Though Balzac's first play, and first attempt in literature, /Cromwell/, was a complete failure, this did not deter him from longing to become a successful playwright. After having established himself as a novelist, he turned again to this field of literature. Having written several plays, he was acquainted, naturally, with the leading actresses of his day; among these was Madame Dorval, whom he liked. He purposed giving her the main role in /Les Ressources de Quinola/, but when he assembled the artists to hear his play, he had not finished it, and improvised the fifth act so badly that Madame Dorval left the room, refusing to accept her part. Again, he wished her to take the leading role in /La Maratre/ (as the play was called after she had objected to the name, /Gertrude, Tragedie bourgeoise/). To their disappointment, however, the theater director, Hostein, gave the heroine's part to Madame Lacressoniere; the tragedy was produced in 1848. The following year, while in Russia, Balzac sketched another play in which Madame Dorval was to have the leading role, but she died a few weeks later. Mademoiselle Georges was asked to take the role of Brancadori in /Les Ressources de Quinola/, presented for the first time on March 19, 1842, at the Odeon. Balzac was acquainted with Mademoiselle Mars also, and was careful to preserve her autograph in order to send it to his "Polar Star," when the actress wrote to him about her role in /La grande Mademoiselle/. LA DUCHESSE D'ABRANTES "She has ended like the Empire." Another of Balzac's literary friends was Madame Laure Junot, the Duchesse d'Abrantes. She was an intimate friend of Madame de Girardin and it was in the salon of the latter's mother, Madame Sophie Gay, that Balzac met her. The Duchesse d'Abrantes, widow of Marechal Junot, had enjoyed under the Empire all the splendors of official life. Her salon had been one of the most attractive of her epoch. Being in reduced circumstances after the downfall of the Empire and having four children (Josephine, Constance, Napoleon and Alfred) to support, her life was a constant struggle to obtain a fortune and a position for her children. But as she had no financial ability, and had acquired very extravagant habits, the money she was constantly seeking no sooner entered her hands than it vanished. Wishing to renounce none of her former luxuries, she insisted upon keeping her salon as in former days, trying to conceal her poverty by her gaiety; but it was a sorrowful case of /la misere doree/. Feeling that luxury was as indispensable to her as bread, and finding her financial embarrassment on the increase, she decided to support herself by means of her pen. She might well have recalled the wise words of Madame de Tencin when she warned Marmontel to beware of depending on the pen, since nothing is more casual. The man who makes shoes is sure of his pay; the man who writes a book or a play is never sure of anything.