In 1833 he had a brief romantic liaison with the writer George Sand, which ended unhappily. After they spent a night together, they separated without warmth. She told a friend, the actress Marie Darval, "I had Mérimèe last night, and it wasn't much". Darval promptly told her friend Alexandre Dumas, who then told all of his friends. Mérimée promptly counter-attacked, calling her "a woman debauched and cold, by curiosity more than by temperament". They continued to collaborate on common goals. They both played a part in 1834 in the discovery and preservation of "The Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries; he declared the tapestries were of historic value, and she publicized them in one of her novels. In 1849 he assisted her when she asked that the paintings in the church of Nohant, where she lived, be classified, which he did. He also provided a subsidy of 600 francs to the church. However, she deeply offended him by openly ridiculing the Empress Eugénie. At their last meeting in 1866, he found her hostile. She came to visit him a few days before his death, but he refused to see her.