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ANGLARS (IRMA D'), a demi-mondaine of former times who had been celebrated under the First Empire. In her later years she retired to a house which she owned at Chamont, where she lived a simple yet stately life, treated with the greatest respect by all the neighbourhood. Nana.
ANNOUCHKA, mistress of Souvarine, and implicated with him in a political plot. Disguised as a countryman, she assisted in the undermining of a railway over which an imperial train was to pass, and it was she who eventually lit the fuse. She was captured along with others, and Souvarine, who had escaped, was present at her trial during six long days. When she came to be executed, she looked in vain among the crowd for her lover, till Souvarine mounted on a stone, and, their eyes having met, remained fixed in one long gaze till the end. Germinal.
ANTONIA, waiting-maid to Clorinde Balbi, with whom she was on familiar terms. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
ARCHANGLAS (BROTHER), a Christian Brother, who lived at Les Artaud, and taught children there. He was a coarse-minded man of violent temper, whose hatred of women led him to make the gravest charges against them. He constituted himself a spy on the actions of Abbe Mouret, and was partly the means of calling back the priest's memory of his sacred calling. He insulted Jeanbernat and Albine so grossly, that after the girl's death the old man attacked him and cut off his right ear with a pocket-knife. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
AUBERTOT (MADAME ELIZABETH), sister of M. Beraud du Chatel, and aunt of Renee and Christine. She gave a large sum of money to Saccard on his marriage to Renee. La Curee.
AUBRY (SEVERINE), youngest daughter of a gardener in the employment of Grandmorin. Her mother died when she was in infancy, and she was only thirteen when she lost her father also. President Grandmorin, who was her godfather, took charge of her, and brought her up with his daughter Berthe. The two girls were sent to the same school at Rouen, and spent their holidays together at Doinville. Ignorant and facile, Severine yielded to the designs of the old President, who subsequently arranged a marriage for her with Roubaud, an employee of the Western Railway Company. For three years the couple lived happily, but a moment of forgetfulness, a trifling lie which she neglected to sustain, revealed everything to Roubaud. In an accession of jealous fury he forced his wife to become his accomplice in the murder of Grandmorin, and it was she who threw herself across the limbs of the President while her husband struck the fatal blow. Suspicions fell upon the Roubauds, and indeed the truth was known to M. Camy-Lamotte, but political considerations made it desirable that the character of President Grandmorin should not be publicly discussed, and the inquiry into the murder was dropped. The domestic relations between the Roubauds were becoming more and more strained, and Severine became entirely enamoured of Jacques Lantier. In order to free herself from her husband, she persuaded Lantier to murder Roubaud and fly with her to America. The arrangements were completed when Lantier was seized with one of the homicidal frenzies to which he was subject, and it was Severine herself who fell under his knife instead of their intended victim. La Bete Humaine.
AUGUSTE, keeper of an eating-house known as Le Moulin d'Argent on Boulevard de la Chapelle. The wedding party of Coupeau and Gervaise was given there. L'Assommoir.
AUGUSTE, a waiter at the Cafe des Varietes. Nana.
AUGUSTE, a young swine-herd at La Borderie. He assisted Soulas, the old shepherd, to look after the sheep. La Terre.
AUGUSTINE, a young girl who assisted Gervaise Coupeau in her laundry. She was squint-eyed and mischievous, and was always making trouble with the other employees. As she was the least qualified and therefore the worst-paid assistant in the laundry, she was kept on after decreasing business caused the others to leave. L'Assommoir.
AUGUSTINE, an artificial-flower maker who was employed by Madame Titreville. L'Assommoir.
AURELIE (MADEMOISELLE), an elderly friend of Madame Deberle, at whose house she was a frequent visitor. She was in straitened circumstances. Une Page d'Amour.
AURELIE (MADAME). See Madame Aurelie Lhomme. Au Bonheur des Dames.
AURIGNY (LAURE D'), a celebrated demi-mondaine of the Second Empire. At a sale of her effects, Aristide Saccard bought a diamond necklace and aigrette for his second wife. La Curee.
B
BABET, one of the peasant girls of Les Artaud, who came to decorate the church for the festival of the Virgin. She was a hunchback. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BACHELARD (PERE), brother of Narcisse Bachelard and uncle of Madame Josserand. He conducted for forty years a boarding-school known as the Institution-Bachelard. Pot-Bouille.
BACHELARD (ELEONORE). See Madame Josserand. Pot-Bouille.
BACHELARD (NARCISSE), a commission agent, whose keen business instincts were not blunted by his intemperate habits. He was a brother of Madame Josserand, and had at one time promised to give a dowry to her daughter Berthe; this promise he was unwilling to implement, and when spoken to on the subject usually feigned intoxication; eventually he suggested the somewhat dishonest plan by which Berthe's intended husband was hoodwinked into the belief that the dowry would be duly forthcoming. His protegee, Fifi, having compromised herself with Gueulin, his nephew, he insisted on their marriage, and presented the girl with a dowry. Pot-Bouille.
BADEUIL (CHARLES), married Laure Fouan, and went to live at Chartres. He tried commerce without much success, and, haunted by a desire for rapid fortune, acquired a maison publique which had fallen into bad repute through mismanagement. Thanks to the firm control of Badeuil, and the extraordinary activity of his wife, the establishment prospered, and in less than twenty-five years the couple had saved three hundred thousand francs. They were then able to realize the dream of their life, and to retire to the country, where they purchased a property named Roseblanche, near Madame Badeuil's native place. M. Badeuil was a handsome man, sixty-five years of age, with a solemn face, and the air of a retired magistrate. He was respected by his neighbours, and held the strictest views on morality. The old couple lived in complete happiness, their only worry being that Vaucogne, who had married their daughter Estelle and taken over the property in Chartres, was not managing it properly. La Terre.
BADEUIL (MADAME LAURE), wife of the preceding, was the youngest daughter of Joseph Casimir Fouan. She was the sister of La Grande, of Pere Fouan, and of Michel Fouan, known as Mouche. When her father's estate was divided, she got no land, but received an indemnity in money instead. After she and her husband acquired the establishment in Chartres, she assisted ably in its management. At the time of their retirement to the country, she was a woman of sixty-two years of age, of respectable appearance and an air of religious seclusion. She set a good example by going regularly to Mass, and paid great attention to the education of her granddaughter, Elodie, whom she endeavoured to bring up in entire ignorance of life. She had, however, still a passion for active life, and in busy seasons frequently returned to Chartres to assist her daughter, who had taken over the establishment there. Madame Badeuil received the greatest surprise of her life when she found that her granddaughter whom she had brought up in the innocence of ignorance, was quite aware of the source of the family fortune, and was ready to take up the work begun by her grandparents. La Terre.
BADEUIL (ESTELLE), daughter of the preceding, was educated by the Sisters of the Visitation at Chateaudun, and at eighteen was married to Hector Vaucogne, by whom she had one daughter, Elodie. She was thirty years of age before she had any suspicion of the calling of her parents, and at that time she took over the management of their establishment. She proved a capable manager, and in spite of the laziness of her husband, was able to keep up the reputation of the house, though in a few years she killed herself with hard work. La Terre.
BADINGUET, a popular nickname for Napoleon III. It was the name of the workman whose clothes he wore when he escaped from the fortress of Ham. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BAILLEHACHE, a notary at Cloyes, was born in 1805, and succeeded to several generations of lawyers. He had a large business amongst the peasantry, in whose quarrels he mediated with professional calmness. He arranged the division of Fouan's property between the various members of the old man's family. La Terre.
BAILLEHACHE (MADEMOISELLE), eldest sister of the preceding, was born in 1799. She was plain-looking, but good-natured, and at thirty-two married Alexandre Hourdequin, to whom she brought a considerable dowry. She had two children, a son and a daughter, and died in 1855. La Terre.
BALBI (CLORINDE), daughter of Comtesse Balbi, was a lady of great beauty, but of eccentric habits. Her position in society being precarious, she determined to establish it by a good marriage, and used every endeavour to induce Eugene Rougon to make her his wife. Having become fascinated by her beauty and charm, he made overtures which she resisted in the belief that he would be the more certain to marry her. He practically decided to do so, but reflection convinced him that marriage with Clorinde Balbi would only injure his prospects of political success. He suggested to her that she should marry his friend Delestang, who was a man of wealth and position, and had expressed admiration for her. Though naturally piqued at such a suggestion coming from Rougon, she consented, and soon after was married. She remained on outwardly friendly terms with Rougon, who was still infatuated by her, but was determined to make him regret the slight he had put upon her. After Rougon's return to office, Delestang, her husband, was, at her request, appointed Minister of Commerce and Agriculture. She had not, however, forgiven Rougon, and privately took a leading part in the agitation against his administration. Having become on somewhat equivocal terms with the Emperor, she was able to secure the acceptance of Rougon's second resignation, and the office of Minister of the Interior for her husband. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BALBI (COMTESSE LENORA), an Italian lady who lived in Paris with her daughter Clorinde. Little was known of her past, and it was generally believed that she was in the employment of the Sardinian Government. After her daughter's marriage to Delestang, she left Paris for some time, the eccentricity of her habits having begun to excite remark. M. De Plouguern, who had originally met her in Italy, remained her lover for thirty years. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BALTHAZER, the old horse driven by Madame Francois between Nanterre and Paris. Le Ventre de Paris.
BAMBOUSSE, mayor of the commune of Les Artaud, was more prosperous than the others of his class, as he owned several fields of corn, olives, and vines. His daughter Rosalie having become compromised with Fortune Brichet, Abbe Mouret strongly urged him to consent to a marriage between them, but this he at first refused, as he would lose the services of his daughter, and Fortune was too poor to make him any return. He ultimately consented, and the marriage was solemnized by Abbe Mouret. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BAMBOUSSE (CATHERINE), younger daughter of the preceding, was always in disgrace with Brother Archangias on account of her idle habits and her friendship for Vincent Brichet. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BAMBOUSSE (ROSALIE), elder daughter of the preceding. As she had become compromised by Fortune Brichet, Abbe Mouret urged her father to consent to their marriage, but this he refused to do, though he ultimately consented and the wedding took place. Her child died, and was buried on the same day as Albine. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BAPTISTE, Aristide Saccard's footman. La Curee.
BAPTISTIN, a clerk in the employment of Larsonneau, who made him play the part of principal in a scheme whereby he intended to blackmail Aristide Saccard. La Curee.
