Repertory of The Comedie Humaine Part 10

CHAPUZOT, chief of division to the prefecture of police in the time of Louis Philippe. Visited and consulted in 1843 by Victorin Hulot on account of Mme. de Saint-Esteve. [Cousin Betty.]

CHARDIN (Pere), old mattress-maker, and a sot. In 1843 he acted as a go-between for Baron Hulot under the name of Pere Thoul, and Cousin Betty, who concealed from the family the infamy of its head. [Cousin Betty.]

CHARDIN, son of the preceding. At first a watchman for Johann Fischer, commissariat for the Minister of War in the province of Oran from 1838 to 1841. Afterwards _claqueur_ in a theatre under Braulard, and designated at that time by the name of Idamore. A brother of Elodie Chardin whom he procured for Pere Thoul in order to release Olympe Bijou whose lover he himself was. After Olympe Bijou, Chardin paid court in 1843 to a young _premiere_ of the Theatre des Funambules.

[Cousin Betty.]

CHARDIN (Elodie), sister of Chardin alias Idamore; lace-maker; mistress of Baron Hulot--Pere Thoul--in 1843. She lived then with him at number 7 rue des Bernardins. She had succeeded Olympe Bijou in the old fellow's affections. [Cousin Betty.]

CHARDON, retired surgeon of the army of the Republic; established as a druggist at Angouleme during the Empire. He was engrossed in trying to cure the gout, and he also dreamed of replacing rag-paper with paper made from vegetable fibre, after the manner of the Chinese. He died at the beginning of the Restoration at Paris, where he had come to solicit the sanction of the Academy of Science, in despair at the lack of result, leaving a wife and two children poverty-stricken. [Lost Illusions.]

CHARDON (Madame), nee Rubempre, wife of the preceding. The final branch of an ill.u.s.trious family. Saved from the scaffold in 1793 by the army surgeon Chardon who declared her enceinte by him and who married her despite their mutual poverty. Reduced to suffering by the sudden death of her husband, she concealed her misfortunes under the name of Mme. Charlotte. She adored her two children, Eve and Lucien.

Mme. Chardon died in 1827. [Lost Illusions. Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]

CHARDON (Lucien). (See Rubempre, Chardon de).

CHARDON (Eve). (See Sechard, Madame David.)

CHARELS (The), worthy farmers in the outskirts of Alencon; the father and mother of Olympe Charel who became the wife of Michaud, the head-keeper of General de Montcornet's estate. [The Peasantry.]

CHARGEBOEUF (Marquis de), a Champagne gentleman, born in 1739, head of the house of Chargeboeuf in the time of the Consulate and the Empire.

His lands reached from the department of Seine-et-Marne into that of the Aube. A relative of the Hauteserres and the Simeuses whom he sought to erase from the emigrant list in 1804, and whom he a.s.sisted in the lawsuit in which they were implicated after the abduction of Senator Malin. He was also related to Laurence de Cinq-Cygne. The Chargeboeufs and the Cinq-Cygnes had the same origin, the Frankish name of Duineff being their joint property. Cinq-Cygne became the name of the junior branch of the Chargeboeufs. The Marquis de Chargeboeuf was acquainted with Talleyrand, at whose instance he was enabled to transmit a pet.i.tion to First-Consul Bonaparte. M. de Chargeboeuf was apparently reconciled to the new order of things springing out of the year '89; at any rate he displayed much politic prudence. His family reckoned their ancient t.i.tles from the Crusades; his name arose from an equerry's exploit with Saint Louis in Egypt. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

CHARGEBOEUF (Madame de), mother of Bathilde de Chargeboeuf who married Denis Rogron. She lived at Troyes with her daughter during the Restoration. She was poor but haughty. [Pierrette.]

CHARGEBOEUF (Bathilde de), daughter of the preceding; married Denis Rogron. (See Rogron, Madame.)

CHARGEBOEUF (Melchior-Rene, Vicomte de), of the poor branch of the Chargeboeufs. Made sub-prefect of Arcis-sur-Aube in 1815, through the influence of his kinswoman, Mme. de Cinq-Cygne. It was there that he met Mme. Severine Beauvisage. A mutual attachment resulted, and a daughter called Cecile-Renee was born of their intimacy. [The Member for Arcis.] In 1820 the Vicomte de Chargeboeuf removed to Sancerre where he knew Mme. de la Baudraye. She would probably have favored him, had he not been made prefect and left the city. [The Muse of the Department.]

CHARGEBOEUF (De), secretary of attorney-general Granville at Paris in 1830; then a young man. Entrusted by the magistrate with the details of Lucien de Rubempre's funeral, which was carried through in such a way as to make one believe that he had died a free man and in his own home, on quai Malaquais. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]

CHARGEGRAIN (Louis), inn-keeper of Littray, Normandy. He had dealings with the brigands and was arrested in the suit of the Chauffeurs of Mortagne, in 1809, but acquitted. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CHARLES, first name of a rather indifferent young painter, who in 1819 boarded at the Vauquer pension. A tutor at college and a Museum attache; very jocular; given to personal witticisms, which were often aimed at Goriot. [Father Goriot.]

