of Berthe Grandmorin, whom he somewhat resembled in character. He was a
little man, dry and yellow, who had been a judge at the Court of
Appeal from the age of thirty-six; he had been decorated, thanks to the
influence of his father-in-law, and to the services which his father had
rendered on the High Commissions at the time of the _Coup d’Etat_. He
was disliked by Denizet, the examining magistrate, in whose eyes he
represented the class of judicial functionary who attained position
by wealth and influence. Lachesnaye was incensed at the will of his
father-in-law, Grandmorin, who left fully half of his fortune to women
of all classes, most of them unknown to his family. La Bete Humaine.
LACHESNAYE (MADAME DE), wife of the preceding. See Berthe Grandmorin. La
Bete Humaine.
LACOUR (ZEPHYRIN), a young lad from the same village as Rosalie, whose
sweetheart he was. He was drawn in the conscription and sent to Paris,
where, by permission of Madame Grandjean, he came to see Rosalie, her
maid, every Sunday. He was a good-hearted lad, whose ambition was to get
out of the army, marry Rosalie, and return to his native village. Une
Page d’Amour.
LADICOURT (BARONNE DE), a lady who lived at Vouziers. Captain Beaudoin
lunched at her house on 26th August, 1870, at the hour when the Seventh
Army Corps was taking up its position for battle. La Debacle.
LADRICOURT (COMTE DE), father of the Baroness Sandorff. He was a
confirmed gambler, and a man of brutal manners. He died of apoplexy,
completely ruined, after a series of disgraceful failures. L’Argent.
LA FALOISE (HECTOR DE), a youth who came from the country to Paris in
order to complete his education. Thanks to the death of an uncle, he
was very rich, and his chief ambition was to be in everything ultra
Parisian. He posed as a man who had experienced everything, and who
no longer thought anything worthy of being taken seriously. Introduced
behind the scenes of the Theatre des Varietes by his cousin Fauchery,
he met Nana, who did him the honour of ruining him without much loss of
time. When his money was done, he returned to the country in the hope of
marrying a distant relation who was both ugly and pious. Nana.
LAFOUASSE, a tavern-keeper in the neighbourhood of Plassans, between the
old demesne of Paradou and the village of Artaud. He was treated by
Dr. Pascal Rougon for ataxy, but died after a hypodermic injection of a
serum with which the doctor was experimenting. Le Docteur Pascal.
LAGARDE (EDMOND), a sergeant in the 6th Regiment of the line. At the
most his age was twenty-three, but he did not appear more than eighteen.
He took part in the battle of Sedan, and was wounded in the left arm,
which was broken by a bullet. His father, who was a shopkeeper in Paris,
was a customer of Delaherche, and he was removed to the house of the
manufacturer, where he was treated as one of the family. A handsome lad,
he aroused the pity of Gilberte Delaherche, whose lover he became. La
Debacle.
LAGRIFOUL (MARQUIS DE), the Legitimist Deputy for Plassans. His election
came as a severe blow to the Government, and to M. Pequeur des Saulaies,
the sub-prefect of Plassans, who was held responsible for it. In
reality, the election had been largely influenced by the clergy,
combined with the old nobility. It was to counteract this influence that
the Government sent Abbe Faujas to Plassans. The Marquis being a man
of poor abilities, whose public appearances were disappointing,
his overthrow was rendered easier and more complete. La Conquete de
Plassans.
LA JOLIE DAME, a customer at Octave Mouret’s shop, _Au Bonheur des
Dames_. She was a favourite with all the salesmen, and as no one knew
her name she was always referred to as “The Pretty Lady.” Au Bonheur des
Dames.
LALUBIE, teacher of the sixth form at the college of Plassans. He found
one day his room transformed into a _chapelle ardente_, thanks to his
pupils led by Pouillard. After he recovered from his fright he set
a heavy punishment for the whole class. He married the daughter of
Galissard, the haberdasher at Plassans. L’Oeuvre.
LAMBERTHIER, an assistant at the _Halles Centrales_. Josephine Dejoie
was at one time cook in his house. L’Argent.
LAMBERTHON (M. DE), a Deputy who discussed with M. La Rouquette the
wisdom of the Emperor conceding the privilege of presenting an address
to the Crown. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LAMBOURDIEU, a shopkeeper at Cloyes, who sold Parisian novelties in all
the villages within a radius of five or six miles. La Terre.
LANDOIS (AUGUSTE), assistant in Quenu’s business. He came to Paris
from Troyes to perfect himself in his trade, and having little money,
intended to set up for himself as a pork-butcher. He was engaged to
his cousin Augustine Landois, who was also employed by Quenu. He took a
dislike to Florent, and wrote an anonymous letter denouncing him to the
Prefect of Police. Le Ventre de Paris.
LANDOIS (AUGUSTINE) came to Quenu’s establishment to learn shop
management. She was engaged to her cousin Auguste Landois. Le Ventre de
Paris.
LANGLADE (DE), Prefect of Deux-Sevres. He was accused of dissolute
conduct, and was superseded in his office by Du Poizat. Son Excellence
Eugene Rougon.
LANTIER (AUGUSTE), the lover of Gervaise Macquart; he accompanied her
to Paris, when she left home with their two children. La Fortune des
Rougon.
Soon after their arrival in Paris, he deserted Gervaise for a girl named
Adele, with whom he lived for several years, during which he appears to
have done little work. After Adele left him he renewed friendship with
Gervaise and Coupeau, her husband, and induced them to take him into
their home as a lodger. Once established there, he paid nothing for his
support, and soon Gervaise was supporting him as well as her husband,
who by this time was doing nothing. Gervaise, having become disgusted
with her husband’s intemperance, resumed her old relations with Lantier,
and these continued till she was financially ruined, and her shop
was taken over by Virginie Poisson. Lantier, having transferred his
affections to Virginie, was allowed to retain his old position as
lodger, and soon resumed his former tactics of paying no rent and living
off his landlord. In course of time he succeeded in eating the Poissons’
stock of sweetmeats and bringing them to ruin, and then began to look
out for some one else to support him. L’Assommoir.
LANTIER (CLAUDE), son of Gervaise Macquart and Auguste Lantier, was born
at Plassans in 1842. He was brought up by his paternal grandmother, but
when she died, in 1850, he was taken to Paris by his parents. La Fortune
des Rougon.
After Lantier’s desertion of Gervaise, and her subsequent marriage to
Coupeau, Claude continued to reside with his mother, but a few years
later an old gentleman of Plassans, a lover of pictures, who had been
greatly struck by some daubs done by the child, offered to pay for his
education. The offer was accepted, and Claude returned to Plassans.
L’Assommoir.
Some years later his benefactor died, leaving him an income of a
thousand francs a year, enough to prevent him dying of hunger in the
artistic career which he had decided to follow. Having come to Paris
with an intense hatred of romanticism, he was struck by the artistic
possibilities of the _Halles Centrales_, the great provision markets
of Paris, which he haunted in search of subjects for his brush. He was
induced by Florent to attend one of the republican meetings in Lebigre’s
cafe, but was not in sympathy with the movement, and declined to take
part in it. He occasionally visited his aunt, Madame Lisa Quenu, but
revolted against her complete indifference to art, and her middle-class
selfishness. Le Ventre de Paris.
