printings are often distinguished only by changes on the title pages, such as the price or the publisher's address. However, there are frequently alterations in the music as well. In Paris editions, some of these variants may be corrections or second thoughts originating with the composer, although it is rarely possible to document his responsibility for them. Maria Wodzinski, the sister of three brothers of whom Chopin was close friends of, was engaged to Chopin shortly after a return to Warsaw Chopin had made. She had shown considerable musical and artistic talent, which resulted in Chopin falling in love with her and wanting to create a family home of his own in exile. The following year, during a holiday spent together with the seventeen-year-old Maria and her mother in Marienbad (modern day Mriansk Lzne in the Czech Republic), and then in Dresden, he proposed and was accepted on the condition that he would take better care of his health. The engagement was unofficial, and did not end in marriage. After a year-long "trial" period, Maria's parents, disturbed by the bad state of the health of her fianc who was seriously ill in the winter, and especially by his irregular lifestyle, viewed him as an unsuitable partner for their daughter. Chopin found this rejection an extremely painful experience, and labeled the letters from the Wodzinski family, tied into a small bundle, "My sorrow".In July 1837, Chopin travelled to London in the company of Camille Pleyel in the hope of forgetting all unpleasant memories. Soon afterwards, he entered into a close liaison with the famous French writer George Sand. This author of daring novels, older by six years, and a divorcee with two children, offered the lonely artist what he missed most from the time when he left Warsaw: extraordinary tenderness, warmth, and maternal care. Chopin and Sand spent the winter of 1838 and 1839 on the Spanish Island of Majorca, living in a former monastery in Valdemosa....