CHARLES, a young prig who was killed in a duel of small arms with Raphael de Valentin at Aix, Savoy, in 1831. Charles had boasted of having received the t.i.tle of "Bachelor of shooting" from Lepage at Paris, and that of doctor from Lozes the "King of foils." [The Magic Skin.]

CHARLES, _valet de chambre_ of M. d'Aiglemont at Paris in 1823. The marquis complained of his servant's carelessness. [A Woman of Thirty.]

CHARLES, footman to Comte de Montcornet at Aigues, Burgundy, in 1823.

Through no good motive he paid court to Catherine Tonsard, being encouraged in his gallantries by Fourchon the girl's maternal grandfather, who desired to have a spy in the chateau. In the peasants' struggle against the people of Aigues, Charles usually sided with the peasants: "Sprung from the people, their livery remained upon him." [The Peasantry.]

CHARLOTTE, a great lady, a d.u.c.h.ess, and a widow without children. She was loved by Marsay then only sixteen and some six years younger than she. She deceived him and he resented by procuring her a rival. She died young of consumption. Her husband was a statesman. [Another Study of Woman.]

CHARLOTTE (Madame), name a.s.sumed by Mme. Chardon, in 1821 at Angouleme, when obliged to make a living as a nurse. [Lost Illusions.]

CHATELET (Sixte, Baron du), born in 1776 as plain Sixte Chatelet.

About 1806 he qualified for and later was made baron under the Empire.

His career began with a secretarys.h.i.+p to an Imperial princess. Later he entered the diplomatic corps, and finally, under the Restoration, M. de Barante selected him for director of the indirect taxes at Angouleme. Here he met and married Mme. de Bargeton when she became a widow in 1821. He was the prefect of the Charente. [Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1824 he was count and deputy.

[Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] Chatelet accompanied General Marquis Armand de Montriveau in a perilous and famous excursion into Egypt.

[The Thirteen.]

CHATELET (Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du), born in 1785; cousin by marriage of the Marquise d'Espard; married in 1803 to M. de Bargeton of Angouleme; widow in 1821 and married to Baron Sixte du Chatelet, prefect of the Charente. Temporarily enamored of Lucien de Rubempre, she attached him to her party in a journey to Paris made necessary by provincial slanders and ambition. There she abandoned her youthful lover at the instigation of Chatelet and of Mme. d'Espard.

[Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1824, Mme.

du Chatelet attended Mme. Rabourdin's evening reception. [The Government Clerks.] Under the direction of Abbe Niolant (or Niollant), Madame du Chatelet, orphaned of her mother, had been reared a little too boyishly at l'Escarbas, a small paternal estate situated near Barbezieux. [Lost Illusions.]

CHATILLONEST (De), an old soldier; father of Marquise d'Aiglemont. He was hardly reconciled to her marriage with her cousin, the brilliant colonel. [A Woman of Thirty.] The device of the house of Chatillonest (or Chastillonest) was: _Fulgens, sequar_ ("s.h.i.+ning, I follow thee").

Jean Butscha had put this device beneath a star on his seal. [Modest Mignon.]

CHAUDET (Antoine-Denis), sculptor and painter, born in Paris in 1763, interested in the birth of Joseph Bridau's genius. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]

CHAULIEU (Henri, Duc de), born in 1773; peer of France; one of the gentlemen of the Court of Louis XVIII. and of that of Charles X., princ.i.p.ally in favor under the latter. After having been amba.s.sador from France to Madrid, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of 1830. He had three children: the eldest was the Duc de Rhetore; the second became Duc de Lenoncourt-Givry through his marriage with Madeleine de Mortsauf; the third, a daughter, Armande-Louise-Marie, married Baron de Mac.u.mer and, left a widow, afterwards married the poet Marie Gaston. [Letters of Two Brides.

Modeste Mignon. A Bachelor's Establishment.] The Duc de Chaulieu was on good terms with the Grandlieus and promised them to obtain the t.i.tle of marquis for Lucien de Rubempre, who was aspiring to the hand of their daughter Clotilde. The Duc de Chaulieu resided in Paris in very close relations with these same Grandlieus of the elder branch.

More than once he took particular interest in the family's affairs.

He employed Corentin to clear up the dark side of the life of Clotilde's fiance. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] Some time before this M. de Chaulieu made one of the portentous conclave a.s.sembled to extricate Mme. de Langeais, a relative of the Grandlieus, from a serious predicament. [The Thirteen.]

