A Zola Dictionary Part 4

AMELIE, a _demi-mondaine_ who lodged at the Hotel Vanneau, which was kept by Madame Correur. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

AMELIE, wife of a journeyman carpenter who occupied a little room at the top of Vabre's tenement-house in Rue Choiseul. Pot-Bouille.

ANDRE (LE PERE), an old countryman at Chavanoz, the village where Miette spent her childhood. La Fortune des Rougon.

ANGELE (SISTER), a nun attached to the infirmary of the college of Pla.s.sans. Her Madonna-like face turned the heads of all the older pupils, and one morning she disappeared with Hermeline, a student of rhetoric. L'Oeuvre.

ANGELIQUE MARIE, born 1851, was the daughter of Sidonie Rougon, by an unknown father. Soon after her birth she was taken to the Foundling Hospital by a nurse, Madame Foucart, and no further inquiries were ever made about her. She was at first boarded with Francoise Hamelin, by whom she was not unkindly treated, and subsequently went to Paris with Louis Franchomme and his wife, who wished to teach her the trade of artificial-flower making. Franchomme having died three months later, his widow went to reside at Beaumont with her brother, Rabier, taking Angelique with her. Unfortunately, Madame Franchomme died a few months afterwards, leaving Angelique to the care of the Rabiers, who used her badly, not even giving her enough to eat. In consequence of their treatment, she ran away on Christmas Day, 1860, and the following morning was found in a fainting condition by Hubert, the chasuble-maker, who noticed her lying in the snow within the porch of the cathedral of Beaumont. Hubert and his wife took the child into their home, and, becoming attached to her, ultimately adopted her as their daughter, teaching her the art of embroidering vestments, in which she became very skilful. Angelique, though an amiable girl, was at first liable to violent attacks of temper, and it was only by the exercise of much patience and tact on the part of Madame Hubert that this tendency was overcome. The girl was always a dreamer, and her cloistered life with the Huberts, along with constant reading of the lives of the saints, brought out all that was mystic in her nature. A chance meeting between Angelique and a young man named Felicien led to their falling in love, she being in entire ignorance of the fact that he was the son of Monseigneur d'Hautecoeur, and a member of one of the oldest and proudest families in France. Felicien's father having refused his consent to a marriage, and a personal appeal to him by Angelique having failed, the lovers were separated for a time. The girl gradually fell into ill-health, and seemed at the point of death when Monseigneur himself came to administer the last rites of the Church. Having been miraculously restored to a measure of health, Angelique was married to Felicien d'Hautecoeur in the great cathedral of Beaumont. She was very feeble, and as she was leaving the church on the arm of her husband she sank to the ground. In the midst of her happiness she died; quietly and gently as she had lived. Le Reve.

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 a.s.sisted in the undermining of a railway over which an imperial train was to pa.s.s, 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 coa.r.s.e-minded man of violent temper, whose hatred of women led him to make the gravest charges against them.

He const.i.tuted 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 G.o.dfather, 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'a.s.sommoir.

AUGUSTE, a waiter at the Cafe des Varietes. Nana.

AUGUSTE, a young swine-herd at La Borderie. He a.s.sisted Soulas, the old shepherd, to look after the sheep. La Terre.

AUGUSTINE, a young girl who a.s.sisted 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 a.s.sistant in the laundry, she was kept on after decreasing business caused the others to leave. L'a.s.sommoir.

AUGUSTINE, an artificial-flower maker who was employed by Madame t.i.treville. L'a.s.sommoir.

AURELIE (MADEMOISELLE), an elderly friend of Madame Deberle, at whose house she was a frequent visitor. She was in straitened circ.u.mstances.

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 Inst.i.tution-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 a.s.sisted 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 Ma.s.s, 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 pa.s.sion for active life, and in busy seasons frequently returned to Chartres to a.s.sist 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 cla.s.s, 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 princ.i.p.al 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'a.s.sommoir.

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'a.s.sommoir.