Towards the end of his letter, however, the reader forgives Balzac, and realises that the cry of a desperate man, ill and suffering, yet still clinging with determined strength to the hope which means everything to him, must not be criticised minutely. "Once everything is lost, I shall live no longer; I shall content myself with a garret like that of the Rue Lesdiguieres, and shall only spend a hundred francs a month. My heart, soul, and ambition will be satisfied with nothing but the object I have pursued for sixteen years: if this immense happiness escapes me, I shall no longer want anything, and shall refuse everything!" CHAPTER XVI 1849 - 1850 Peace renewed between Balzac and his family--He thinks of old friends--Madame Hanska's continued vacillations--Dr. Knothe's treatment--Madame Hanska's relations with Balzac, and her ignorance about his illness--Visit to Kiev--Balzac's marriage --His letters to his mother, sister, and to Madame Carraud --Delay in starting for France--Terrible journey--Madame Honore de Balzac's pearl necklace and strange letter--Balzac's married life--Arrival of the newly-married couple in Paris. The quarrel between Balzac and his family was quickly made up, and it was settled that his mother should--if she wished to do so--return at once to Suresnes; and come up every day to the Rue Fortunee, taking carriages for this purpose at Balzac's expense. However, having made a small commotion, and asserted her dignity by the announcement that she felt perfectly free to leave the Rue Fortunee whenever she chose to do so, Madame de Balzac's resentment was satisfied; and she remained there till a month before Balzac's return in May, 1850, when illness necessitated her removal to her daughter's house.[*] The nieces, of whom Balzac was really extremely fond, "sulked" no longer, but wrote letters which their uncle praised highly, and which he answered gaily and amusingly. The shadowy cloud, too, which had prevented the brother and sister from seeing each other clearly, dispersed for ever; and one of Honore's letters to Laure about this time contains the loving words, "As far as you are concerned, every day is your festival in my heart, companion of my childhood, and of my bright as well as of my gloomy days."[+] [*] "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul. [+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 420.