Prosper Mérimée (1803–1870).

He returns her manuscript [a short story, *L’Ambitieuse*, which Rémusat did not publish] to her: ‘Without flattery, I read it with great interest, and I have no doubt it will be a success with all those who appreciate a natural style, well-defined and consistent characters, a skilfully developed plot, and a thousand excellent touches on that inexhaustible subject of meditation, the human heart. Now I wonder whether those people I speak of—and there were many of them at the end of the last century—exist in sufficient numbers today to ensure a success. I confess I have my doubts. Messrs Dumas and his ilk have accustomed us to their high-octane style. […] I note that the style of love is different from that of my time,

my time, which was very different from today’s style, if indeed there is a style for it today. I fear that this blend of passion, gallantry and refined politeness may not be to the taste of the members of the Jockey Club. But was it for them that we wrote? Is it not enough that there are a few people who understand? Beyle [STENDHAL] used to put at the head of his books: ‘To the happy few’. Then he corrects several errors concerning Spain… And he adds: ‘I fear that delicate love was not very well known in 18th-century Madrid. The mother of the Count of MONTIJO had a small country house in Romanillos near Madrid where all the philosophers and all the beautiful ladies of her time used to come. She was asked how she had managed to accommodate so many people. She replied: that she gave each woman a room as far as possible – and that as for the men, she had never worried about them, and none had ever complained’... Etc. Correspondance générale, vol. VIII, no. 2555.