BAQUET (LA MERE), a wine dealer who sold the wines of Orleans at a cheap rate. L'Assommoir.
BARILLOT, "call-boy" at the Theatre des Varietes, where he had been for thirty years. He was a little, sallow man, with a shrill voice. Nana.
BASTIAN, a drummer in the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. During the retreat on Sedan, after the battle was over, he had the misfortune to be struck by a stray bullet. He was removed to an ambulance at the house of M. Delaherche, where he died during the division of treasure of the Seventh Army Corps. The gold coins which the sergeant put into his dying hands rolled on to the ground, and were picked up by a wounded companion. La Debacle.
BATAILLE, an old white horse, which had been for six years in the coal-pit at Voreux. It was killed by the flooding of the mine. Germinal.
BAUDEQUIN, a draughtsman who lived on the first floor of the house in which lived the Coupeaus and the Lorilleux. He was a confirmed sponger who was in debt all round, but spent his time in smoking and talking with his friends. L'Assommoir.
BAUDEQUIN, the proprietor of a cafe in the Boulevard des Batignolles, which was the resort on Sunday evenings during many years of Claude Lantier, Pierre Sandoz, Dubuche, Mahoudeau, and their friends, a band of youths devoted to art and determined to conquer Paris. Gradually, however, the little company became submerged by a flood of newcomers, and in time the meetings ceased. The cafe changed hands three times, and when, after some years, Claude and Sandoz chanced to return, they found everything completely altered. L'Oeuvre.
BAUDU (M.), proprietor of a drapery shop opposite "The Ladies' Paradise." The business had been in existence for many years and M. Baudu conducted it on such old-fashioned lines that in competition with Mouret's great establishment it was rapidly disappearing. He had acquired it from his father-in-law, and in turn he proposed to hand it to Colomban, his shopman, who was engaged to be married to Genevieve, his only daughter. Baudu postponed the marriage, however, from time to time, as he did not wish to hand over the business in a worse state than that in which he himself got it. Meanwhile Colomban had become infatuated with Clara Prunaire, who ultimately induced him to run off. Genevieve, who was in bad health, died soon afterwards, and before long her mother died also. The business had gone from bad to worse, and, in the end, Baudu lost everything, only avoiding bankruptcy by a complete surrender. Like many of his neighbours, he was crushed out of existence by Octave Mouret's triumphant success. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (MADAME ELIZABETH), wife of the preceding, was the daughter of a draper whose business she brought to her husband. Her health was broken down by worry, and by anxiety regarding her daughter Genevieve, whose death she did not long survive. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (CAPTAIN), son of Baudu, the draper. He went to Mexico. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (DENISE) was the daughter of a dyer at Valognes. The death of her father left her with two young brothers dependent on her, and, the elder having got a situation in Paris, she determined to accompany him. M. Baudu, her uncle, had formerly promised assistance, but when Denise arrived she found that his business was rapidly being ruined by the steady extension of "The Ladies' Paradise," an enormous drapery establishment belonging to Octave Mouret. In these circumstances she could not be dependent on her uncle, and, to his annoyance, she applied for and got a situation in this rival business. On account of petty jealousies, her life there was not happy, and, having incurred the enmity of Jouve, one of the inspectors, she was dismissed on a false accusation. A time of great hardship followed, only lightened by the kindness of old Bourras, in whose house she had rented a room for herself and her young brother Pepe. She next got a situation with Robineau, who had bought a silk merchant's business and she remained there for some time. While Denise was at "The Ladies' Paradise" she had attracted the attention of Octave Mouret, and, chancing to meet her one day, he asked her to return. As she found that Robineau's business was not prospering, she consented, and from that time her position in "The Ladies' Paradise" was assured. Mouret had fallen in love with her, and she with him, but she had sufficient strength of mind to refuse his proposals. Ultimately he asked her to marry him, and to this she agreed. Au Bonheur des Dames.
Madame Denise Mouret had two children, the elder being a girl and the younger a boy. These resembled their mother, and grew magnificently. Le Docteur Pascal.
BAUDU (GENEVIEVE), daughter of Baudu, the draper. She was engaged for a number of years to Colomban, her father's shopman, but in consequence of the state of trade the marriage was put off from time to time. Genevieve ultimately learned that her fiance had become infatuated with Clara Prunaire, one of the shop-girls in "The Ladies' Paradise." Her health, never good, suffered greatly, and soon after Colomban's disappearance she died. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (JACQUELINE). See Blanche de Sivry.
BAUDU (JEAN), the elder brother of Denise. He worked for a time with a cabinet-maker in Valognes, but earned nothing, though he learned to carve so well that a gentleman promised to find a place for him with an ivory-carver in Paris. He accepted the offer, and came to the city with his sister and young brother. At first he earned only his board and lodging, and, as he was good-looking and a favourite with women, he made heavy inroads on his sister's small purse. Ultimately, when he did get a wage, he took the earliest opportunity of getting married, inducing his sister, as usual, to give him what little money she had been able to save. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (PEPE), the youngest brother of Denise. He was a mere child when the family came to Paris, and it was only by the greatest self-sacrifice that Denise was able to support him. When she went to "The Ladies' Paradise" he was boarded with Madame Gras, and after his sister's dismissal he went with her to Bourras, who showed great kindness to both of them. After Denise returned to "The Ladies' Paradise," Pepe again went to live with Madame Gras for a time. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUDU (THERESE), wife of Jean Baudu. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUGE, who was the younger son of a grocer at Dunkerque, came to Paris and got a situation in the linen department of the "Bon Marche," where he was able to make a fairly good income. He became the lover of Pauline Cugnot, whom he afterwards married, and, in order to be near her, left the "Bon Marche" and took an appointment in "The Ladies' Paradise." Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAUGE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Pauline Cugnot. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAVOUX, a salesman in Octave Mouret's shop. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BAZOUGE, an undertaker's assistant who lived in an attic of the same tenement-house as the Coupeaus and the Lorilleux. He was generally drunk and made ribald jests about his dismal calling. It was he who buried Gervaise Coupeau after she was found dead in an attic adjoining his own. L'Assommoir.
BEAUCHAMP (FLORE), an artist's model, who lived in Rue de Laval. She was fresh in colouring, but too thin. L'Oeuvre.
BEAUDOIN, a friend of the Hamelins whom they had known at Beyrout, where he lived. He promised to marry Caroline Hamelin after the death of her husband, but instead of waiting for that event he obtained the hand of a young and rich girl, the daughter of an English Consul. L'Argent.
BEAUDOIN, Captain of the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. He was educated at Saint-Cyr, and having a fine tenor voice and good manners, along with Bonapartist principles, he was early marked for advancement. With his men he was unpopular, and, not caring for his profession, he did not readily adapt himself to the necessities of war. In the march to the Meuse he lost his baggage, and arrived at Sedan in a pitiable condition, his uniform soiled, his face and hands dirty. In former days at Charleville he had been on intimate terms with Gilberte Maginot, whom he now found at Sedan, married to Jules Delaherche. Their former relations were renewed for the moment, and next day Beaudoin rejoined his company, astonishing every one by the neatness of his attire. At the attack on the Calvary d'Illy he was severely wounded, and having been removed to the ambulance at Delaherche's house, his arm was amputated; but the hemorrhage had been too great, and he did not survive. La Debacle.
BEAU-FRANCOIS (LE), chief of a band of brigands, whose terrible exploits were still recounted at La Beauce. La Terre.
BEAURIVAGE (DUC DE), a character in La Petite Duchesse, a piece staged by Fauchery at the Theatre des Varietes. The part was taken by Bosc. Nana.
BEAUVILLIERS (COMTE CHARLES DE), a man of dissipated habits, who succeeded to the immense fortune of the Beauvilliers, which he completely squandered in a few years. He was killed in an accident of the chase, some said by the vengeance of a keeper. They found later a document signed by him in 1854 undertaking to pay ten thousand francs to a girl named Leonie Cron. L'Argent.
BEAUVILLIERS (COMTESSE DE), an old lady who lived with her daughter Alice in a house in the Rue Saint-Lazare, adjoining the Orviedo mansion. The family had at one time possessed large estates, but these had all gone, and the Comtesse and her daughter had barely sufficient to live upon, though they endeavoured to keep up before their neighbours as much as possible of their ancient state. Having made the acquaintance of Saccard, the Comtesse invested a small sum in the Universal Bank, increasing it from time to time until her whole means were involved. By the failure of the bank she was entirely ruined, and, to complete the catastrophe, Busch, who had become possessor of some papers compromising the honour of her dead husband, took the opportunity of blackmailing her. When she had handed over her jewels to him, she was left penniless. L'Argent.
BEAUVILLIERS (ALICE), daughter of Comtesse de Beauvilliers. The extravagance of her father had dissipated the family estates, and she and her mother were left with barely sufficient to keep up appearances. She was plain-looking, and had reached the age of twenty-five years without any offers of marriage. It was, however, in the hope of providing a suitable dowry for her, that the Comtesse invested her money in the Universal Bank, with disastrous results. Alice, who had few amusements, interested herself in charities, and frequently visited the institutions founded by Princess d'Orviedo. On a visit to L'Oeuvre du Travail she was attacked and robbed of a small sum by Victor Saccard, who was at that time an inmate. Her injuries were severe, and a serious illness followed. The failure of the Universal Bank left her and her mother in poverty. L'Argent.
BEAUVILLIERS (FERDINANDE DE), son of Comte Beauvilliers. He was for a time the cause of anxiety to his mother on account of some youthful extravagances, but early settled down, and having received a commission in the Papal troops, served with distinction. He was delicate, however, and died of fever in Rome. L'Argent.
BECKER, a jeweller in Paris. He supplied a set of sapphires for the mistress of Comte de Muffat. Nana.
BECOT, a grocer in Rue Montorgueil. Having become a widower, he took to dissolute courses, and his shop was gradually swallowed up, with its dried vegetables, jars, and drawers of sweetstuff. Eventually the place was sold up and Becot died of apoplexy soon afterwards. L'Oeuvre.
