Balzac,
no doubt, gave utterance to his great, joyous, triumphant laugh, in
which there was also mingled a touch of pride.
Mme. de Castries was one of the most highly courted ladies in the
exclusive circle of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, an aristocrat of
aristocrats; she was still young,--her age was thirty-five,--and
beautiful, with pale and delicate features, crowned with masses of hair
of a dazzling Venetian blonde. She was a descendant of the de Maille
family, her husband had been a peer of France under Charles X, and
through marriage with the Duc de Fitz-James, one of the leaders of the
legitimist party, was her brother-in-law, thus connecting her with the
highest nobility of France. To Balzac she represented the doorway to a
world of which he had had only vague glimpses as reflected in the
reminiscences of Mme. de Berny,--and she smiled upon him with a
mysterious smile of welcome.
The novelist hastened to accept the Duchess's invitation, and became
one of the regular frequenters of her salon. She led him on; and he
talked of his ideas, his projects and his dreams.
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