CHAULIEU (Eleonore, d.u.c.h.esse de), wife of the preceding. She was a friend of M. d'Aubrion and sought to influence him to bring about the marriage of Mlle. d'Aubrion with Charles Grandet. [Eugenie Grandet.]

For a long time she was the mistress of the poet Ca.n.a.lis, several years her junior. She protected him, helping him on in the world, and in public life, but she was very jealous and kept him under strict surveillance. She still retained her hold of him at fifty years. Mme.

de Chaulieu gave her husband the three children designated in the duc's biography. Her hauteur and coquetry subdued most of her maternal sentiments. During the last year of the second Restoration, Eleonore de Chaulieu followed on the way to Normandy, not far from Rosny, a chase almost royal where her sentiments were fully occupied. [Letters of Two Brides.]

CHAULIEU (Armande-Louise-Marie de), daughter of Duc and d.u.c.h.esse de Chaulieu. (See Marie Gaston, Madame.)

CHAUSSARD (The Brothers), inn-keepers at Louvigny, Orne; old game-keepers of the Troisville estate, implicated in a trial known as the "Chauffeurs of Mortagne" in 1809. Chaussard the elder was condemned to twenty years' hard labor, was sent to the galleys, and later was pardoned by the Emperor. Chaussard junior was contumacious, and therefore received sentence of death. Later he was cast into the sea by M. de Boislaurier for having been traitorous to the Chouans. A third Chaussard, enticed into the ranks of the police by Contenson, was a.s.sa.s.sinated in a nocturnal affair. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CHAVONCOURT (De), Besancon gentleman, highly thought of in the town, representing an old parliamentary family. A deputy under Charles X., one of the famous 221 who signed the address to the King on March 18, 1830. He was re-elected under Louis Philippe. Father of three children but possessing a rather slender income. The family of Chavoncourt was acquainted with the Wattevilles. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAVONCOURT (Madame de), wife of the preceding and one of the beauties of Besancon. Born about 1794; mother of three children; managed capably the household with its slender resources. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAVONCOURT (De), born in 1812. Son of M. and Mme. de Chavoncourt of Besancon. College-mate and chum of M. de Vauch.e.l.les. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAVONCOURT (Victoire de), second child and elder daughter of M. and Mme. de Chavoncourt. Born between 1816 and 1817. M. de Vauch.e.l.les desired to wed her in 1834. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAVONCOURT (Sidonie de), third and last child of M. and Mme. de Chavoncourt of Besancon. Born in 1818. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAZELLE, clerk under the Minister of Finance, in Baudoyer's bureau, in 1824. A benedict and wife-led, although wis.h.i.+ng to appear his own master. He argued without ceasing upon subjects and through causes the idlest with Paulmier the bachelor. The one smoked, the other took snuff; this different way of taking tobacco was one of the endless themes between the two. [The Government Clerks.]

CHELIUS, physician of Heidelberg with whom Halpersohn corresponded, during the reign of Louis Philippe. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CHERVIN, a police-corporal at Montegnac near Limoges in 1829. [The Country Parson.]

CHESNEL, or Choisnel, notary at Alencon, time of Louis XVIII. Born in 1753. Old attendant of the house of Gordes, also of the d'Esgrignon family whose property he had protected during the Revolution. A widower, childless, and possessed of a considerable fortune, he had an aristocratic clientele, notably that of Mme. de la Chanterie. On every hand he received that attention which his good points merited. M. du Bousquier held him in profound hatred, blaming him with the refusal which Mlle. d'Esgrignon had made of Du Bousquier's proffered hand in marriage, and another check of the same nature which he experienced at first from Mlle. Cormon. By a dexterous move in 1824 Chesnel succeeded in rescuing Victurnien d'Esgrignon, though guilty, from the Court of a.s.sizes. The old notary succ.u.mbed soon after this event. [The Seamy Side of History. Jealousies of a Country Town.]

CHESSEL (De), owner of the chateau and estate of Frapesle near Sache in Touraine. Friend of the Vandenesses; he introduced their son Felix to his neighbors, the Mortsaufs. The son of a manufacturer named Durand who became very rich during the Revolution, but whose plebeian name he had entirely dropped; instead he adopted that of his wife, the only heiress of the Chessels, an old parliamentary family. M. de Chessel was director-general and twice deputy. He received the t.i.tle of count under Louis XVIII. [The Lily of the Valley.]

CHESSEL (Madame de), wife of the preceding. She made up elaborate toilettes. [The Lily of the Valley.] In 1824 she frequented Mme.

Rabourdin's Paris home. [The Government Clerks.]

CHEVREL (Monsieur and Madame), founders of the house of the "Cat and Racket," rue Saint-Denis, at the close of the eighteenth century.

Father and mother of Mme. Guillaume, whose husband succeeded to the management of the firm. [At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.]