BECOT (IRMA), daughter of the preceding. After her father's death she went to live with an aunt, but soon afterwards ran off with a young fellow who lived across the street. She did not remain long with him, but, having a passion for artists, experienced in turn a caprice for Fagerolles, Gagniere, and many others. A young and foolish Marquis furnished a flat for her, and later she occupied a house in Rue de Moscou, the rent of which was twenty thousand francs. In the end she realized her dream of a princely house in the Avenue de Villiers; the site was bought by one lover, the house built by another, and the furniture provided by a third. But fortune did not alter her tastes; behind the backs of her serious lovers she still retained her fancy for Art, in the person of Henri Fagerolles, one of her early admirers. L'Oeuvre.
BEC-SALE, alias BOIT-SANS-SOIF, a rivet-maker employed in the same factory as Goujet. He drank enormous quantities of brandy, and was a boon companion of Coupeau. On the occasion of Gervaise Coupeau's first visit to the factory to see her son Etienne, Bec-Sale entered into a contest of strength with Goujet in which he was beaten. L'Assommoir.
BECU, gamekeeper and bell-ringer at Rognes, was a man of fifty years of age who had at one time been in the army. He was an intense Bonapartist, and pretended that he had met the Emperor. Himself a confirmed drunkard, he was on friendly terms with Hyacinthe Fouan, whose poaching expeditions he overlooked. La Terre.
BECU (LA), wife of the preceding, was on intimate terms with Hyacinthe Fouan. Her chief amusement was to throw Celine Macqueron and Flore Lengaigne against one another under the pretext of reconciling them. Though she was not devout, she made ardent intercessions to Heaven to reserve for her son a lucky number in the drawing for the conscription, but, after the event, turned her anger against the Deity because her prayers had not been answered. La Terre.
BECU (DELPHIN), son of the preceding, was a strong lad who, on leaving school, went to work as a farm labourer. He was much averse to leaving home, and, having drawn an unlucky number for the conscription, he chopped off with a cleaver the first finger of his right hand, in order that he might be unfit for service. La Terre.
BECU (MICHEL), uncle of Delphin. He died at Orleans. La Terre.
BEDORE, a hosier in Rue Gaillon, whose business was ruined by the extension of "The Ladies' Paradise." Au Bonheur des Dames.
BEJUIN (LEON), a Member of the Corps Legislatif, and a supporter of Eugene Rougon. He was proprietor of the Saint-Florent Cut-Glass Works. "A very worthy fellow, votes straight, never speaks, is very patient and waits contentedly till you think of him, but he is always on the spot to take care that you don't forget him." He received the Cross of the Legion of Honour after Rougon's return to office, and an appointment as Inspector. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BEJUIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BELLOMBRE, a neighbour of Doctor Pascal at La Souleiade. He was a retired Professor, sixty-six years of age, who lived in his little house with no other company than his gardener, a man as old and crabbed as himself. His interests were solely centred in himself, and his egotism was a constant subject of irritation with Doctor Pascal. Le Docteur Pascal.
BELLOQUE (LE PERE), the first art-master of Claude Lantier. A retired infantry captain, with one arm, he had for a quarter of a century taught drawing to the youths of Plassans, in one of the galleries of the museum. L'Oeuvre.
BENARD, one of the tenants of the house in which Madame Coupeau carried on her laundry business. Benard and his wife were of intemperate habits, and few days passed without their fighting with one another. L'Assommoir.
BERAUD DU CHATEL (M.) was the last representative of an old middle-class family. A staunch Republican, he had grown old in the Magistracy, which he resigned at the time of the Coup d'Etat. Since then he lived in retirement in his house on the Ile Saint-Louis with his sister Madame Aubertot and his young daughter Christine. His elder daughter Renee, who was educated at a convent, was married to Aristide Saccard, and the circumstances which led to her marriage came as a severe blow to the stern old man. Though on nominally friendly terms with his daughter after her marriage, he never visited her, but when she died he paid her debts. La Curee.
BERAUD DU CHATEL (CHRISTINE), the second daughter of M. Beraud du Chatel, and sister of Madame Renee Saccard. La Curee.
BERAUD DU CHATEL (RENEE). See Madame Renee Rougon, alias Saccard.
BERGASSE, a second-hand dealer in Plassans. He supplied the old furniture bought by Madame Faujas. La Conquete de Plassans.
BERGERET (MADAME), concierge of the house at Plassy occupied by Helene Grandjean. Une Page d'Amour.
BERLINGOT, a horse which belonged to M. Mechain and gained the Prix d'Ispahan. Nana.
BERLOQUE, alias CHICOT, a miner who was killed by a landslip in the pit at Voreux. Germinal.
BERNHEIM (LES FRERES), proprietors of the glass-works of Saint-Joseph where Josserand was employed as cashier. Pot-Bouille.
BERTHIER (MADAME), was a friend of Madame Deberle, and took part in the amateur theatricals arranged by that lady. Une Page d'Amour.
BERTHIER, authorized clerk to Mazaud, the stockbroker. L'Argent.
BERTHOU, the celebrated painter of Nero in the Arena. Claude Lantier took lessons from him for six months, but their ideas were not in sympathy, and repeatedly the master told Claude that he would never do anything good. L'Oeuvre.
BERTRAND, a large dog which belonged to Sandoz. It barked furiously at visitors, until it recognized a friend of its master, whom it would greet with joyous welcome. L'Oeuvre.
BESNUS (CLARISSE), an actress at the Theatre des Varietes, where she played the part of Iris in the Blonde Venus, and Geraldine in the Petite Duchesse. She was mistress of Hector de la Faloise for a time. Nana.
BESSIERE, station-master at Barentin. He saw the Roubauds in the Havre express on the evening of the murder of President Grandmorin, and his evidence confirmed their alibi. La Bete Humaine.
BEULIN-D'ORCHERE (M.) was a member of a legal family. After being public prosecutor at Orleans and advocate-general at Rouen, he came to Paris as counsellor at the Appeal Court, of which he afterwards became president. His sister Veronique married Eugene Rougon. He was appointed first president of the Court of Paris after Rougon's return to office. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BEULIN-D'ORCHERE (VERONIQUE), a quiet, subdued woman about thirty-six years of age, who lived with her brother and seldom went out except to attend Low Mass at Saint-Sulpice. She married Eugene Rougon, to whom she brought a considerable fortune. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BIBI-LA-GRILLADE, the sobriquet of one of Coupeau's fellow-workmen, with whom he was on intimate terms. He was one of the party at Coupeau's wedding with Gervaise Macquart. L'Assommoir.
BIJARD, a drunken locksmith, who killed his wife by systematic ill-usage. On the rare occasions when he worked, he always had a bottle of alcohol beside him, from which he took large draughts every half-hour. After the death of his wife, he transferred his cruelty to his little daughter Lalie, who did not long survive. L'Assommoir.
BIJARD (MADAME) lived with her husband and their children in the same tenement as the Coupeaus and Lorilleux. She was a hard-working woman who did washing for Gervaise Coupeau's laundry, but her husband, a drunken brute, abused her to such an extent that she ultimately died of injuries received at his hands, or, more accurately, feet. The poor woman, in order to save her husband from the scaffold, said before she died that she had hurt herself by falling on the edge of a tub. L'Assommoir.
BIJARD (LALIE), daughter of the preceding, a child of eight when her mother died, had acted as the little mother of the family. "Without a word said, quite of her own accord, she took the dead woman's place, to such an extent that her foolish brute of a father, to make the likeness complete, battered about the daughter now as he had battered the mother before. When he came in drunk, he felt the need of a woman to attack. He did not even notice what a tiny little thing Lalie was; he hit her as he would have hit a grown woman. He beat her shamelessly, he kicked her for a yes or no; and she took it all with a resigned look in her beautiful eyes, without a murmur. Then when her father was tired of kicking her from corner to corner of the room, she waited until she had the strength to pick herself up, and then went back to her work. It was part of her daily task to be beaten." As the result of this infamous treatment the child died, but again the man unfortunately escaped punishment. L'Assommoir.
BIJARD (HENRIETTE), second daughter of Bijard. She was five years old at the time of her mother's death. L'Assommoir.
BIJARD (JULES), third child of Bijard. When his mother died he was three years old. L'Assommoir.
BIJOU, the pet dog of Nana. He excited the jealousy of Comte de Muffat. Nana.
BILLECOQ (HERMINIE), a protegee of Madame Correur, who induced Eugene Rougon to provide a dowry, in order that she might marry an officer who had compromised her. The officer did not, however, fulfill his promise, but went off with the dowry, of which he had obtained possession. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BLACHET, a deputy. He desired leave of absence. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BLAISOT, a banker at Paris. L'Argent.
BLANCHETTE, a cow which belonged to Lise and Francoise Fouan. La Terre.
BLERIOT (M. DE), prefect of the department in which Plassans is situated. He accompanied Colonel Masson and the troops which crushed the Republican rising in 1851. La Fortune des Rougon.
BLEUZE, a rope-walk at Montsou which was ruined by the miners' strike. Germinal.
BLOND (MARIA), a young girl of fifteen who had grown up on the pavements of Paris. She frequented the restaurant kept by Laure Piedefer. Nana.
BOCHE (M.) the concierge of the large tenement-house in which resided the Coupeaus, Lorilleux, and others. He and his wife were friendly with the various tenants in turn, sometimes siding with one and sometimes with another in the quarrels which so frequently arose. In the presence of the landlord, of whom they were afraid, they assumed an air of great importance, and affected not to know the tenants. They were present at Gervaise Coupeau's birthday party. L'Assommoir.
BOCHE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. L'Assommoir.
Nana informed Satin that Madame Boche is dead. Nana.
BOCHE (PAULINE), daughter of the preceding, was a girl of about the same age as Nana Coupeau, whose companion she was in all kinds of mischief. L'Assommoir.
BOCQUET (MADAME), mother of Clarisse. Pot-Bouille.
BOCQUET (CLARISSE), a woman on whom Duveyrier squandered large sums of money. She ultimately gained such complete influence over him, and made him so unhappy, that he attempted to commit suicide. Pot-Bouille.
BODIN (DOCTOR) was the regular medical attendant of Madame Helene Grandjean and her daughter Jeanne. A sudden illness of Jeanne made it necessary to call in Doctor Deberle, who subsequently met the older man in consultation from time to time. Une Page d'Amour.
