Balzac, Honoré de: A Prince of Bohemia, v1, 09 Sept 2007.
 

Honoré de Balzac
A Prince of Bohemia
(Un Prince de la Bohême)
Translated by Clara Bell.

A short story of about 13,500 words.

The ‘Bohemia’ is the Parisian artistic subculture. The eponymous ‘prince’ is the Comte de la Palférine - a poor but supercilious dandy. He acquires a mistress, Claudine du Bruel (formerly Tullia the dancer). His imperious demands bring unexpected benefits to her unsuspecting husband.

The story is related by the journalist, Nathan, to his mistress, Madame de la Baudraye. Unfortunately, the first few pages are rather flowery because Nathan decides to imitate the style of Saint-Beuve, but the story improves thereafter.

I have reformatted and restored accents and italics.

Translated by Clara Bell, née Poynter (1835–1927)