home of Madame de Girardin that Lamartine met Balzac for
the first time, June, 1839. He asked her to invite Balzac to dinner
with him that he might thank him, as he was just recovering from an
illness during which he had "simply lived" on the novels of the
_Comedie humaine_. The invitation she wrote Balzac runs as follows:
"M. de Lamartine is to dine with me Sunday, and wishes absolutely to
dine with you. Nothing would give him greater pleasure. Come then and
be obliging. He has a sore leg, you have a sore foot, we will take
care of both of you, we will give you some cushions and footstools.
Come, come! A thousand affectionate greetings." And Lamartine has left
this appreciation of her and her friendship for Balzac:

"Madame Emile de Girardin, daughter of Madame Gay who had reared
her to succeed on her two thrones, the one of beauty, the other of
wit, had inherited, moreover, that kindness which inspires love
with admiration. These three gifts, beauty, wit, kindness, had
made her the queen of the century. One could admire her more or
less as a poetess, but, if one knew her thoroughly, it was
impossible not to love her as a woman. She had some passion, but
no hatred. Her thunderbolts were only electricity; her