Repertory of The Comedie Humaine Part 9

CARNOT (Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite), born at Nolay--Cote-d'Or--in 1753; died in 1823. In June, 1800, while Minister of War, he was present in company with Talleyrand, Fouche and Sieyes, at a council held at the home of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, rue du Bac, when the overthrow of First Consul Bonaparte was discussed. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

CAROLINE (Mademoiselle), governess, during the Empire, of the four children of M. and Mme. de Vandenesse. "She was a terror." [The Lily of the Valley.]

CAROLINE, chambermaid of the Marquis de Listomere, in 1827-1828, on rue Saint-Dominique-Saint-Germain, Paris, when the marquis received a letter from Eugene de Rastignac intended for Delphine de Nucingen. [A Study of Woman.]

CAROLINE, servant of the Thuilliers in 1840. [The Middle Cla.s.ses.]

CARON, lawyer, in charge of the affairs of Mlle. Gamard at Tours in 1826. He acted against Abbe Francois Birotteau. [The Vicar of Tours.]

CARPENTIER, formerly captain in the Imperial Army, retired at Issoudun during the Restoration. He had a position in the mayor's office. He was allied by marriage to one of the strongest families of the city, the Borniche-Hereaus. He was an intimate friend of the artillery captain, Mignonnet, sharing with him his aversion for Commandant Maxence Gilet. Carpentier and Mignonnet were seconds of Philippe Bridau in his duel with the chief of the "Knights of Idlesse." [A Bachelor's Establishment.]

CARPI (Benedetto), jailer of a Venetian prison, where Facino Cane was confined between the years 1760 and 1770. Bribed by the prisoner, he fled with him, carrying a portion of the hidden treasure of the Republic. But he perished soon after, by drowning, while trying to cross the sea. [Facino Cane.]

CARTHAGENOVA, a superb ba.s.so of the Fenice theatre at Venice. In 1820 he sang the part of Moses in Rossini's opera, with Genovese and La Tinti. [Ma.s.similla Doni.]

CARTIER, gardener in the Montparna.s.se quarter, Paris, during the reign of Louis Philippe. In 1838 he supplied flowers to M. Bernard--Baron de Bourlac--for his daughter Vanda. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CARTIER (Madame), wife of the preceding; vender of milk, eggs and vegetables to Mme. Vauthier, landlady of a miserable boarding-house on Boulevard Montparna.s.se, and also to M. Bernard, lessee of real estate.

[The Seamy Side of History.]

CASA-REAL (Duc de), younger brother of Mme. Balthazar Claes; related to the Evangelistas of Bordeaux; of an ill.u.s.trious family under the Spanish monarchy; his sister had renounced the paternal succession in order to procure for him a marriage worthy of a house so n.o.ble. He died young, in 1805, leaving to Mme. Claes, a considerable fortune in money. [The Quest of the Absolute. A Marriage Settlement.]

CASTAGNOULD, mate of the "Mignon," a pretty, hundred-ton vessel owned by Charles Mignon, the captain. In this he made several important and prosperous voyages, from 1826 to 1829. Castagnould was a Provencal and an old servant of the Mignon family. [Modeste Mignon.]

CASTANIER (Rodolphe), retired chief of squadron in the dragoons, under the Empire. Cas.h.i.+er of Baron de Nucingen during the Restoration. Wore the decoration of the Legion of Honor. He maintained Mme. de la Garde--Aquilina--and on her account, in 1821, he counterfeited the banker's name on a letter of credit for a considerable amount. John Melmoth, an Englishman, got him out of this sc.r.a.pe by exchanging his own individuality for that of the old officer. Castanier was thus all-powerful, but becoming promptly at outs with the proceeding, he adopted the same tactics of exchange, transferring his power to a financier named Claparon. Castanier was a Southerner. He had seen service from sixteen till nearly forty. [Melmoth Reconciled.]