He was appointed a member of the family council which nominally had
charge of Pauline Quenu’s fortune. La Joie de Vivre.
He established himself in a studio near the roof of an old house close
to the river, and there lived the life of a Bohemian, with an absolute
disdain for everything not related to art. He revolted against the
canons of the schools, and tried to achieve truth in painting by
adopting an exaggerated realism. His hopes became centred in a large
painting, which he called _Plein Air_, intended for exhibition in the
_Salon_. The picture was rejected, and when shown at a minor exhibition
was greeted with derision by the public. About this period began his
connection with Christine Hallegrain, with whom he lived for several
years, and ultimately married. They took up house at Bennecourt in an
old cottage, and there some years passed happily enough, a son
named Jacques Louis being born in 1860. But Claude gradually became
discontented, and the family returned to Paris, where there began a long
struggle against poverty, a struggle beginning in high anticipation and
ending in despair. After a long search for a subject for a picture which
was to be his masterpiece, Claude selected a stretch of the river near
Notre Dame, and into this he intended to put all those new theories
of art with which he hoped to revolutionize the world. Everything was
sacrificed to this picture; the small fortune left him by his early
benefactor was gradually realized to provide food, and when it was
exhausted there was little but starvation for the artist and his
dependants. The work was begun in a frenzy of genius, but was constantly
interrupted by doubts and indecision; it became a monomania, and under
its influence Claude’s mind gradually became unhinged; the family virus
was at last showing itself. Christine was wholly taken up with her
husband, and their child died of an illness due greatly to neglect. By
this time Claude was incapable of any real feeling save for art, and
the death of his child only served to give him a subject for a picture.
Having torn himself away from his intended masterpiece for a time, he
painted _L’Enfant Mort_, which was exhibited in the _Salon_, and met
with an even more contemptuous reception from the public than his _Plein
Air_. Christine used all her influence to prevent her husband from
returning to his task, but his brain had become obsessed by the great
idea, which his hand proved powerless to execute as his mind became
increasingly deranged. At length, in a moment of delirium, he hanged
himself in front of the picture which had proved the means of his
undoing. His genius was incomplete, and he was unable to carry out his
own theories, but they were adopted by other and less able successors
with better results. He was buried in the cemetery of Cayenne at
Saint-Ouen. L’Oeuvre.
LANTIER (MADAME CHRISTINE), wife of the preceding. See Christine
Hallegrain. L’Oeuvre.
LANTIER (ETIENNE), the youngest son of Auguste Lantier and Gervaise
Macquart, was born in 1846, and accompanied his parents to Paris in
1850. La Fortune des Rougon.
After his mother had been married to Coupeau for some time, and had
started her laundry, Etienne was found somewhat in the way, and on the
suggestion of Goujet was sent to work in the rivet-making factory where
he himself was employed. Later the boy was sent to Lille, where he was
apprenticed to an old master of Goujet, an engineer in that town. When
Gervaise had fallen into poverty, Etienne, who was by that time a
stoker on an engine, was able to send his mother a five-franc piece
occasionally. L’Assommoir.
In a moment of passion Etienne struck his chief, and was at once
dismissed from his employment. An industrial crisis existed at the time,
and, finding it impossible to get work, he tramped from place to place
till eventually he arrived at Montsou, worn out with fatigue and want.
At the Voreux pit he chanced to get work in a gang led by Maheu, and
went underground for the first time. The work was hard and distasteful
to him, but he was unwilling to give it up, and was perhaps influenced
by the bright eyes of Catherine Maheu, who toiled alongside him. He
became more and more impressed with the sense of the hardships of
the miners’ lives, and his mind was also influenced by Souvarine, a
confessed anarchist, beside whom he lodged. Gradually Etienne began to
indoctrinate his companions with a spirit of revolt, and when the great
strike broke out he became the leader. He did not, however, accept the
extreme doctrines of Souvarine, and endeavoured to dissuade the strikers
from doing damage to property. In this he was not altogether successful,
and his influence became considerably lessened, until he was blamed by
his comrades for the hardships they had to endure during the strike,
and for its ultimate collapse. He returned to work, and in the terrible
catastrophe brought about by Souvarine he was cut off at the bottom of
the pit with Chaval and Catherine Maheu. He had always loved Catherine,
and notwithstanding their peril, an old jealousy revived, and in a
struggle with Chaval, Etienne killed him. Days elapsed before rescue
came, and by that time Catherine was dead. After six weeks in hospital,
Etienne left for Paris. Germinal.
At Paris, later on, he took part in the Communist rising, and was
condemned to death. He was respited, and transported to Noumea, where he
married, and became father of a little girl. Le Docteur Pascal.
LANTIER (JACQUES), the second son of Gervaise Macquart and Auguste
Lantier, was born at Plassans in 1844. He was six years old when his
parents went to Paris with his brothers, Claude and Etienne, leaving him
with his godmother, Aunt Phasie, who sent him to the School of Arts
and Crafts. After two years passed on the Orleans Railway, he became an
engineer of the first-class on the Western Railway. At twenty-six he
was a tall, handsome man, with dark hair and a clear complexion. From
childhood he had suffered from a complaint which the doctors did not
understand, a pain in the head, behind the ears, accompanied by fever
and an intense melancholy, which tempted him to hide like a suffering
animal. When about sixteen years of age he became affected by a curious
form of insanity, the desire to murder any woman of whom he became fond.
“On each occasion it seemed like a sudden outburst of blind rage, an
ever-recurring thirst to avenge some very ancient offence, the exact
recollection of which escaped him. Did it date from so far back, from
the harm women had done to his race, from the rancour laid up from male
to male since the first deceptions in the depths of the caverns?” Even
with his cousin Flore, who loved him from childhood, the same terrible
instinct arose, and could only be stilled by flight.
By chance, Jacques was a momentary witness of the murder of President
Grandmorin, and when suspicion fell upon the Roubauds he came to be
of opinion that it was well-founded, a belief which was confirmed by a
subsequent confession to him by Severine. This avowal by Severine placed
her in his mind in a different category from all other woman; she had
killed, and was a person sacred and apart, a woman he could love without
his lust for blood being evoked. At the request of Severine, Jacques
promised to kill Roubaud, her husband, whom she had come to hate; but,
though all the preparations were made, it was Severine herself whom he
killed, in an accession of that homicidal rage which he imagined he
had conquered. He escaped all suspicion, and calmly allowed Roubaud and
Cabuche to be punished for the crime. In order to see whether the murder
of Severine had cured him of his blood lust, he made love to Philomene
Sauvagnat, thereby arousing the jealousy of her lover, Pecqueux, who was
stoker on the engine driven by Lantier. A quarrel between the two men
on the footplate of the engine resulted in both of them falling off, and
being cut in pieces beneath the wheels. La Bete Humaine.
