"Your letters, my Juliette, constitute my treasure, my casket of jewels, my riches! In them our joint lives are recorded day by day, thought by thought. All that you dreamed lies there, all that you suffered. They are charming mirrors, each one of which reflects a fresh aspect of your lovely soul." Surely such a phrase conveys approbation and sanction sufficient for both Juliette Drouet and her humble biographer. CONTENTS PART I _BIOGRAPHICAL_ CHAPTER I PAGE JULIENNE GAUVAIN 1 CHAPTER II PRINCESSE NÉGRONI 14 CHAPTER III "LA TRISTESSE D'OLYMPIO" 33 CHAPTER IV THE SHACKLES OF LOVE 45 CHAPTER V CLAIRE PRADIER 69 CHAPTER VI "ON AN ISLAND" 84 CHAPTER VII "THAT WHICH BRINGS SATISFACTION TO THE HEART" 104 PART II _LETTERS_ 115 APPENDIX I. LIST OF THOSE OF VICTOR HUGO'S POEMS WHICH WERE INSPIRED BY JULIETTE DROUET 311 II. BOOKS CONCERNING JULIETTE DROUET 314 III. WORKS OF ART REPRESENTING JULIETTE DROUET 314 INDEX 317 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VICTOR HUGO AND JULIETTE DROUET _Photogravure Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE THE CHÂTEAU OF FOUGÈRES IN 1831 1 CLAIRE PRADIER AS A CHILD 8 VICTOR HUGO AS A YOUNG MAN 16 JULIETTE DROUET IN THE RÔLE OF LA PRINCESSE NÉGRONI 24 JULIETTE DROUET IN THE RÔLE OF LA PRINCESSE NÉGRONI 32 HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF LES METZ, IN THE PARISH OF JOUY-EN-JOSAS, SEINE-ET-OISE 32 CHURCH OF BIÈVRES, SEINE-ET-OISE 40 VICTOR HUGO ABOUT 1836 48 "LE CITOYEN VICTOR HUGO JOUANT AU CONGRÈS DE LA PAIX" 64 CLAIRE PRADIER AT FIFTEEN 72 CLAIRE PRADIER ON HER DEATHBED 80 JULIETTE DROUET IN JERSEY 88 VICTOR HUGO IN JERSEY 96 VICTOR HUGO, HIS FAMILY, AND JULIETTE DROUET AT HAUTEVILLE HOUSE 104 JULIETTE DROUET IN 1883 112 CLAIRE PRADIER 120 JULIETTE DROUET ABOUT 1830 128 A PAGE OF JULIETTE DROUET'S NOTE-BOOK IN 1834 136