CASTANIER (Madame), wife of the preceding, married during the first Empire. Her family--that of the bourgeoisie of Nancy--fooled Castanier about the size of her dowry and her "expectations." Mme. Castanier was honest, ugly and sour-tempered. She was separated from her husband, to his relief, and for several years previous to 1821 lived in the suburbs of Strasbourg. [Melmoth Reconciled.]

CASTERAN (De), a very ancient aristocracy of Normandy; related to William the Conqueror; allied with the Verneuils, the Esgrignons and the Troisvilles. The name is p.r.o.nounced "Cateran." A Demoiselle Blanche de Casteran was the mother of Mlle. de Verneuil, and died Abbess of Notre-Dame de Seez. [The Chouans.] In 1807 Mme. de la Chanterie, then a widow, was hospitably received in Normandy by the Casterans. [The Seamy Side of History.] In 1822 a venerable couple, Marquis and Marquise de Casteran visited the drawing-room of Marquis d'Esgrignon at Alencon. [Jealousies of a Country Town.] The Marquise de Rochefide, nee Beatrix Maximilienne-Rose de Casteran, was the younger daughter of a Marquis de Casteran who wished to marry off both his daughters without dowries, and thus save his entire fortune for his son, the Comte de Casteran. [Beatrix.] A Comte de Casteran, son-in-law of the Marquis of Troisville, relative of Mme. de Montcornet, was prefect of a department of Burgundy between 1820 and 1825. [The Peasantry.]

CATANEO (Duke), n.o.ble Sicilian, born in 1773; first husband of Ma.s.similla Doni. Physically ruined by early debaucheries, he was a husband only in name, living only by and through the influence of music. Very wealthy, he had educated Clara Tinti, discovered by him when still a child and a simple tavern servant. The young girl became, thanks to him, the celebrated prima donna of the Fenice theatre, at Venice in 1820. The wonderful tenor Genovese, of the same theatre, was also a protege of Duke Cataneo, who paid him a high salary to sing only with La Tinti. The Duke Cataneo cut a sorry figure. [Ma.s.similla Doni.]

CATANEO (d.u.c.h.ess), nee Ma.s.similla Doni, wife of the preceding; married later to Emilio Memmi, Prince de Varese. (See Princesse de Varese.)

CATHERINE, an old woman in the service of M. and Mme. Saillard, in 1824. [The Government Clerks.]

CATHERINE, chambermaid and foster sister of Laurence de Cinq-Cygne in 1803. A handsome girl of nineteen. According to Gothard, Catherine was in all her mistress' secrets and furthered all her schemes. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

CAVALIER, Fendant's partner; both were book-collectors, publishers and venders in Paris, on rue Serpente in 1821. Cavalier traveled for the house, whose firm name appeared as "Fendant and Cavalier." The two a.s.sociates failed shortly after having published, without success, the famous romance of Lucien de Rubempre, "The Archer of Charles IX.,"

which t.i.tle they had changed for one more fantastic. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1838, a firm of Cavalier published "The Spirit of Modern Law" by Baron Bourlac, sharing the profits with the author. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CAYRON, of Languedoc, a vender of parasols, umbrellas and canes, on rue Saint-Honore in a house adjacent to that inhabited by Birotteau the perfumer in 1818. With the consent of the landlord, Molineux, Cayron sublet two apartments over his shop to his neighbor. He fared badly in business, suddenly disappearing a short time after the grand ball given by Birotteau. Cayron admired Birotteau. [Cesar Birotteau.]

CELESTIN, _valet de chambre_ of Lucien de Rubempre, on the Malaquais quai, in the closing years of the reign of Charles X. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]