LANTIER (JACQUES LOUIS), born 1860, was the son of Claude Lantier and
Christine Hallegrain. He was allowed to grow up wild at Bennecourt until
he was two and a half years old, when his parents removed to Paris,
taking him with them. Life in the city did not agree with the child, who
to make matters worse was much neglected, his mother being wholly taken
up with her lover, and his father with art. He grew up puny, serious
like a little man; at five years his head had grown quite out of
proportion to his height, but as his skull increased in size his
intelligence diminished. His head alone continued to grow, verging on
cretinism, until, in 1869, the unfortunate child died of some obscure
form of malnutrition. L’Oeuvre.
LAPOULLE, a soldier in the 106th Regiment of the line, in the squad of
Corporal Jean Macquart. He came from the Marshes of Sologne, and was so
ignorant that when he joined the regiment he asked to be shown the
King. He had great strength, and consequently all the heavy work of his
company was assigned to him. After the battle of Sedan, he was one of
the prisoners on the Isle d’Iges, where driven frantic by famine, and
instigated by Chouteau, he killed Pache, who had hidden some bread from
his companions. The following night he attempted to escape by swimming
the Meuse, but was killed by a bullet fired by a Prussian sentinel. La
Debacle.
LAQUERRIERE (FLORENT), an unfortunate man who died of yellow fever in
Dutch Guiana in the arms of Florent. It was by the aid of his papers
that Florent, who had escaped from Cayenne, was able to return to
France, and to evade the notice of the police. Le Ventre de Paris.
LA ROUQUETTE (M.), a member of the Chamber of Deputies. His sister,
Madame de Llorentz, was one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress
Eugenie. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LA ROUQUETTE (MADEMOISELLE DE). See Madame de Llorentz.
LARSONNEAU, formerly a clerk at the Hotel de Ville along with Aristide
Saccard; he was dismissed for prying into the prefet’s private drawers.
He acted for Saccard in many of the shady transactions in which he could
not himself appear, and being entirely unscrupulous ultimately
amassed such a sum of money that he was able to start a small banking
establishment. La Curee.
He became immensely rich. It was through him that Busch came to know the
past life of Aristide Saccard. L’Argent.
LAURE, an actress for whom Joncquier had an infatuation. Nana.
LAURE, a performer in a singing-hall at Montmartre. Hutin, one of Octave
Mouret’s salesmen, and his friend Lienard applauded her performance so
noisily that the police threatened to intervene. Au Bonheur des Dames.
LAURENT, a peasant in easy circumstances who lived near Artaud. Pere
Bambousse was anxious to have him as son-in-law. La Faute de l’Abbe
Mouret.
LAURENT, the recorder at the court of Rouen who assisted Denizet at the
inquiry into the murder of Grandmorin. He was skilful in selecting the
essential parts of evidence, so as not to put down anything useless. La
Bete Humaine.
LAURENT, a gardener at Bazeilles. He was a man of thirty years of age
who had recently lost his mother and his wife, who had both died of the
same fever. During the battle of 1st September, 1870, he took part in
the defence of Weiss’s house, and having only his own body to care for,
he determined to sell it dearly, and at each shot to bring down one of
the enemy. He continued firing till his ammunition was exhausted,
when he was taken prisoner by the Prussians, who finding that he was a
civilian removed him, along with Weiss, for instant execution. In the
face of the firing party he retained all his calmness, standing with his
hands in his pockets till the fatal shots were fired. La Debacle.
LAUWERENS (DE), a well-known financier who was both wealthy and
avaricious. He went the length of refusing to pay his wife’s milliner’s
bill. La Curee.
LAUWERENS (MADAME DE), wife of the preceding. Notwithstanding certain
well-authenticated scandals, she managed to keep her high position in
society. She was a friend of Renee Saccard. La Curee.
LAVIGNIERE, was one of the auditors at the Universal Bank, Rousseau
being the other. Their duties were delicate, and in the circumstances
useless. Lavigniere was disposed to approve of everything, being
consumed with a desire to become a member of the board later on.
L’Argent.
LA VIGNIERE (CHEVALIER DE), grandfather of Madame Chanteau. La Joie de
Vivre.
LA VIGNIERE (EUGENIE DE). See Madame Chanteau.
LA VILLARDIERE (DE), deputy for the department of the Cote d’Or. He was
a friend of La Rouquette. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LEA, a customer at the Cafe Anglais. Nana.
LEBEAU, a man of considerable influence in the Second Empire, whom
Clorinde Balbi was able to gain over to the cause of Eugene Rougon. Son
Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LEBLEU, the cashier at Havre railway station. La Bete Humaine.
LEBLEU (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a woman of forty-five,
so stout that she was in constant danger of choking. Between her and
Severine Roubaud there was ill-feeling of long standing, arising from
a question of their houses in the Station, the Lebleus occupying that
which should by rights have belonged to the Roubauds, who on account of
the generosity of their predecessor were relegated to rooms little more
cheerful than a prison. She had a mania for spying upon her neighbours,
and in the end caused so much irritation, that she was ordered to
exchange houses with the Roubauds, thus letting them have the one to
which they were entitled. The annoyance, and the change to a dismal
house, proved fatal to Madame Lebleu, and she died four months
afterwards. La Bete Humaine.
LEBIGRE, proprietor of the wine shop where Florent and his friends
held their meetings. He was a police spy. Ultimately he married Louise
Mehudin. Le Ventre de Paris.
LEBIGRE (MADAME). See Louise Mehudin.
LEBOUCQ, Counsellor at the Court of Rouen. He was assessor at the trial
of Roubaud and Cabuche. La Bete Humaine.
LEBOUCQ (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a handsome woman, for
whose receptions the barristers of Rouen were beginning to desert those
of Madame Bonnehon, her rival. It was said that to the influence of
Madame Leboucq was largely due the result of the trial of Roubaud, a
result not favourable to the family of President Grandmorin. La Bete
Humaine.
LECOEUR (MADAME), a butter and cheese merchant at the _Halles
Centrales_. She was sister-in-law to Gavard, and had an idea of marrying
him after the death of his wife. He made no advances, however, and she
subsequently regarded him with bitter ill-will. Along with Mlle. Saget,
she took an active share in the gossip which partly led to the arrest of
Florent and Gavard, and wrote an anonymous letter denouncing them to
the police. Accompanied by La Sarriette, her niece, she went to Gavard’s
house after his arrest, and took possession of his money, which they
divided between them. Le Ventre de Paris.
LECOMTE (MADAME), an acquaintance of the Deberles. Une Page d’Amour.
LEFEVRE (MADAME), wife of a manufacturer at Raucourt, whose house was
pillaged by the Prussians after the battle of Beaumont. La Debacle.
LEGOUGEUX, a miner at Joiselle. He was an associate of Pluchart.
Germinal.
LEGRAIN (GENERAL), a deputy at the Corps Legislatif. He was devoted to
the Emperor, and notwithstanding a severe attack of gout, attended at
the Chamber in order to vote the funds for the baptism of the Prince
Imperial. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LEHONGRE (LES), grocers in Rue Neuve de la Goutte-d’Or. L’Assommoir.