BOHAIN (MARQUIS DE), an elderly nobleman whose presence and manners were of a kind to adorn a board of directors, and whose illustrious name was of value on a prospectus. He was in consequence always in demand by new companies. Since he began living by speculation, he and his wife had been legally separated, so far as estate went, and he lived with her only as a lodger, with nothing of his own except his clothes. "On two occasions already he had refused to pay up what he owed; he pocketed as long as he won, but as soon as he lost he did not pay." At the request of Saccard, the Marquis became a director of the Universal Bank. When the great gamble in the shares of the bank began, the Marquis followed his usual plan; having played through Mazaud for a rise, he refused to pay his losses, though he had gained two million francs through Jacoby, through whom he had played for a fall. L'Argent.
BONGRAND, a great artist, painter of the Village Wedding. He was a stout man, forty-five years old, with an expressive face and long grey hair; recently he had become a member of the Institute and an officer of the Legion of Honour. The grandson of a farmer in the Beauce country, the son of a man risen to the middle classes, with peasant blood in his veins, owing his culture to a mother of very artistic tastes, he was rich, had no need to sell his pictures, and retained many tastes and opinions of Bohemian life. His masterpiece, the Village Wedding, had brought about a revolution in art only parallel with Courbet, and he was acknowledged as Master by all the artists of the young school. The picture remained, however, his greatest work, though he objected to have it so designated, in the fear that it might be thought his powers were failing. A later picture called the Village Funeral was intended to surpass it, but failed to arrest attention, and was indeed only an echo of the earlier work. He was one of the few mourners at the funeral of Claude Lantier. L'Oeuvre.
BONHOMME, the horse which for a quarter of a century had carried Doctor Pascal on his visits to his patients. Latterly the old Bonhomme became blind, and was no longer being driven, but being much loved by his master, was tenderly cared for until his death. Le Docteur Pascal.
BONNAUD, formerly head of the counting-house of a railway company. Pot-Bouille.
BONNEHON (MADAME), sister of President Grandmorin. She was married to a wealthy manufacturer, who left her a widow at the age of thirty. In the mansion-house of Doinville, which belonged to her, she led a pleasant life, not without occasional affairs of the heart, but so correct in every way that she remained a leader of society in Rouen. She was a handsome woman, and in spite of her fifty years still retained much of her former charm. Among her friends she included Chaumette and Desbazeilles, both officials of the court at Rouen. Madame Bonnehon had a good opinion of the Roubauds, and did not approve of the position taken up by her niece Berthe regarding the legacy left to them by President Grandmorin. For the honour of her family she desired that the inquiry as to the murder of the President should not be continued. La Bete Humaine.
BONNEMORT, the sobriquet of Vincent Maheu. His family had been miners for generations, and he himself had worked in the pit since he was eight years old. After forty-five years of work underground he was given a post as fireman, and for five years worked each night at the Voreux pit for a wage of forty sous. He suffered greatly from rheumatism, which eventually turned into a form of dropsy, while his mind became affected to some extent by the sufferings occasioned by the great strike which took place at Voreux and other neighbouring pits. After the terrible scenes at Montsou, he could only sit in his chair before the fireless grate, with fixed and unseeing eyes, but in a sudden accession of madness he found strength to strangle Cecile Gregoire, who chanced to be left alone with him for a few moments. Germinal.
BONNET. See De Mareuil.
BORDENAVE, manager of the Theatre des Varietes. He was a coarse man, with cynical views as to the stage, and cared nothing as to the means by which a popular success might be secured. Though he was well aware that Nana could neither sing nor act, he saw that her beauty was of a type likely to attract the Parisian public, and accordingly gave her the chief part in the Blonde Venus. It was he who showed H.R.H. The Prince of Scots the honours of "behind the scenes." Nana.
BORGNE-DE-JOUY, one of the band of brigands which was led by Beau-Francois. He betrayed his companions. La Terre.
BOSC, an old actor at the Theatre des Varietes, where he played the part of Jupiter in the Blonde Venus, and the Duc de Beaurivage in the Petite Duchesse. He had a good-natured but somewhat drunken appearance. He treated women with disdain, and the idea that any man should trouble himself about them raised in him the only indignation of which he was capable. Nana.
BOUCHARD (M.), head-clerk in the office of the Minister of Interior. His house was the first thrown open to Eugene Rougon on his arrival in Paris. Later on, Bouchard inherited his father's property, and at fifty-four years of age married Adele Desvignes. He was appointed head of a department after Rougon's return to office. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BOUCHARD (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was the daughter of a respectable family at Rambouillet. M. Bouchard "had been anxious to marry a young lady from the provinces, because he made a point of having a steady wife. However, the fair and adorable little Adele, with her innocent blue eyes, had in less than four years proved to be a great deal more than a mere flirt." Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BOULAND(MADAME), the nurse who attended Madame Lazare Chanteau. La Joie de Vivre.
BOUM, a horse which belonged to M. Gasc and ran in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.
BOURDELAIS, an upper clerk in the office of the Minister of Finance. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOURDELAIS (MADAME) was a short, fair woman of thirty, with a delicate nose and sparkling eyes, who had married a chief clerk in the Treasury. She was an old schoolfellow of Madame Desforges. Belonging to a good middle-class family, she managed her household and three children with an excellent knowledge of practical life. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOURDEU (M.), formerly Prefect of the Drome, but turned out of office by the Revolution of 1848. Politically he was a Legitimist, and he was a friend of M. Rastoil, at whose house his party was in the habit of meeting. At one time he was suggested as a likely candidate for the representation of Plassans, but he retired after Delangre had been brought forward through the machinations of Abbe Faujas. Madame de Condamin promised him, however, that through her influence he would be rewarded with a prefecture. La Conquete de Plassans.
BOURDONCLE, the son of a poor farmer near Limoges, started at "The Ladies' Paradise" at the same time as Octave Mouret. He was very active and intelligent, but he lacked that touch of genius possessed by his companion, before whom he had bowed from the first. Acting on Mouret's advice, he put all his savings into the business, and, after passing through the various grades, he became in time one of the six persons who assisted Mouret to govern "The Ladies' Paradise," exercising a general control of the whole staff. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOURGAIN-DESFEUILLES (GENERAL). During the war of 1870 he was at the head of a brigade of infantry, of which the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil, formed part. Like so many other officers he proved himself incompetent, and after the capitulation he, alone among the generals, took advantage of the pretext of illness to sign an undertaking to the Germans not to take any further part in the war. La Debacle.
BOURGUIGNON, a master zinc-worker from whom Coupeau got employment. L'Assommoir.
BOUROCHE (SURGEON-MAJOR), of the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel Vineuil. During the battle of Sedan he installed an ambulance in a factory belonging to Jules Delaherche, where he was soon overwhelmed with work. With untiring energy he performed one operation after another until the place became like a slaughter-house. Behind a clump of trees were thrown the bodies of the dead, and the limbs amputated from the living. Depressed for a moment by the vastness of his task, Bouroche nearly lost heart, exclaiming, "What is the use?" but his instincts of discipline recalled him to work, and he continued to operate even after the supply of chloroform was exhausted. During the insurrection at Paris he served with the army of Versailles, but consented to treat one of his old soldiers, Maurice Levasseur, who had been mortally wounded in the ranks of the Commune. La Debacle.
BOURRAS, an old man who sold umbrellas and walking-sticks in a tumble-down house which adjoined "The Ladies' Paradise." His business was ruined by the growth of that concern, and he expressed bitter hatred towards Octave Mouret, its proprietor. Denise Baudu rented a room from him after her dismissal from "The Ladies' Paradise," and he showed much kindness to her and Pepe, her young brother. He refused several offers by Mouret, who wished to purchase his lease in order to extend his own shop, and ultimately, having become bankrupt, was forced to leave without a penny. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOURRETTE (ABBE), one of the clergy of the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. He did duty as vicar during the illness of Abbe Compan, and had been led to expect the reversion of the appointment. Pressure brought to bear on Bishop Rousselot led to the selection of Abbe Faujas, and Bourrette was put off with vague promises for the future. He was a simple-minded, amiable man, who accepted his disappointment without murmuring, and continued on friendly terms with Faujas. La Conquete de Plassans.
BOUTAREL, a doctor who attended Nana. He was a handsome man, still young, who had a large practice in the demi-monde. Always gay and laughing, he was popular with his patients, but took care not to compromise himself with any of them. Nana.
BOUTAREL (MADAME), a lady who lived in the country and economized for months at a time, only coming to Paris occasionally. When she came, she made straight for "The Ladies' Paradise" and spent all her savings in an afternoon. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOUTELOUP (LOUIS), a workman at the Voreux pit. He lodged with Madame Levaque, whose lover he became. Germinal.
BOUTEROUE (HILARION), second child of Vincent Bouteroue, and grandson of Marianne Fouan (La Grande). The latter had never forgiven the marriage of her daughter, and would do nothing to assist the two children after the death of their parents. Hilarion, who was of weak intellect, was looked after from childhood by his sister Palmyre, who wore herself out in his service. After Palmyre's death his grandmother gave him shelter, but took advantage of his great strength by employing him at work of the hardest kind. Ultimately Hilarion committed a serious assault on the old woman, and in defending herself she struck him on the head with a bill-hook, inflicting a wound from which he died. La Terre.
BOUTEROUE (PALMYRE), sister of the preceding, worked like a slave to support her brother, and died completely worn out by toil and hardship at the age of thirty-five. La Terre.
BOUTEROUE (VINCENT), a poor peasant, whom the daughter of the Pechards insisted on marrying despite the opposition of her mother. They both died of want, leaving two children, Palmyre and Hilarion. La Terre.
BOUTEROUE (MADAME VINCENT), see Mademoiselle Pechard.
BOUTHEMENT PERE, a shopkeeper at Montpellier, who sent his son to Paris to learn business. He was disgusted to find that the simple salesman in Paris could earn three times as much as he himself could make, and he was stupefied on seeing the vast emporium in which his son served. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOUTHEMONT, manager of the silk department at "The Ladies' Paradise." Noisy and too fond of company, he was not much good for sales, but for buying he had not his equal. Nearly every month he went to Lyons, living at the best hotels, with authority to treat the manufacturers with open purse. He had, moreover, liberty to buy what he liked, provided he increased the sales of his department in a certain proportion settled beforehand; and it was on this proportion that his commission was based. Eventually, however, his position was undermined, and Madame Desforges, having become jealous of Mouret, and wishing to injure him, introduced Bouthemont to Baron Hartmann, who lent him money to start an opposition establishment called "The Four Seasons." This was burned down three weeks after its opening, but the enormous loss was covered by insurance. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOUTIGNY, Lazare Chanteau's partner in the chemical business, into which he put thirty thousand francs. After the failure of the venture, he took over the whole concern, and began to manufacture potash from seaweed by the old methods. He was very successful in this, and by degrees began to employ on a small scale the scientific systems which had before proved disastrous. In a few years he amassed a considerable fortune. La Joie de Vivre.