CERIZET, orphan from the Foundling Hospital, Paris; born in 1802; an apprentice of the celebrated printers Didot, at whose office he was noticed by David Sechard, who took him to Angouleme and employed him in his own shop, where Cerizet performed triple duties of form-maker, compositor and proof-reader. Presently he betrayed his master, and by leaguing with the Cointet Brothers, rivals of David Sechard, he obtained possession of his property. [Lost Illusions.] Following this he was an actor in the provinces; managed a Liberal paper during the Restoration; was sub-prefect at the beginning of the reign of Louis Philippe; and finally was a "man of business." In the latter capacity he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for swindling. After business partners.h.i.+p with Georges d'Estourny, and later with Claparon, he was stranded and reduced to transcribing for a justice of the peace in the quartier Saint-Jacques. At the same time he began lending money on short time, and by speculating with the poorer cla.s.s he acquired a certain competence. Although thoroughly debauched, Cerizet married Olympe Cardinal about 1840. At this time he was implicated in the intrigues of Theodose de la Peyrade and in the interests of Jerome Thuillier. Becoming possessed of a note of Maxime de Trailles in 1833, he succeeded by Scapinal tactics in obtaining face value of the paper.

[A Man of Business. Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. The Middle Cla.s.ses.]

CERIZET (Olympe Cardinal, Madame), wife of foregoing; born about 1824; daughter of Mme. Cardinal the fish-dealer. Actress at the Bobino, Luxembourg, then at the Folies-Dramatiques, where she made her debut in "The Telegraph of Love." At first she was intimate with the first comedian. Afterwards she had Julien Minard for lover. From the father of the latter she received thirty thousand francs to renounce her son.

This money she used as a dowry and it aided in consummating her marriage with Cerizet. [The Middle Cla.s.ses.]

CESARINE, laundry girl at Alencon. Mistress of the Chevalier de Valois, and mother of a child that was attributed to the old aristocrat. It was also said in the town, in 1816, that he had married Cesarine clandestinely. These rumors greatly annoyed the chevalier, since he had hoped at this time to wed Mlle. Cormon. Cesarine, the sole legatee of her lover, received an income of only six hundred livres. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]

CESARINE, dancer at the Opera de Paris in 1822; an acquaintance of Philippe Bridau, who at one time thought of breaking off with her on account of his uncle Rouget at Issoudun. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]

CHABERT (Hyacinthe), Count, grand officer of the Legion of Honor, colonel of a cavalry regiment. Left for dead on the battlefield of Eylau (February 7-8, 1807). He was healed at Heilsberg, then locked up in an insane asylum at Stuttgart. Returning to France after the downfall of the Empire, he lived, in 1818, in straitened circ.u.mstances, with the herdsman Vergniaud, an old lieutenant of his regiment, on rue du Pet.i.t-Banquier, Paris. After having sought without arousing scandal to make good his rights with Rose Chapotel, his wife, now married to Count Ferraud, he sank again into poverty and was convicted of vagrancy. He ended his days at the Hospital de Bicetre; they had begun at the Foundling Hospital. [Colonel Chabert.]

CHABERT (Madame), nee Rose Chapotel. (See Ferraud, Comtesse.)

CHABOISSEAU, an old bookseller, book-lender, something of a usurer, a millionaire living in 1821-1822 on quai Saint-Michel, where he discussed a business deal with Lucien de Rubembre, who had been piloted there by Lousteau. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] He was a friend of Gobseck and of Gigonnet and with them he frequented, in 1824, the Cafe Themis. [The Government Clerks.] During the reign of Louis Philippe he had dealings with the Cerizet-Claparon Company. [A Man of Business.]

CHAFFAROUX, building-contractor, one of Cesar Birotteau's creditors [Cesar Birotteau]; uncle of Claudine Chaffaroux who became Mme. du Bruel. Rich and a bachelor, he showered much affection upon his niece; she had helped him to launch into business. He died in the second half of the reign of Louis Philippe, leaving an income of forty thousand francs to the former _danseuse_. [A Prince of Bohemia.] In 1840 he did some work on an unfinished house in the suburbs of the Madeleine, purchased by the Thuilliers. [The Middle Cla.s.ses.]

CHAMAROLLES (Mesdemoiselles), conducted a boarding-school for young ladies at Bourges, at the beginning of the century. This school enjoyed a great reputation in the department. Here was educated Anna Grosetete, who later married the third son of Comte de Fontaine; also Dinah Piedefer who became Mme. de la Baudray. [The Muse of the Department.]

CHAMPAGNAC, charman of Limoges, a widower, native of Auvergne. In 1797 Jerome-Baptiste Sauviat married Champagnac's daughter, who was at least thirty. [The Country Parson.]