LEHUDIER, a child to whom Charvet gave lessons. Le Ventre de Paris.
LELORRAIN, a notary in Rue Sainte Anne. In his office was executed the
deed which established the joint-stock company of the Universal Bank.
L’Argent.
LEMBALLEUSE, a family who lived in a ruined mill near the cathedral
of Beaumont. It consisted of a grandmother, her daughter, and three
granddaughters, all of whom lived by begging. Angelique did all she
could for them, giving them food and even clothes. Le Reve.
LENFANT, the keeper of a dram-shop at Montsou. Germinal.
LENGAIGNE, a dealer in tobacco and tavern-keeper at Rogues. He
cultivated a small piece of land, while his wife weighed tobacco and
looked after the cellar. He also shaved and cut the hair of the village,
a trade learned by him when he was in the army. He professed strong
Republican principles, though he was afraid to express his opinions
too strongly, in case of losing his licence. An old rivalry subsisted
between him and Macqueron, a neighbouring tavern-keeper with whom he was
always on the point of blows. La Terre.
LENGAIGNE (MADAME FLORE), wife of the preceding. She was always
quarrelling with Coelina Macqueron. La Terre.
LENGAIGNE (SUZANNE), daughter of the two preceding. She was apprenticed
to a dressmaker at Chateaudun, but after six months ran off to Paris
where she led a gay life. Her return to her native village clad in
silks caused quite a sensation, of which her parents were very proud. La
Terre.
LENGAIGNE (VICTOR), brother of Suzanne. Before he was drawn in the
conscription he was an awkward youth, but he returned a swaggering
braggart, who could hardly be recognized with his moustache and beard.
La Terre.
LENORE, a racehorse; mother of Frangipane. Nana.
LEON, a lad of about fifteen years of age, apprentice to Quenu. He was
a gentle-looking lad, given to stealing stray bits of ham and sausage,
which he concealed under his pillow and ate during the night. Le Ventre
de Paris.
LEONCE (MADAME), the door-keeper of the house where Gavard lived in the
Rue de la Cossonnerie. She acted also as Gavard’s housekeeper. Le Ventre
de Paris.
LEONIE, an artificial-flower maker employed by Madame Titreville. She
left her trade in order to be married. L’Assommoir.
LEONIE, aunt of Louise Thibaudier. Louise went to her house after
leaving Bonneville, driven away by Pauline Quenu. La Joie de Vivre.
LEPALMEC, a peasant at Plogof, in Brittany. Germinal.
LEQUEU, the schoolmaster at Rogues. His parents were peasants, and he
had an intense hatred of the class from which he had sprung, looking
upon them as little better than barbarians. In politics he had advanced
views, but in consequence of his position he concealed them to a great
extent. Disappointed in the hope which he had long nourished of marrying
Berthe Macqueron, he ended by preaching the doctrines of anarchy. La
Terre.
LERAT (MADAME), nee Coupeau, was a sister of Coupeau and Madame
Lorilleux. She was a widow of thirty-six years of age, and was
forewoman in the manufactory of artificial flowers carried on by Madame
Titreville. The eldest of the Coupeau family, she was “a tall, skinny,
mannish-looking woman, who talked through her nose”; she lived a
hard-working, cloisteral existence, but she had a perfect mania for
making improper allusions, so very obscure that only she herself could
understand them. L’Assommoir.
For a long time she lost sight of her niece Nana, but later she found
her in a position of apparent wealth. Madame Lerat had abandoned her
trade of artificial-flower-maker and lived upon her savings, scraped
together sou by sou. Nana rented a small house for her aunt, and gave
her an allowance of a hundred francs per month to look after her little
son Louiset. Nana.
LERENARD, the keeper of a cafe in the neighbourhood of Montsou.
Germinal.
LEROI, alias CANON, a journeyman carpenter, who deserted Paris on
account of some trouble, and preferred to live in the country, tramping
from village to village, doing a week here and a week there, and
offering his services from one farm to another when his employer did not
want him. When there was a scarcity of work he begged on the high-roads,
living partly on the vegetables he stole. He professed strong
revolutionary principles, which he was fond of airing in village
ale-shops. He was a friend of Hyacinthe Fouan. La Terre.
LETELLIER, father of Madame Deberle and her sister Pauline. He owned
an extensive silk warehouse on the Boulevard des Capucines. “Since his
wife’s death he had been taking his younger daughter about everywhere,
in search of a rich husband for her.” Une Page d’Amour.
LETELLIER (JULIETTE). See Madame Deberle.
LETELLIER (PAULINE), the younger daughter of M. Letellier, a wealthy
silk merchant, and sister of Madame Deberle. She was a giddy young girl
who went about everywhere with her father in the hope of securing a rich
husband, and was a constant visitor at the house of her sister. Une Page
d’Amour.
LETURC (MADAME), widow of a captain, was a protegee of Madame Correur,
who obtained a tobacco licence for her. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LEVAQUE, a neighbour of the Maheus. He was of intemperate habits, and
beat his wife on little provocation. During the strike he was among
the most reckless, and at the assault on the Voreux pit he was taken
prisoner by the troops. His arrest made him a sort of hero, and by the
Paris newspapers he was credited with a reply of antique sublimity to
the examining magistrate. Germinal.
LEVAQUE (ACHILLE), the eldest child of Zacharie Maheu and of Philomene
Levaque. He was three years old when his parents were married. Germinal.
LEVAQUE (BEBERT), son of the Levaques, was a little boy of twelve, who
already worked in the pit. Along with Lydie Pierron, he was a companion
of Jeanlin Maheu in many escapades. As Jeanlin became more daring and
unscrupulous, Bebert and Lydie were drawn together in an affection born
of their common fear of him. The three children were present at the
attack on the Voreux pit, and Bebert and Lydie, killed by the volley
fired by the troops, fell dead in one another’s arms. Germinal.
LEVAQUE (DESIREE), the youngest child of Philomene, aged nine months.
Germinal.
LEVAQUE (PHILOMENE), daughter of the Levaques, had two children to
Zacharie Maheu before her marriage to him. She had a delicacy of the
chest and was unable to work underground. After the death of her husband
she left Montsou with her two children, in the company of a miner from
the Pas-de-Calais. Germinal.
LEVAQUE (LA), wife of Levaque the miner, and mother of Philomene and
Bebert. She was a bad housekeeper, and was roughly treated by her
husband, who, however, did not take exception to her relations with
Bouteloup, their lodger. Germinal.
LEVASSEUR (MADAME), an acquaintance of Madame Deberle. Une Page d’Amour.
LEVASSEUR, chief clerk at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.
LEVASSEUR, a tax-collector at Chene Populeux. His father was one of the
heroes of the army of the first Napoleon. He married a peasant woman
named Fouchard, who died in bringing Maurice and his twin sister
Henriette into the world. He sacrificed everything to make his son a
gentleman, and the bad conduct of the lad hastened his end. La Debacle.