BOUTIN, a retired artist's-model who kept a studio in Rue de la Huchette, which was frequented by Claude Lantier, who went there for purposes of study. A subscription of twenty francs enabled young artists to have the free use of models. L'Oeuvre.
BOUTIN, an old epileptic attended by Doctor Pascal at Plassans. He died in one of his fits. Le Docteur Pascal.
BOVES (COMTE DE), Inspector-General of the Imperial Stud, a tall, handsome man who had married his wife for her great beauty. Notwithstanding this, he carried on a liaison with Madame Guibal, whose demands upon his purse were so heavy that he was obliged to economize in his own establishment. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOVES (COMTESSE DE), wife of the preceding, was a beautiful woman of about forty years of age. She was a constant customer at "The Ladies' Paradise," but as her husband kept her very short of money, was seldom able to buy anything. Eventually temptation proved too strong for her, and she was caught in the act of stealing some valuable lace. The matter was, however, kept quiet, and a scandal avoided. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BOVES (BLANCHE DE), daughter of the preceding. She usually accompanied her mother on her shopping expeditions to "The Ladies' Paradise," and, it is to be feared, was not unaware of the theft of lace by her. She married Paul de Vallagnosc. Au Bonheur des Dames.
BRAMAH, an English horse which won the Grand Prix de Paris. It belonged to Lord Reading. Nana.
BRAMBILLA (SIGNOR), a Venetian political refugee, and a friend of Comtesse Balbi. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BRETIGNY (COMTESSE DE). Auguste Lantier, reading the news from a journal to his friends Coupeau and Mes-Bottes, announced that the eldest daughter of the Comtesse de Bretigny was to be married to Baron de Valencay, aide-de-camp to His Majesty the Emperor. L'Assommoir.
BRETON-LE-CUL-SEC, one of the band of brigands led by Beau-Francois. La Terre.
BRICHET, the father of Fortune, Rosalie Bambousse's lover. He was a little man, withered by age, and with a cringing manner. He tilled a small piece of stony land near Les Artaud, and was very poor. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BRICHET (MADAME), wife of the preceding, a tall, lachrymose woman, was the one solitary devotee of the village of Les Artaud. Whenever she had been to communion, she hung about the parsonage, knowing that the priest's servant always kept a couple of loaves for her from the last baking. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BRICHET (FORTUNE), son of the preceding, was a largely built, bold-looking young fellow of about twenty-five years of age, who had been the lover of Rosalie Bambousse for some time before Abbe Mouret was able to induce the girl's parents to consent to her marriage. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BRICHET (VINCENT), brother of Fortune, was the boy who assisted Abbe Mouret in serving Mass. He was an idle young scamp, and constantly incurred the chastisement of Brother Archangias, who predicted a bad end for him on account of his friendship for Catherine Bambousse. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
BRIQUET, a peasant of Rognes. His son drew the number 13 for the conscription. La Terre.
BRON (MADAME), concierge at the Theatre des Varietes. She sold liquor to the employees at the theatre. Nana.
BRU, an old house-painter who lived in a garret in the same tenement-house as the Coupeaus, where he starved with cold and hunger. He had lost three sons in the Crimea, and he lived on what he could pick up, now that for two years past he could hold a brush no longer. Gervaise Coupeau showed him some kindness and asked him to her famous birthday party. Things having gone from bad to worse with him, he was found one morning lying dead in his garret. L'Assommoir.
BRULE (LA), mother of La Pierronne. She was the widow of a miner who had been killed in the pit, and lived with her daughter at the settlement known as the Deux-Cent-Quarante. A terrible old woman, frantic to revenge on the masters the death of her husband, she was the leader in the outrages perpetrated by the strikers in the Montsou district. It was she who gave the signal for the attack on the troops, but at the first volley fired by the soldiers she fell back stiff and crackling like a bundle of dry faggots, stammering one last oath in the gurgling of blood. Germinal.
BRUNET (LES), a bourgeois family in the new quarter of Plassans, of whom Madame Felicite Rougon was jealous. La Fortune des Rougon.
BUDIN (LES), peasants of Rognes, whose daughter was said to have been cured of a fever by Sourdeau, who cut a live pigeon in two, and applied the halves to her head. La Terre.
BUQUIN-LECOMTE, a deputy at the Corps Legislatif. He desired leave of absence. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
BURGAT, a blacksmith, one of the band of insurgents which entered Plassans in December, 1851. La Fortune des Rougon.
BURNE, an English jockey who rode a horse called Spirit in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.
BUSCH, a man of German origin who came to Paris, and engaged in business of a shady character on the fringe of the Bourse. "In addition to usury and a secret traffic in jewels and precious stones, he particularly occupied himself with the purchase of 'bad debts.'" In pursuit of creditors he was unsparing, and his methods were not infrequently of the nature of blackmail. Jordon, Madame de Beauvilliers, and Saccard himself fell into his power, though Saccard refused to submit to extortion. Another of Busch's lines of business was the purchase of depreciated shares and debentures, thousands of which he collected together, selling them to bankrupts who found difficulty in accounting for real or imaginary losses. His one redeeming feature was his extraordinary love for his brother Sigismond, whom he nursed with the greatest care until his death. L'Argent.
BUSCH (SIGISMOND), brother of Busch, the money-lender, was an able man, educated at a German University, and speaking several languages. He had met Carl Marx at Cologne in 1849, and became a contributor to the New Rhenish Gazette. "From that time he professed Socialism with an ardent faith, giving his entire being to the idea of an approaching social renovation, which would assure the happiness of the poor and humble." After his master was banished from Germany, Sigismond, engrossed in his dreams, was so careless of his material affairs that he would have perished of hunger had his brother not taken him to live with him. From this time the elder Busch, ferocious as a wolf towards a debtor, looked after his brother with almost maternal care, and was heart-broken when Sigismond died of consumption a few years later. L'Argent.
BUTEAU, second son of Pere Fouan; brother of Hyacinthe and of Fanny Delhomme; cousin and husband of Lise Mouche; father of Jules and Laure. From early youth he was of violent temper, and having drawn a lucky number in the conscription, he went away from home, and got work, first at the farm of La Borderie and later at La Chamade. He was a true son of the soil, knowing nothing of the world beyond the narrow district in which he was born, and possessing that fierce passion for the land which is the characteristic of so many peasants. When Pere Fouan made a division of his property among his family, Buteau was dissatisfied with the lot which he drew, and refused to take possession of it. In this attitude he persisted for two years, until the formation of a new road gave a greatly increased value to his share. In the same way he refused to marry his cousin Lise Mouche, by whom he already had a son, until, after her father's death, she had inherited a share of his property. Buteau's chief anxiety then became to prevent a division of this land between his wife and her sister Francoise, and when, after the girl's marriage to Jean Macquart, this became imminent, he and his wife eventually murdered her. His father had been a witness of the crime, and as his silence was essential, he too was cruelly done to death. After these terrible events Buteau was able to sleep calmly, for the land, his overwhelming passion in life, was his beyond possibility of dispute. La Terre.
BUTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Lise Mouche. La Terre.
BUTEAU (JULES), the eldest child of the preceding, who were not married till three years after his birth. At nine years old he was the sole friend of old Fouan, but he soon came to neglect the old man. La Terre.
BUTEAU (LAURE), the second child of the Buteaus. At four years old she had already the hard eyes of her family, and was hostile to her grandfather, old Fouan. By jealousy she detached from him her brother Jules. La Terre.
C
CABASSE, a franc-tireur of the woods of Dieulet. He was the favourite companion of Ducat, and along with Guillaume Sambuc formed part of the band which so greatly embarrassed the Prussians in the neighbourhood of Sedan. He took part in the execution of Goliath Steinberg, the German spy. La Debacle.
CABIN (MADAME), the woman who looked after the bedrooms occupied by the saleswomen in "The Ladies' Paradise." In consideration of small bribes, she allowed numerous breaches of the strict rules of the establishment. Au Bonheur des Dames.
CABIROCHE (SIMONNE), an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. She was the daughter of a furniture dealer in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and had been educated at a boarding-school in order that she might become a governess. She played the part of Isabelle in the Petite Duchesse. Nana.
CABUCHE, a quarryman at Becourt, who lived alone in a hut in the middle of the forest. He was condemned to five years' imprisonment for having killed a man in a tavern brawl, but on account of his good conduct was liberated at the end of four years. From that time he was avoided by every one, and lived like a savage in the woods. Louisette, the younger daughter of Madame Misard, who was then fourteen years old, met him one day in the forest, and a strange friendship was formed between them, the rough man almost adoring this child, who alone was not afraid to speak to him. The girl afterwards went as a servant to Madame Bonnehon, but one evening Cabuche found her at his door, half mad with fright and on the verge of brain fever. He nursed her tenderly, but she died a few days later. The conduct of President Grandmorin was believed to be the cause of Louisette's flight from Doinville, and Cabuche was overheard to say in ungovernable rage that he would "bleed the pig." This remark led Denizet, the examining magistrate, to attribute to him the murder of the President, which was committed soon afterwards by the Roubauds, and still later he had the misfortune to be found beside the body of Severine Roubaud, who had been murdered by Jacques Lantier. He was found guilty of the two crimes, neither of which he committed, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. It was Cabuche's wagon, loaded with huge blocks of stone, that Flore stopped in front of an express train in order to cause an accident. La Bete Humaine.
CADET-CASSIS, the sobriquet of Coupeau. L'Assommoir.
CADINE, a young girl who when only two years old was found by Madame Chantemesse and adopted by her. She was brought up along with Marjolin, and the two became inseparable companions and lovers. When she was eleven years old she set up as a dealer in birds' food, but in a year or two became a flower-seller. After the accident to Marjolin by which his intellect was affected, Cadine looked after him, and the two were seldom found apart. Le Ventre de Paris.