CHAMPIGNELLES (De), an ill.u.s.trious Norman family. In 1822 a Marquis de Champignelles was the head of the leading house of the country at Bayeux. Through marriage this family was allied with the Navarreins, the Blamont-Chauvries, and the Beauseants. Marquis de Champignelles introduced Gaston de Nueil to Mme. de Beauseant's home. [The Deserted Woman.] A M. de Champignelles presented Mme. de la Chanterie to Louis XVIII., at the beginning of the Restoration. The Baronne de la Chanterie was formerly a Champignelles. [The Seamy Side of History.]

CHAMPION (Maurice), a young boy of Montegnac, Haute-Vienne, son of the postmaster of that commune; employed as stable-boy at Mme. Graslin's, time of Louis Philippe. [The Country Parson.]

CHAMPLAIN (Pierre), vine-dresser, a neighbor of the crazy Margaritis, at Vouvray in 1831. [Gaudissart the Great.]

CHAMPY (Madame de), name given to Esther Gobseck.

CHANDOUR (Stanislas de), born in 1781; one of the habitues of the Bargeton's drawing-room at Angouleme, and the "beau" of that society.

In 1821 he was decorated. He obtained some success with the ladies by his sarcastic pleasantries in the fas.h.i.+on of the eighteenth century.

Having spread about town a slander relating to Mme. de Bargeton and Lucien de Rubempre, he was challenged by her husband and was wounded in the neck by a bullet, which wound brought on him a kind of chronic twist of the neck. [Lost Illusions.]

CHANDOUR (Amelie de), wife of the preceding; charming conversationalist, but troubled with an unacknowledged asthma. In Angouleme she posed as the antagonist of her friend, Mme. de Bargeton.

[Lost Illusions.]

CHANOR, partner of Florent, both being workers and dealers in bronze, rue des Tournelles, Paris, time of Louis Philippe. Wenceslas Steinbock was at first an apprentice and afterwards an employe of the firm.

[Cousin Betty.] In 1845, Frederic Brunner obtained a watch-chain and a cane-k.n.o.b from the firm of Florent & Chanor. [Cousin Pons.]

CHANTONNIT, mayor of Riceys, near Besancon, between 1830 and 1840. He was a native of Neufchatel, Switzerland, and a Republican. He was involved in a lawsuit with the Wattevilles. Albert Savarus pleaded for them against Chantonnit. [Albert Savarus.]

CHAPELOUD (Abbe), canon of the Church of Saint-Gatien at Tours.

Intimate friend of the Abbe Birotteau, to whom he bequeathed on his death-bed, in 1824, a set of furniture and a library of considerable value which had been ardently coveted by the naive priest. [The Vicar of Tours.]

CHAPERON (Abbe), Cure of Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, after the re-establishment of religious wors.h.i.+p following the Revolution. Born in 1755, died in 1841, in that city. He was a friend of Dr. Minoret and helped educate Ursule Mirouet, a niece of the physician. He was nicknamed "the Fenelon of Gatinais." His successor was the cure of Saint-Lange, the priest who tried to give religious consolation to Mme. d'Aiglemont, a prey to despair. [Ursule Mirouet.]

CHAPOTEL (Rose), family name of Mme. Chabert, who afterwards became Comtesse Ferraud, which name see.

CHAPOULOT (Monsieur and Madame), formerly lace-dealers of rue Saint-Denis in 1845. Tenants of the house, rue de Normandie, where lived Pons and Schmucke. One evening, when M. and Mme. Chapoulot accompanied by their daughter Victorine were returning from the Theatre de l'Ambigu-Comique, they met Heloise Brisetout on the landing, and a little conjugal scene resulted. [Cousin Pons.]

CHAPUZOT (Monsieur and Madame), porters of Marguerite Turquet, known as Malaga, rue des Fosses-du-Temple at Paris in 1836; afterwards her servants and her confidants when she was maintained by Thaddee Paz.

[The Imaginary Mistress.]