LEVASSEUR (HENRIETTE), daughter of the preceding, and twin sister of
Maurice. After the death of her father she gave up the whole of her
share of his property in order to retrieve to some extent the foolish
conduct of her brother. Fortunately she had the chance soon after to
marry Weiss, with whom she lived happily. On the morning of the
battle of Sedan, Henriette, fearing that her husband was in danger
at Bazeilles, where he had gone to look after a house he had recently
bought, decided to follow him there. By this time the fighting was going
on fiercely, and when, after the greatest difficulties and dangers,
she arrived at Bazeilles, she was only in time to see her husband shot
before her eyes. She took refuge at Remilly, at the house of her uncle
Fouchard, and devoted herself to the care of the wounded in the battle.
Among these was Jean Macquart, who along with Maurice had escaped from
captivity. After the war with Prussia was over, Maurice unfortunately
threw in his lot with the Communists, and when Henriette followed him
to Paris it was to find that he had been fatally wounded in the fighting
there. By an extraordinary chance, the wound was inflicted by his
former comrade, Jean Macquart, who had remained in the regular army when
Maurice joined the Communist ranks. The death of Maurice in this way put
an end to the possibility of a dawning love idyll between Henriette and
Jean Macquart. La Debacle.
LEVASSEUR (MAURICE), twin brother of the preceding. Everything was
sacrificed by his father and sister in order that he might become an
advocate, but when he went to Paris to complete his education he took
part in every kind of foolishness and dissipation. In July, 1870, he had
just been admitted to the Bar, when the outbreak of war found him full
of enthusiasm, and he at once enlisted in the 106th Regiment of the
line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. He was put into the squad of Jean
Macquart, against whom he had at first an aversion. Later, the kindness
of Jean when he was worn out with fatigue practically saved his life,
and they became close comrades, Maurice in turn saving Jean by carrying
him, severely wounded, from the battlefield of Sedan. Maurice was of a
highly strung, nervous temperament, and the repeated disasters of the
campaign drove him to madness. He threw himself into the Communist
struggle, and sought for death when defeat became certain. It was Jean
Macquart, his old comrade, who, by an extraordinary chance, was fated to
deliver the fatal blow. La Debacle.
LEVEQUE (MADAME), sister-in-law of Durieu, the brewer. L’Argent.
LEVEQUE, a solicitor at Plassans. He interested himself in the affairs
of Dr. Pascal Rougon after Grandguillot absconded and was able to
recover a considerable sum which Pascal had believed to be entirely
lost. Le Docteur Pascal.
LEVEQUE (MADEMOISELLE), daughter of the preceding, was an old friend
of Clotilde Rougon, who was three years older than her. She married Dr.
Ramond. Le Docteur Pascal.
LHOMME (M.), chief cashier at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” “Son of a
tax-collector at Chablis, he came to Paris as a clerk in the office of
a merchant of the Port-aux-Vins. Then, while lodging in Rue Cuvier,
he married the daughter of his concierge, and from that day he bowed
submissively before his wife, whose commercial ability filled him with
respect. She earned more than twenty thousand francs a year in the dress
department of ‘The Ladies’ Paradise,’ whilst he only drew a fixed
salary of five thousand francs.” The loss of his right arm in an omnibus
accident did not interfere with his work, and did not prevent him from
playing upon a specially constructed French horn, an instrument of which
he was passionately fond. Au Bonheur des Dames.
LHOMME (MADAME AURELIE), wife of the preceding. The daughter of a small
tailor, she had keen business instincts, and, as head of the dress
department at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” was able to make a large income.
She was far from friendly to Denise Baudu, but seeing ultimately that
Mouret was in love with the girl, she changed her methods in the hope of
rendering her own position more secure. Au Bonheur des Dames.
LHOMME (ALBERT), son of the preceding. He was an idle and vicious youth,
who could keep no position, and only got a post in the pay-desk of “The
Ladies’ Paradise” through the influence of his mother. He was careless
in his work, and was repeatedly reprimanded, causing his parents much
anxiety; ultimately it was discovered that he had conspired with some of
the salesmen in a long series of frauds, and his dismissal followed. Au
Bonheur des Dames.
LIARDIN, a relation of the Quenus. He was a member of Pauline’s family
council, and consented to her emancipation. La Joie de Vivre.
LIENARD, son of a rich Angers draper, came to Paris and got a situation
in “The Ladies’ Paradise.” His spare time was spent in idleness and
debauchery, and when his father recalled him to Angers he refused to
leave Paris. Au Bonheur des Dames.
LIEUTAUD (M.), the diocesan architect at Plassans. He was consulted by
Madame Mouret and Abbe Faujas regarding the Home for Girls which they
founded, and he subsequently prepared the plans for the building. La
Conquete de Plassans.
LIEVIN, a townsman of Plassans, who was amongst those enrolled and armed
by Pierre Rougon to rescue the Town Hall, which had been occupied by
the Republicans. He was so excited that he fired in the air without
intending to do so. La Fortune des Rougon.
LILI, pet name of Amelie, the daughter of Gaga. Nana.
LINGUERLOT (LES), neighbours of the Lorilleux in Rue de la Goutte-d’Or.
L’Assommoir.
LIOTARD (VEUVE HENRI), a firm of shipowners who joined the transport
syndicate formed by Aristide Saccard. L’Argent.
LISA, a peasant girl of Les Artaud. Like the others of her class, she
was void of any religious feeling, and when she came to decorate the
church for the festival of the Virgin, she engaged in all sorts of
irreverent pranks. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
LISA, a workwoman employed by Madame Titreville, the artificial-flower
maker. L’Assommoir.
LISA, Madame Campardon’s housemaid. She was active and intelligent,
and her conduct was regarded as irreproachable. This was, however, a
somewhat too favourable estimate, and her companionship was by no means
beneficial to the Campardons’ young daughter, Angele. Pot-Bouille.
LISON (LA), the name of the express engine driven by Jacques Lantier up
to the time of the terrible railway accident caused by Flore. La Bete
Humaine.
LLORENTZ (MADAME DE), one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress
Eugenie and sister of M. La Rouquette, was the widow of General de
Llorentz. She carried on an intrigue with De Massy, and was said to hold
three compromising letters from him regarding certain august personages.
Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
LOGRE, a fish auctioneer at the _Halles Centrales_. He attended the
revolutionary meetings at Lebigre’s wine shop, and made violent speeches
there, but was really an agent of the Police. Le Ventre de Paris.
LOISEAU, a municipal councillor of Rognes. He was devoted to the Mayor,
Alexandre Hourdequin, on whose farm his son worked. He was an uncle of
Macqueron. La Terre.
LONJUMEAU, a member of the band of brigands led by Beau-Francois. La
Terre.
LORET (MADAME), a woman who lived in the neighbourhood of the _Halles
Centrales_. Mademoiselle Saget made ill-natured remarks regarding her.
Le Ventre de Paris.
LORILLEUX, a maker of gold chains, who was married to Coupeau’s sister.
He was a little man who looked much older than his age, and suffered
from a constant cough. Miserly and spiteful, he was jealous of the
Coupeaus in their success, and rejoiced at their downfall. L’Assommoir.