CAFFIN (ABBE), the predecessor of Abbe Mouret as cure at Les Artaud. He was originally from Normandy, and had a large face which always seemed laughing. His history was bad, and he had been sent in disgrace to this hot and dusty corner of Provence. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
CAMPARDON (ACHILLE), an architect, in whose house Octave Mouret boarded when he first came to Paris. His views on religion were somewhat free, but having been appointed diocesan architect he gradually became orthodox, though this did not prevent him from carrying on an intrigue with Gasparine, his wife's cousin, who ultimately came to live with the family. Pot-Bouille.
CAMPARDON (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Rose Domergue. Born at Plassans, she was an old friend of Madame Mouret, and when Octave Mouret came to Paris he boarded with the Campardons. After the birth of her child, Madame Campardon was an invalid, and was obliged to spend much of her time in bed, amusing herself by reading the works of Dickens. She tacitly accepted the liaison between her husband and Gasparine, her cousin, whom she ultimately asked to live with the family and manage the household affairs. Pot-Bouille.
CAMPARDON (ANGELE), daughter of the preceding. She was brought up at home by her parents, in order that she might remain ignorant of the realities of life, but intercourse with the servants in a large tenement-house early developed her unnatural precocity. Pot-Bouille.
CAMPENON, an incapable person to whom M. de Marsy gave a post as prefect, which Eugene Rougon had promised to Du Poizat. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
CAMY-LAMOTTE, secretary to the Minister of Justice, an office of great influence. It was his duty to prepare the list of promotions, and he was in constant communication with the Tuileries. He was a handsome man, who started his career as a substitute; but through his connections and his wife he had been elected deputy and made grand officer of the Legion of Honour. In examining the papers of President Grandmorin, he discovered the identity of the murderers, but knowing the probability of serious scandal arising in the event of public inquiry, he said nothing, and later, struck by the courage and charm of Severine Roubaud, who threw herself on his protection, he gave instructions that all proceedings were to be stopped. He rewarded Denizet, the examining magistrate, with a decoration and the promise of early promotion. La Bete Humaine.
CANIVET, an old peasant, of whom Zephyrin Lacour announced the death to Rosalie Pichon. Une Page d'Amour.
CARNAVANT (MARQUIS DE), a nobleman of Plassans. Said to have been intimate with the mother of Felicite Puech during the early period of her married life. He visited Pierre Rougon and his wife occasionally, and after their retirement from business he interested them in politics. La Fortune des Rougon.
CAROLINE, an artificial-flower maker employed by Madame Titreville. She was very unhappy at home. L'Assommoir.
CAROLINE (MADAME). See Caroline Hamelin.
CAROUBLE, a baker at Montsou. His business was threatened by the competition of Maigrat. Germinal.
CASIMIR, a liquor-dealer on the road to Montsou. Germinal.
CASSOUTE, an inhabitant of Plassans, who formed one of the group of insurgents which accompanied Antoine Macquart to the Rougons' house. He was left there to signal the return of Pierre Rougon, but not being very intelligent, allowed himself to be sent by Rougon to the Town Hall, where he was arrested. La Fortune des Rougon.
CATHERINE, servant to Granoux. She talked for a long time before letting in Pierre Rougon and Roudier, who came to seek her master to save Plassans. La Fortune des Rougon.
CAUCHE, the commissary of police attached to the railway station at Havre. He was a former officer who considered his present occupation as practically a sinecure, spending much of his time at the cafe. He was a confirmed gambler, who could lose or win without change of expression. A room on the first floor of the Cafe du Commerce was his usual haunt, and there Roubaud frequently spent half the night playing cards with him. Later, it fell to him to arrest Roubaud on the charge of murdering President Grandmorin. La Bete Humaine.
CAZENOVE (DOCTOR), a man of fifty-four years of age, of a vigorous and lean habit, who after thirty years' service in the navy settled down at Arromanches, where an uncle of his had left him a house. He affected scepticism of the power of medicine, but was unremitting in the care of his patients. Among the earliest of these was Madame Chanteau, and he became on intimate terms with the family, for some time acting as trustee to Pauline Quenu. La Joie de Vivre.
CECILE (MADEMOISELLE), daughter of a butcher in the neighbourhood of the Halles Centrales. Le Ventre de Paris.
CELESTE, lady's maid and confidante of Madame Renee Saccard. La Curee.
CELESTINE, a friend of Clemence. She was neurotic, and had a horror of the hair of cats, seeing it everywhere, and even turning her tongue in the belief that some of it had got into her mouth. L'Assommoir.
CESAR, a bull at the farm of La Borderie. La Terre.
CHADEUIL (MADAME), a milliner in the Rue Sainte-Anne. Octave Mouret's shop, "The Ladies' Paradise," ruined her within two years. Au Bonheur des Dames.
CHAINE, the companion of Mahoudeau, the sculptor. He was born at Saint-Firmin, a village about six miles from Plassans, where he served as a cowboy until he was drawn in the conscription. Unfortunately for him, a gentleman of the district who admired the walking-stick handles which he carved out of roots with his knife, persuaded Chaine that he was a rustic genius, and with extreme foolishness persuaded him to go in for painting. Having forty pounds, he went to Paris, where his small fortune lasted him for a year. Then, as he had only twenty francs left, he took up his quarters with his friend Mahoudeau. He had no talent, but had a certain skill in copying pictures with extreme exactness. The relations of Chaine and Mahoudeau with Mathilde Jabouille led to a coldness between the two friends, and ultimately they ceased to be on speaking terms, though they continued to live together, and even to sleep in the same bed. Some time afterwards Chaine gave up art, and started a booth at country fairs, in which he ran a wheel-of-fortune for trifling prizes. The booth was decorated with some of his alleged masterpieces. L'Oeuvre.
CHAMBOUVARD, a celebrated sculptor. He was said to be the son of a veterinary surgeon of Amiens, and at forty-five had already produced twenty masterpieces. He had, however, a complete lack of critical acumen, and was unable to distinguish between the most glorious offspring of his hands and the detestably grotesque figures which he happened to put together now and then. At one Salon he exhibited a Sower, admirable in every way, while at another he showed an execrable Reaping Woman, so bad that it seemed like a hoax; but he was no less pleased with the later work, feeling sure that he had turned out yet another masterpiece. L'Oeuvre.
CHAMPION, a master hatter at Montrouge. Auguste Lantier pretended to have left his employment because they had not the same political views. L'Assommoir.
CHAMPION, a retired sergeant, who was afterwards delivery manager at "The Ladies' Paradise." Au Bonheur des Dames.
CHANTEAU PERE, came originally from the south of France, beginning his life as a journeyman carpenter. He created a considerable timber business at Caen, but being somewhat daring in his speculation, he left it rather embarrassed at the time of his death. La Joie de Vivre.
CHANTEAU (M.), a cousin of M. Quenu, by whom he was nominated guardian of his daughter Pauline Quenu. On the death of his father, he succeeded to the timber business at Caen. Being an inactive man, unaspiring and careful, he contented himself with putting his affairs on a safe basis, and living on a moderate but sure profit. He married Eugenie de la Vigniere, who was an ambitious woman and hoped to rouse his indolent nature. Her schemes were, however, frustrated by the ill-health of her husband, who suffered from gout to such a degree that he ultimately sold his business to Devoine, and retired to Bonneville, where he had a house. His sufferings from gout gradually became more and more severe until he was a complete invalid. His ward Pauline Quenu showed him much kindness, and the Abbe Horteur played draughts with him regularly. La Joie de Vivre.
Until the end of his life he was taken care of by Pauline. Le Docteur Pascal.
CHANTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Eugenie de la Vigniere, was the orphan of one of the ruined squireens of the Cotentin. An ambitious woman, she hoped to induce her husband to overcome his indolent nature, but her plans were upset by the ill-health into which he fell, and she transferred to her son her hopes for the family's rise in life. From this source she had nothing but disappointment, as one after another of Lazare's schemes failed. To enable him to get money to start his chemical works, she encouraged the idea of marriage between him and Pauline Quenu, her husband's ward, who thereupon lent him thirty thousand francs. Little by little, Madame Chanteau got possession for the family use of nearly all Pauline's fortunes, but with each fresh loan her feelings towards the girl became more embittered until her affection for her had turned to hate. From this time, she discouraged her son's marriage with Pauline, and endeavoured to turn his thoughts towards Louise Thibaudier, who had a considerable fortune. She died of dropsy after a short illness. La Joie de Vivre.
CHANTEAU (LAZARE), born 1844, son of M. Chanteau, was educated at the college of Caen, where he took his bachelor's degree. He was undecided as to what profession he would adopt, and for some time his inclination turned towards music. Under the influence of Pauline Quenu he decided on medicine, and went to Paris, where at first he made good progress in his studies. Unfortunately he tired of this, and led a life of extravagance and dissipation, failing to pass his examinations. Having chanced to make the acquaintance of Herbelin, a celebrated chemist, Lazare entered his laboratory as an assistant. From him he got the idea of turning seaweed to profitable account by the extraction of chemicals by a new method. With a view to the commercial employment of this process he borrowed thirty thousand francs from Pauline Quenu, and entered into partnership with an old college friend named Boutigny who invested a similar sum in the business. Lazare was quite carried away by his enthusiasm, and the works were built on much too large a scale, the cost greatly exceeding the original estimates. More money was required, and a marriage having already been arranged between Lazare and Pauline Quenu, she at once lent him another ten thousand francs. Some slight success was at first attained, but this only led to fresh extravagances in the way of apparatus, and before long a hundred thousand francs of Pauline's money had been expended. By this time it was evident that the process could not be worked on a commercial scale, and Lazare, utterly discouraged, handed over his share to Boutigny for a trifling sum. A scheme for the protection of Bonneville against the inroads of the sea was the next subject to attract him, and he entered into it with his usual enthusiasm. More money was, of course, required, and, as before, this was found by Pauline. Failure again met his efforts; the barricade was washed away by the first high sea. All along Lazare had been subject to fits of morbid depression, accompanied by a frenzied fear of death, and after the death of his mother this mental disturbance became even more acute. The marriage with Pauline had been put off on one excuse or another, and ultimately she saw that his affections had been transferred to Louise Thibaudier. With noble self-sacrifice, she released him from his engagement, and his marriage to Louise followed. He went to Paris as manager of an insurance company, but soon tiring of business, he returned to Bonneville, where he lived so tormented by the fear of death that life itself had little charm for him. La Joie de Vivre.
Having become a widower, he left his son with Pauline Quenu, and went to America to seek his fortune. Le Docteur Pascal.