LORILLEUX (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a sister of Coupeau, who
married Gervaise Macquart. Along with her husband, she worked at the
trade of gold chain-making; like him, she was so avaricious that her
custom was to examine the soles of her visitors’ boots lest they should
depart with any adhering gold dust. From the first she resented her
brother’s marriage, and took every opportunity of being disagreeable to
Gervaise. Though she was willing to accept the Coupeaus’ hospitality in
their prosperous days, she refused to do anything to assist them after
their downfall. L’Assommoir.
LORILLON (LES), peasants at Rognes, who were said to have been cured of
illness by the bone-setter Sourdeau. La Terre.
LOUBET, a soldier in the 106th Regiment of the line; in the squad of
Corporal Jean Macquart. He was unwilling to fight, and during the battle
of 1st September, 1870, he assisted his comrade Chouteau to carry Sapin
to the ambulance, spending the rest of the day in a tavern. After the
capitulation of the French army, Loubet was made a prisoner. Along with
Chouteau he made a determined effort to escape, and would have done so
had not his companion treacherously tripped him up in order to increase
his own chance. La Debacle.
LOUHETTE, an elderly draper in Rue Neuve Saint-Augustin. He was the
father of Madame Theophile Vabre. Pot-Bouille.
LOUHETTE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, and mother of Madame Theophile
Vabre. Pot-Bouille.
LOUHETTE (VALERIE). See Theophile Vabre.
LOUIS, Irma Becot’s butler at her house in the Avenue de Villiers.
L’Oeuvre.
LOUIS, cousin of Cabuche, and, like him, a quarryman. He drove Cabuche’s
wagon on the evening of the murder of President Grandmorin. La Bete
Humaine.
LOUIS, an artillery gunner, in the same battery as Honore Fouchard and
Adolphe. He was mated with Adolphe, who was inclined to treat him as
an inferior. In the attack by the Prussians on the Calvary d’Illy Louis
fell, killed by the same shot as his comrade, and the two died entwined
in one another’s arms. La Debacle.
LOUIS (LA MERE), a wine-seller, who was famous for her “hen feet.”
L’Assommoir.
LOUISE, an actress at the Palais-Royal. Nana.
LOUISE, a young girl who was brought up in an Orphanage. At fifteen she
went as maid-servant to Madame Jazeur, but not proving satisfactory, was
sent back to the Orphanage. Pot-Bouille.
LOUISET, the pet name of Louis Coupeau, son of Nana, born 1867. Left at
first with a nurse in the country, he was afterwards taken charge of
by his aunt, Madame Lerat, who removed him to Batignolles. He was a
delicate child, pale and scrofulous, bearing a legacy of ill-health
derived from an unknown father. He died in July, 1870, of small-pox,
which he communicated to his mother, who had just returned from Russia.
Nana.
LOUISETTE, the younger daughter of Madame Misard (Aunt Phasie). She was
a fair and sweet child who had a strong affection for Cabuche, a man who
was regarded by nearly everyone as an outcast. As a maid-servant in
the house of Madame Bonnehon, she attracted the notice of President
Grandmorin, and fleeing from him, half-mad with fear, she came to the
hut of Cabuche, who tenderly nursed her till she died of brain fever a
few days later. La Bete Humaine.
LOULOU, a dog which belonged to Nana. Nana.
LULU, a dog which belonged to Nana. Nana.
LUSIGNAN, a racehorse in the stable of Vandeuvres. Mounted by Gresham,
it was the favourite in the race for the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.
M
MACQUART, a poacher and smuggler who lived at Plassans in a hovel
adjoining the Fouque property. His reputation was of the worst, and
“although no crimes had actually been brought home to him, the first
suspicions always fell upon him whenever a theft or murder had been
perpetrated in the country.” He frequently disappeared for long periods,
but during his short sojourns in the town he drank to great excess. He
became the lover of Adelaide Fouque in 1789, less than a year after the
death of her husband, and had two children by her, Antoine and
Ursule Macquart. A man of violent and unrestrained passions, and of
incorrigibly lazy habits, he retained complete influence over Adelaide,
and they lived in the same relationship for over twenty years. About
1810, Macquart was killed on the frontier by a custom-house officer
while he was endeavouring to smuggle a cargo of Geneva watches into
France. Adelaide was sole legatee, the estate consisting of the hovel
at Plassans and the carbine of the deceased, which a smuggler loyally
brought back to her. La Fortune des Rougon.
MACQUART (ANTOINE), born 1789, son of Macquart the smuggler and
Adelaide Fouque; was drawn in the conscription in 1809. On his return
to Plassans, he found that his half-brother Pierre had sold the family
property and had appropriated the proceeds. Being a confirmed drunkard,
he was averse from work of any kind, but in order to support himself
he learned the trade of basket-making. In 1826 he married Josephine
Gavaudan, a market-woman, whom he afterwards allowed to support him.
They had three children, Lisa, Gervaise, and Jean. His wife died in
1850, and soon after his daughter Gervaise and his son Jean, who had
assisted to keep him in idleness, ran off. He had a bitter ill-will
towards his brother Pierre Rougon, and, chiefly with a view to his
annoyance, expressed strong Republican principles. For the same reason
he took every opportunity of teaching these principles to his young
nephew Silvere Mouret. After the _Coup d’Etat_ he took an active
share in the agitation which resulted in a Republican rising. When the
Insurgents left Plassans, he remained with a few men to overawe the
inhabitants. He and his whole band were, however, taken prisoners by
the citizens under the leadership of Pierre Rougon. He was assisted to
escape by Madame Felicite Rougon, who promised him a sum of money on
condition that he would bring about an attack on the Town Hall by
the Republicans. He did so the same night, and an ambush having
been prepared by the Rougons, a number of lives were sacrificed. He
thereafter left the country. La Fortune des Rougon.
Some time afterwards he returned to France, and bought a small house
at Les Tulettes, about three leagues from Plassans. He fitted up his
establishment by degrees, and even became possessed of a horse and trap.
Where the money came from no one knew, but it was believed that his
brother Pierre Rougon was keeping him. Notwithstanding this, he had
great ill-will towards the Rougons, and lost no opportunity of annoying
them. Partly with this object, and partly at the instigation of Abbe
Fenil, who wished to be revenged on Abbe Faujas, he contrived the escape
of Francois Mouret from the asylum at Les Tulettes; as result, Mouret
returned to Plassans, and setting fire to his house, caused the death of
Abbe Faujas, himself perishing in the flames. La Conquete de Plassans.
Macquart lived to an old age at Les Tulettes, though he increasingly
gave way to drunkenness. His relations with the Rougons were friendly,
but he was hated by Felicite on account of his knowledge of the origin
of the family fortune. At eighty-four years of age he was still healthy,
but his flesh was so saturated with alcohol that it seemed to be
preserved by it. One day, as he was sitting helpless with drink and
smoking his pipe, he set fire to his clothes, and his body, soaked as
it was with ardent spirits, was burned to the last bone. Felicite Rougon
chanced to enter the house just as the conflagration began, but she
did nothing to stop it, and went silently away. The combustion was so
complete that there was nothing left to bury, and the family had to
content itself with having masses said for the repose of the dead. When
Macquart’s will was opened, it was found that he had left all his money
for the erection of a magnificent tomb for himself, with weeping angels
at the head and foot. Le Docteur Pascal.
MACQUART (MADAME ANTOINE), wife of the preceding. See Josephine
Gavaudan.
MACQUART (GERVAISE), born 1828, was a daughter of Antoine Macquart, and
was slightly lame from birth. She was apprenticed to a laundress, but at
an early age had two children to a journeyman tanner named Lantier.[*]
Soon after the death of her mother, in 1850, she ran off to Paris with
Lantier and her children, Claude, a boy of eight, and Etienne, aged
four. La Fortune des Rougon.
The party had only been in the city a few weeks when Lantier ran off
with a girl named Adele, leaving Gervaise and the children unprovided
for. She got work in the laundry of Madame Fauconnier, and not long
after received an offer of marriage from Coupeau, a respectable
zinc-worker, which after some hesitation she accepted. The marriage
took place, and for a considerable time things prospered, one child, a
daughter named Nana being born. An accident to Coupeau, who fell from
a roof and was seriously injured, led to a gradual change; formerly
temperate and industrious, he became unwilling to work, and began to
spend his time in public-houses. Gervaise had meantime taken a shop with
money borrowed from the Goujets, and had started a laundry in it. She
was at first successful, but in time grew lazy and fond of good living,
while Coupeau continued idle and became increasingly intemperate.
Business began to go, and Gervaise became more careless, even taking
more drink occasionally than she had been wont to do. About this
time Lantier, her former lover, appeared again, and made friends with
Coupeau, who agreed to take him into the house as a lodger. After that,
the descent of Gervaise was rapid. Lantier never paid anything for his
support, Coupeau drank more heavily than ever, and Gervaise, who was
gradually drifting into intemperance, resumed her old connection
with her lover. All the time work was being neglected, and debts were
accumulating with alarming rapidity. Eventually Madame Virginie Poisson
took over the shop, and with it Lantier, who transferred his affections
along with the lease, and the Coupeaus removed into a small house high
up in the same building. Coupeau suffered from repeated attacks of
delirium tremens, and eventually died in an asylum. Gervaise continued
to sink still lower, until no work was too menial or too repulsive for
her to undertake for the price of drink, and one day in the winter of
1869 she was found dead in a garret of that great tenement house where
she had passed so much of her life. L’Assommoir.
Her sister, Lisa Quenu, the pork-butcher, did not come to her
assistance. Lisa did not like people who were unfortunate, and she was
ashamed that Gervaise should have married a workman. Le Ventre de Paris.
Her son Etienne sent her small sums of money from time to time while he
was in a situation at Lille. Germinal.
[*] These two are the only children of Gervaise and Lantier
mentioned by M. Zola in _La Fortune des Rougon_,
_L’Assommoir_, _L’Oeuvre_, and _Germinal_. In _La Bete
Humaine_, however, the hero, Jacques Lantier, is stated to
have been a child of these parents.
MACQUART (JEAN), born 1811, son of Antoine Macquart, was apprenticed to
a carpenter. A quiet, industrious lad, Jean’s father took advantage of
his simple nature and made him give up his whole earnings to assist in
keeping him in idleness. Like his sister Gervaise, he ran off soon after
the death of his mother. La Fortune des Rougon.
He entered the army, and, after seven years of soldiering was discharged
in 1859. When he had left the ranks he turned up at Bazoches-le-Doyen
with a comrade, a joiner like himself; and he resumed his occupation
with the latter’s father, a master carpenter in the village. But his
heart was no longer in his work, and having been sent to La Borderie to
make some repairs, he stayed on to assist at the harvest, and eventually
became a regular farm servant. He was not popular, however, with the
peasants, who resented his having had a trade before he came back to the
soil. He became acquainted at Rognes with Mouche and his daughters,
Lise and Francoise, and eventually married the latter, in spite of the
determined opposition of her brother-in-law, Buteau. Notwithstanding his
marriage, he remained a stranger, and, after the death of his wife, went
away, leaving everything in the hands of her relatives. The war with
Germany had just broken out, and Jean, disgusted with his life, again
enlisted in the service of his country. La Terre.
He was made corporal in the 106th Regiment of the line, commanded by
Colonel Vineuil. An excellent soldier, and invaluable by reason of his
former experience, his want of education prevented him being promoted to
higher rank. Maurice Levasseur was in his company, and between the two
men there was at first deep antagonism, caused by difference of class
and education, but little by little Jean was able to gain over the
other, till the two men became close friends. In the fierce fighting at
Sedan, each in turn saved the other’s life. After the battle, they were
made prisoners, but escaped, Jean receiving a severe wound during their
flight. They took refuge at Remilly in the house of Fouchard, and Jean
was nursed by Henriette Weiss, Levasseur’s sister. Under her care, the
wounded man came to dream of the possibility of a life of happiness with
this woman, so tender, so sweet, and so active, whose fate had been so
sad. But the chances of war were too hard; Maxime returned to Paris, and
after the conclusion of the war took part in the Communist rising, which
Jean assisted to quell. By an extraordinary chance, the two men, loving
one another as brothers, came to be fighting on opposite sides, and it
was the hand of Jean that was fated to inflict the fatal wound upon his
friend. He had killed the brother of the woman he loved, and henceforth
there could be nothing between them, so he passed from her life,
returning to assist in that cultivation of the soil which was needed to
rejuvenate his country. La Debacle.
He settled at Valqueyras, near Plassans, where he married Melanie Vial,
the only daughter of a peasant farmer in easy circumstances, whose land
he cultivated. Calm and sensible, always at his plough, his wife
simple and strong, he raised a large and healthy family to assist
in replenishing the soil exhausted by the horrors of war. Le Docteur
Pascal.
MACQUART (MADAME JEAN), first wife of the preceding. See Francoise
Mouche. La Terre.
MACQUART (MADAME JEAN), second wife of Jean Macquart. See Melanie Vial.
Le Docteur Pascal.
MACQUART (LISA), born 1827, daughter of Antoine Macquart. When a child
of seven she was taken as maid-servant by the wife of the postmaster at
Plassans, whom she accompanied to Paris on her removal there in 1839. La
Fortune des Rougon.
The old lady became very much attached to the girl, and when she died
left her all her savings, amounting to ten thousand francs. Gradelle, a
pork-butcher, who had become acquainted with Lisa by seeing her in the
shop with her mistress, offered her a situation. She accepted, and soon
the whole place seemed to belong to her; she enslaved Gradelle, his
nephew Quenu, and even the smallest kitchen-boy. She became a beautiful
woman, with a love of ease and the determination to secure it by steady
application to duty. After the sudden death of Gradelle, she married
Quenu, who had succeeded to the business, and they had one daughter,
Pauline. Soon their affairs became so prosperous that Lisa induced her
husband to remove to a larger shop. On Florent’s return from exile, she
received him kindly, and at once proposed to hand over to him his share
of the money and property left by Gradelle, his uncle, which, however,
he refused to accept. After a time she became tired of always seeing
her brother-in-law about the house doing nothing, and was the means of
making him accept the situation as Inspector at the Fish Market. When
she heard of the Revolutionary meetings in Lebigre’s wine-shop and of
the leading part taken by Florent, she became greatly alarmed, more
especially as Quenu had begun to accompany his brother occasionally. She
succeeded in frightening her husband into giving up the meetings, and
made it clear to Florent that he was no longer welcome in her house.