CHANTEAU (MADAME LAZARE), wife of the preceding. See Louise Thibaudier. La Joie de Vivre.
CHANTEAU (PAUL), the infant son of Lazare Chanteau. La Joie de Vivre.
CHANTECAILLE (i.e. SINGSMALL), an usher at the college of Plassans. He was so good-natured that he allowed the pupils to smoke when out walking. L'Oeuvre.
CHANTEGREIL, a poacher, who was sent to the galleys for shooting a gendarme. He was the father of Miette. La Fortune des Rougon.
CHANTEGREIL (MARIE), known as Miette, born 1838, daughter of Chantegreil, the poacher, who was sentenced to the galleys for murder. She went to live with her aunt, the wife of Rebufat, farmer at Plassans. Here she met Silvere Mouret, and an idyllic love affair followed. When Silvere joined the Republican Insurrection in 1861, Miette, fired by his enthusiasm, accompanied him, and carried the banner of revolt. In the attack by the regular troops, which soon followed, she fell mortally wounded. La Fortune des Rougon.
CHANTEGREIL (EULALIE). See Madame Eulalie Rebufat.
CHANTEMESSE (MADAME), a customer of Madame Francois, the market-gardener. It was she who brought up the two foundling children, Marjolin and Cadine. Le Ventre de Paris.
CHANTEREAU (MADAME), wife of an ironmaster. She was a cousin of the Fougerays, and a friend of the Muffats. With Madame du Joncquoy and Madame Hugon she gave an air of severe respectability to the drawing-room of Comtesse Sabine de Muffat. Her husband owned a foundry in Alsace, where war with Germany was feared, and she caused much amusement to her friends by expressing the opinion that Bismarck would make war with France and would conquer. Nana.
CHARBONNEL (M.), a retired oil-merchant of Plassans. His cousin Chevassu, a lawyer, died leaving his fortune of five hundred thousand francs to the Sisters of the Holy Family. Charbonnel, being next heir, contested the will on the ground of undue influence; and the Sisterhood having petitioned the Council of State to authorize the payment of the bequest to them, he went to Paris, accompanied by his wife, in order to secure the influence of Eugene Rougon. The matter dragged on for some months, and was then indefinitely delayed by Rougon's resignation of the Presidency of the Council of State. After Rougon's appointment as Minister of the Interior, he induced the Council of State to refuse the petition of the Sisterhood, and M. Charbonnel accordingly succeeded to the estate. Subsequently the Charbonnels accused the Sisters of having removed some of Chevassu's silver plate, and Rougon ordered the police to make a search in the convent. This caused a scandal in the town, and brought the Charbonnels, as well as Rougon, into popular disfavour. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
CHARBONNEL (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She accompanied her husband to Paris to assist him in looking after their interests in the estate of his cousin Chevassu. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
CHARDON (ABBE), the candidate favoured by Abbe Fenil for the vacancy in the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.
CHARDON (MADAME), a protegee of Madame Melanie Correur. The State having refused to accept some furnishings supplied by her, Eugene Rougon, the Minister, arranged the matter. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
CHARLES, a waiter at the Cafe Riche. It was he who served supper to Maxime Saccard and Renee in the White Salon. La Curee.
CHARLES, the attendant at the public washing-house where Gervaise Macquart had her great fight with Virginie. L'Assommoir.
CHARLES, a butcher whose shop was in Rue Polonceau. The Coupeaus dealt with him. L'Assommoir.
CHARLES, coachman in the service of Nana. He left her after a violent scene, in the course of which he called her a slut. Nana.
CHARLES, a cousin of the little soldier Jules from Plogof. Germinal.
CHARLES, coachman to Aristide Saccard. He was discovered stealing oats, and was dismissed. In revenge, he disclosed to Madame Caroline the relations between his master and the Baroness Sandorff. L'Argent.
CHARLES, (MONSIEUR AND MADAME), see Badeuil.
CHARPIER, a grain merchant at Vendome. He became bankrupt, and his papers having been purchased by Fayeux on behalf of Busch, the latter found among them a document signed by Comte de Beauvilliers, undertaking payment of a large sum to Leonie Cron. L'Argent.
CHARRIER, a bricklayer who amassed a fortune by speculations in building-sites during the early days of the Second Empire. Along with Mignon, his partner, he had many business dealings with Aristide Saccard. La Curee.
CHARVET, one of the party which met at Lebigre's wine-shop to discuss revolutionary subjects. He was the best educated of the coterie, and his flood of bitter words generally crushed his adversaries. Le Ventre de Paris.
CHASSAGNE (DOCTEUR), director of the asylum at Moulineaux, where Saturnin Josserand was confined for a time. Pot-Bouille.
CHAUMETTE, counsellor at the court of Rouen. At the trial of Roubaud he acted as assessor to the assizes. La Bete Humaine.
CHAUMETTE FILS, son of the preceding, was a substitute at Rouen. He was the latest fancy of Madame Bonnehon, who did all she could to secure his advancement. La Bete Humaine.
CHAVAILLE (ROSALIE), cousin of La Mechain, and mother of Victor Saccard. She fell into a life of vice and poverty, and died at the age of twenty-six. L'Argent.
CHAVAL, a miner employed at the Voreux pit. From the first he had an instinctive hatred towards Etienne Lantier, caused partly by jealousy regarding Catherine Maheu, whose lover he became. He treated the girl very badly, and she ultimately left him. During the strike he took up a position antagonistic to Lantier, who was one of the leaders, and even undertook the direction of a party of Belgians brought in by the mine-owners to work the pits. By a strange chance, Chaval met Lantier and Catherine in a gallery of the pit after a terrible accident, which resulted in its being flooded; a struggle followed, and Chaval was killed, his body being thrown into the water. But the rise of the flood brought him back time after time to the feet of the others, as if his jealousy continued even after death. Germinal.
CHAVE (CAPTAIN), brother of Madame Maugendre, and uncle of Madame Jordan. He was a petty gambler of a class who frequent the Bourse daily, in order to make an almost certain profit of fifteen or twenty francs, which must be realized before the day's operations are over. He said he was forced to speculate, as the pension which he received from the Government was not sufficient to keep him from starvation. L'Argent.
CHAVIGNAT, an employee at the Ministry of Public Education. Pot-Bouille.
CHEDEVILLE (DE), deputy for Eure-et-Loire under the Empire. He was an old beau who had flourished in the reign of Louis Philippe, and was still supposed to have Orleanist sympathies, though his reputed friendship with the Emperor was sufficient to secure his success at the polls. He had gone through all his money, and had now only the farm of La Chamade left. His political career was cut short by a scandal which gave offence at the Tuileries, and he was defeated by Rochefontaine, who was nominated by Government as the official candidate. La Terre.
CHERMETTE (MADAME DE), a friend of Madame Deberle. Une Page d'Amour.
CHEVASSU, a lawyer at Faverolles, who died leaving his fortune to the Sisters of the Holy Family. His cousin, M. Charbonnel, got the will reduced on the ground of undue influence. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
CHEZELLES (MADAME LEONIDE DE), a school friend of Comtesse Muffat, who was five years her senior. She was the wife of a magistrate. "It was rumoured that she deceived him quite openly, but people pardoned her offence, and received her just the same, because, said they, 'She's not answerable for her actions.'" Nana.
CHIBRAY (COMTE DE), aide-de-camp to the Emperor. He was for a time the lover of Renee Saccard. La Curee.
CHOUARD (MARQUIS DE), father of Comtesse Sabine Muffat de Beuville. He was a Councillor of State and Chamberlain to the Empress, but, notwithstanding this, had kept up his relations with the Legitimist party; he was known for his piety, and expressed the belief that his class should show an example in morals to the lower orders. In secret, however, his life was vicious, and many damaging stories were known of him. He was one of Nana's admirers, and after a visit to her he was struck by sudden imbecility and semi-paralysis, the result of sixty years of debauchery. Nana.
CHOUARD (SABINE DE), daughter of the preceding and wife of Comte Muffat de Beuville. She was married at seventeen, and ever since had led a cloistered existence with a pious husband and a dictatorial stepmother. The death of her stepmother made little difference, and the family continued to live in an atmosphere of frigid respectability. At thirty-four Sabine looked little older than her own daughter, and would not have been taken for more than twenty-eight. About this time Comte Muffat fell entirely under the influence of Nana, and a change came over the household. Sabine accepted the attentions of Fauchery, whose mistress she became, and soon after launched into a course of extravagance which in the end went far to complete the ruin to which her husband was himself contributing. Other lovers followed Fauchery, and in the end she ran off with the manager of a large drapery store. Ultimately she returned, and was pardoned by her husband, who had lost his own self-respect as a result of his intrigue with Nana. Nana.
CHOUTEAU, an old man of over ninety years of age, who with his wife lived in a little hut in Beaumont, furnished for them by Angelique with articles taken from the attic of her adopted parents. She, as well as Felicien d'Hautecoeur, showed them much kindness. Le Reve.
CHOUTEAU, a soldier in the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. He belonged to the squad of Corporal Jean Macquart. Originally a housepainter of Montmartre, his time was almost expired when the outbreak of war prevented his leaving the army. A revolutionary in his ideas, he was the leader in every breach of discipline among his companions, suggesting to them that they should throw away their knapsacks and guns; on the plateau of Floing, in front of the enemy, he declared that as he had not eaten he would not fight. Sergeant Sapin having been severely wounded, Chouteau offered, along with Loubet, to remove him to the ambulance, and the two men disappeared from the battlefield. After the defeat of the French Army he was made prisoner at Iges, where he continued to advise his companions in committing all kinds of excesses, going the length of handing a knife to Lapoulle in order that he might kill Pache, who had hidden some provisions from him. Along with Loubet he made an attempt to escape from the Germans, and in this he attained success by treacherously sacrificing his comrade. During the Commune he took an active part in the excesses which were then committed; but during the sanguinary repression which followed he was seen in the blouse of an honest workman applauding the massacre which ensued. La Debacle.
CHRISTINE. See Christine Hallegrain.
CHUCHU (MADEMOISELLE), an actress at the Varietes. A liaison between her and Flory led to the ruin of the latter on the Stock Exchange. L'Argent.
CLARISSE, waiting-maid in the service of Baroness Sandorff. She betrayed to Delcambre the confidences of her mistress. L'Argent.
CLEMENCE, a clerk at the fish auction. She attended the meetings in Lebigre's wine-shop along with Charvet, with whom she lived. Le Ventre de Paris.
CLEMENCE (MADEMOISELLE), occupied a room in the same tenement-house as the Coupeaus and Lorilleux, where she took in ironing, as well as added to her income by less reputable means. When Gervaise Coupeau's laundry was at the height of its success Clemence got regular employment there, but when business began to go she had to leave. L'Assommoir.
CLEMENCE, lady's maid to Madame Duveyrier. Pot-Bouille.
CLORINDE. See Clorinde Balbi.
CLOU, Municipal Councillor at Rognes. He played the trombone at choral services in church. La Terre.
COEUR (GERMAINE), a demi-mondaine who was on intimate terms with many members of the Paris Bourse. L'Argent.
COGNET, a roadman at Rognes. He was an old drunkard, who beat his daughter unmercifully. La Terre.
COGNET (JACQUELINE), alias LA COGNETTE, daughter of the preceding. She went to La Borderie at the age of twelve years, and before long had several lovers. She made her fortune, however, by resisting her master, Alexandre Hourdequin, for six months, and when she ultimately became his mistress she had made her position so secure that he was afterwards unable to part with her. Notwithstanding her relations with Hourdequin, she had other lovers, and the old shepherd Soulas, from motives of revenge, informed Hourdequin of her intimacy with one of them, a man named Tron. The latter, having been dismissed, killed Hourdequin and burned down the farm, so that Jacqueline was compelled to leave La Borderie no richer than she had come. La Terre.
COLICHE (LA), a fine cow which belonged to the Mouche family and was a great favourite with them. La Terre.
COLIN, a notary at Havre. It was in his presence that the Roubauds made a mutual will, leaving everything to the last survivor. La Bete Humaine.
COLOMBAN PERE, a veterinary surgeon known to all in the district of Seine-et-Oise. He was of dissolute habits. Au Bonheur des Dames.
COLOMBAN, a shopman who had been for many years in the employment of M. Baudu. He was engaged to his master's daughter Genevieve, but the marriage was put off from time to time as Baudu's business was not prosperous. Meantime, Colomban had become infatuated by Clara Prunaire, a girl employed in "The Ladies' Paradise," and his affection for Genevieve rapidly cooled. Ultimately he went off with Clara, thereby hastening the death of Genevieve, who had been in bad health for some time. Au Bonheur des Dames.
COLOMBE. See Pere Colombe.
COMBELOT (M. DE), an Imperial Chamberlain whom the Department of the Landes had chosen as deputy upon the formally expressed desire of the Emperor. He was a tall, handsome man, with a very white skin, and an inky black beard, which had been the means of winning him great favour among the ladies. He was married to a sister of Delestang. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
COMBELOT (MADAME DE), see Henriette Delestang.
COMBETTE, a chemist at Chene-Populeux. He was assessor to the mayor, and the information which he received on the night of 27th August, 1870, satisfied him of the unhappy state of the Army of Chalons, which was then on its way to the front. La Debacle.
COMBETTE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. It was she who on the evening of 27th August, 1870, offered hospitality to the soldier Maurice Levasseur, who was worn out with fatigue and with the pain of his foot, which had been injured by the long march. La Debacle.
COMBEVILLE (DUCHESSE DE), mother of Princess d'Orviedo. L'Argent.
COMBOREL ET CIE, a firm of ship-owners who entered into the great transport syndicate founded by Aristide Saccard. L'Argent.
COMPAN (ABBE), vicar of the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. He was on bad terms with Abbe Fenil, and consequently the other priests were afraid to have any intercourse with him, Abbe Bourrette alone visiting him during his last illness. La Conquete de Plassans.
CONDAMIN (M. DE), commissioner of woods and rivers for the district of Plassans. He was an elderly man, whose morality was looked upon with some suspicion by the respectable inhabitants of Plassans. He married a young wife, whom he brought from no one knew where, but who had evidently influential friends at Paris, as it was she who got her husband and Dr. Porquier decorated. La Conquete de Plassans.
CONDAMIN (MADAME DE), wife of the preceding. She was at first received with some suspicion at Plassans, nothing being known of her past history, but by the charm of her manner she soon overcame prejudice. Madame Mouret having asked her assistance in connection with the Home for Girls proposed by Abbe Faujas, she entered heartily into the scheme and used her influence on its behalf. Acting on advice from her influential friends at Paris, she assisted Faujas in the schemes which resulted in the election of M. Delangre as deputy for Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.
CONIN, a stationer at the corner of Rue Feydeau, who supplied note-books to most members of the Bourse. He was assisted in the business by his wife, and seldom came out of the back shop. L'Argent.
CONIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was on too friendly terms with many of her customers, but was so discreet that no scandal arose. L'Argent.
COQUART (LES), proprietors of the farm of Saint-Juste, which, however, they were forced by bad times to sell. The family consisted of the father, mother, three sons and two daughters. La Terre.
COQUETS, neighbours of the Lorilleux in Rue de la Goutte-d'Or. They took a fancy to light their cooking-stove on the stair-landing, and, as they also owed their term's rent, they were given notice to quit. L'Assommoir.
CORBIERE (COMTE DE), proprietor of the Paradou, an estate near Artaud. When he died, the care of the property was confided to Jeanbernat, a foster-brother of the Comte. La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret.
CORBREUSE (DUC DE), proprietor of a racing-stable. Nana.
CORNAILLE, the principal draper in Valognes. Denise Baudu served her apprenticeship to him. Au Bonheur des Dames.
CORNEMUSE, a racehorse which was the prize of the City of Paris. Nana.
CORNILLE, a member of the firm of Cornille and Jenard, who held in the eighteenth century the mineral concession of Joiselle, which was joined in 1760 to two neighbouring concessions, those of Comte de Cougny and of Baron Desrumaux, in order to form the Company of the Mines of Montsou. Germinal.
CORNILLE (ABBE), one of the clergy of the cathedral of Beaumont. He accompanied Monseigneur d'Hautecoeur when the latter came to administer the last rites of the Church to Angelique. Le Reve.
CORREUR (MADAME MELANIE), was the daughter of a notary of Coulonges, a town in the district of Niort. When she was twenty-four years old she eloped with a journeyman butcher, and thereafter lived in Paris, ignored by her family. For some time she kept a boarding-house at the Hotel Vanneau in the Rue Vanneau, where among her lodgers were Eugene Rougon, Du Poizet, and Theodore Gilquin. She established a claim on Rougon's gratitude, and he assisted a number of her friends in obtaining pensions and appointments. Having ascertained that her brother, M. Martineau, had made a will by which she would benefit, she, knowing him to be in bad health, denounced him to Rougon as a dangerous Republican. His arrest and sudden death followed. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
COSINUS, a racehorse which ran in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.
COSSARD (LE PERE), prompter at the Theatre des Varietes. He was a little hunchback.
COUDELOUP (MADAME), a baker in Rue des Poissonniers. She supplied the Coupeaus until Lantier decided that they must have finer bread from a Viennese bakery. L'Assommoir.
COUGNY (COMTE DE), owner in the eighteenth century of the mining concession of Cougny, which in 1760 was joined to two neighbouring concessions to form the Company of the Mines of Montsou. Germinal.
COUILLOT (LES), peasants at Rognes. Their son got the number 206 in the drawing for the conscription. La Terre.
COUPEAU, a zinc-worker, who married Gervaise Macquart after her desertion by Lantier. He was the son of a drunken father, but was himself steady and industrious until a serious accident caused by a fall from a roof brought about a change. After that he became unwilling to work and began to spend his time in public-houses; his days of work became fewer and fewer, until, a confirmed drunkard, he lived entirely on his wife's earnings. Attacks of delirium tremens followed, and in the end he died in the Asylum of Sainte-Anne after an attack of more than usual violence. L'Assommoir.
COUPEAU (MADAME GERVAISE), wife of the preceding. See Gervaise Macquart. L'Assommoir.
COUPEAU (ANNA, known as NANA), born 1852, was the only child of Coupeau and Gervaise Macquart, his wife. Almost from infancy she was allowed to run wild in the gutters of Paris, and even in childhood her instincts were vicious. At thirteen years of age she was sent to learn artificial-flower making in the establishment of Madame Titreville, whose forewoman was Madame Lerat, Nana's aunt. She had been there some time when she began to receive attentions from an elderly gentleman who had noticed her going to work. Meantime her father and mother had taken to drink so seriously that home life had become intolerable, and, after one of innumerable quarrels, Nana ran away to her venerable admirer. After a few months she tired of him and left, to spend her time amongst the low-class dancing-halls, in one of which she was found by her father, who brought her home, where she remained for a fortnight, and then ran off again. From time to time she returned, but her visits gradually became less frequent till they ceased. L'Assommoir.
At sixteen years of age she had a child by an unknown father, and two years later was installed in a flat in Boulevard Haussmann by a rich merchant of Moscow, who had come to pass the winter in Paris. Bordenave, the director of the Theatre des Varietes, gave her a part in a play called La Blonde Venus, and though her voice was poor and she was ignorant of acting, she was by the sheer force of her beauty an immediate and overwhelming success. All Paris was at her feet; Comte Muffat, Steiner, the Prince of Scots himself, came in turn to offer homage. It seemed as if this girl, born of four or five generations of drunkards and brought up on the pavements of Paris, was to revenge her race upon the idle rich by the wild extravagances into which she dragged them. Muffat and Steiner were her lovers, and ruined themselves by the vast sums which she squandered; Georges Hugon killed himself from jealousy of his brother Philippe, who embezzled for her sake, and brought himself to imprisonment and disgrace; Vandeuvres too, after courting dishonour, met death at his own hand; and Foucarmont, stripped bare and cast off, went to perish in the China seas. The procession was unending; more money was always required. After a successful appearance in a play called Melusine, Nana suddenly left Paris and went to the East. Strange stories were told of her—the conquest of a viceroy, a colossal fortune acquired in Russia—but nothing definite was known. When she returned to Paris in 1870 she found that her son Louiset had been attacked by small-pox, and she herself contracted the disease from him. A few days later she died in a room in the Grand Hotel, nursed only by Rose Mignon, who had come to her in her trouble. The war with Germany had just broken out, and as she lay dying the passing crowds were shouting ceaselessly, "A Berlin, A Berlin." Nana. |
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