Alarmed by the gossip of Mlle. Saget and others as to the progress of
the conspiracy, she determined, after consultation with Abbe Roustan, to
secure the safety of her husband and herself by informing the police of
the plot. On going to the prefect, however, she learned that he had all
along known of Florent’s presence in Paris, and of the meetings, and
was only waiting a favourable opportunity of arresting the plotters.
She concealed the impending arrest from her husband and from Florent.
Notwithstanding her action in this matter, Lisa was not an ill-natured
or callous woman. She was only determined that nothing should come
between her and a life of ease. In her there was much of her father’s
nature, though she did not know it. She was merely a steady, sensible
Macquart with a logical desire for comfort, and to procuring this she
gave all her time and thought. Le Ventre de Paris.
She died in 1863 from decomposition of the blood. La Joie de Vivre.
MACQUART (URSULE), born 1791, daughter of Macquart and Adelaide Fouque;
married in 1810 a hatter named Mouret and went to live at Marseilles.
She died of consumption in 1840, leaving three children. La Fortune des
Rougon.
MACQUERON, a grocer and tavern-keeper at Rognes. He was a municipal
councillor, and deputy Mayor. He made some money by speculating in
wines, and had since become incorrigibly lazy, spending his time in
fishing and shooting. Had his wife listened to him, they would have shut
up the shop, but she was so fiercely set on money-making that she would
not do so. There was a rivalry of long standing between the Macquerons
and the Lengaignes, which frequently broke out in open quarrels. Having
succeeded in undermining Hourdequin’s position as Mayor, Macqueron
succeeded him, but his triumph was of short duration, for some official
scandal having arisen, he was obliged to resign. La Terre.
MACQUERON (MADAME COELINA), wife of the preceding, had a true passion
for money-making. She was continually quarrelling with her neighbour,
Madame Lengaigne. La Terre.
MACQUERON (BERTHE), daughter of the preceding, was educated at a
boarding-school at Cloyes, and had learned to play the piano. She
tolerated the attentions of Lequeu, the schoolmaster, whom she heartily
disliked, as she felt flattered by the notice of the only man of
education whom she knew. She had a fancy for the son of a neighbouring
wheelwright, whom her parents would not allow her to see, and she
ultimately compromised herself so seriously with him that they had to
consent to her marriage. La Terre.
MADELEINE, a little girl of ten years of age who was an inmate of the
institute founded by Princess d’Orviedo. Her mother was unable to look
after her properly, and placed her there in the hope that she would be
well cared for. L’Argent.
MADELINE (ABBE), was sent to Rognes, when that commune decided to have a
cure to itself. He came from a mountainous district, and disheartened
by the flatness of the vast plain of La Beauce, and especially by
the religious indifference of his parishioners, he soon fell into
ill-health, on one occasion fainting while he was saying Mass. At
the end of two years and a half he left Rognes in a dying state, and
returned to his native mountains. La Terre.
MADINIER (M.) carried on business as a cardboard manufacturer in part
of the tenement occupied by the Coupeaus and the Lorilleux. The business
was not prosperous, as he spent all his earnings on drink. He was one
of Coupeau’s witnesses on the occasion of his marriage to Gervaise
Macquart, and was present at the wedding dinner. L’Assommoir.
MAFFRE (M.), a magistrate of Plassans and honorary Canon of
Saint-Saturnin’s church. Politically he was a Legitimist, and he was
a friend of M. Rastoil, at whose house the party was in the habit of
meeting. La Conquete de Plassans.
MAFFRE (ALPHONSE), second son of the magistrate at Plassans, aged
eighteen years. Restrained too much by their father, the two brothers
Maffre were especially intimate with Guillaume Porquier, who frequently
led them into mischief. La Conquete de Plassans.
MAFFRE (AMBROISE), elder son of the magistrate at Plassans, aged twenty.
La Conquete de Plassans.
MAGINOT, inspector of woods at Mezieres. He married Gilberte de Vineuil,
but died a few years afterwards. La Debacle.
MAGINOT (MADAME), see Gilberte de Vineuil.
MAHEU (ALZIRE), the fourth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged nine years.
She was deformed and delicate, but of precocious intelligence, and was
able to assist her mother in many ways, sacrificing herself always
for others. She died of cold and hunger during the strike at Montsou.
Germinal.
MAHEU (CATHERINE), second child of Toussaint Maheu, worked as a putter
in the Voreux pit along with the other members of her family. She liked
Etienne Lantier, but became the mistress of Chaval, who treated her
so abominably that she eventually returned home. As a result of the
terrible catastrophe brought about by Souvarine, she was imprisoned at
the bottom of the pit along with Chaval and Etienne. A struggle between
the two men ensued, and Chaval was killed. Days elapsed before rescue
arrived, but before then Catherine had died in the arms of Etienne, whom
she had really loved all along. Germinal.
MAHEU (ESTELLE), seventh child of Toussaint Maheu, aged three months.
Her constant crying disturbed the household. Germinal.
MAHEU (GUILLAUME), great-grandfather of Toussaint Maheu. When a boy of
fifteen, he found rich coal at Requillart, the Montsou Company’s first
pit, and the seam he discovered was named after him. He died of old age
at sixty. Germinal.
MAHEU (HENRI), sixth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged four years.
Germinal.
MAHEU (JEANLIN), third child of Toussaint Maheu, aged eleven years. He
was employed at the Voreux pit, and earned twenty sous a day. His nature
was vicious, and he forced his companions Bebert Levaque and Lydie
Pierron to commit petty thefts, with the proceeds of which he concealed
himself in a disused mine. His criminal tendencies increased until he
was unable to resist the inclination to kill one of the soldiers who
guarded the Voreux pit during the strike. He accordingly waited till
night, and leaping on the shoulders of Jules, a little soldier from
Brittany, thrust a knife into his throat and killed him. Germinal.
MAHEU (LENORE), fifth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged six years. She
was always fighting with her brother Henri, who was very like her in
appearance, both having large heads with light yellow hair. Germinal.
MAHEU (NICOLAS), grandfather of Toussaint Maheu. He was killed by a
landslip in the pit, when he was barely forty years old. Germinal.
MAHEU (TOUSSAINT), son of old Bonnemort, and husband of La Maheude. He
was considered one of the best workmen in the Voreux pit, did not drink,
and was liked and respected by all his companions. He had been for a
considerable time under the influence of the doctrines taught by Etienne
Lantier when he was selected by his comrades to place their views before
the officials of the company. In the great strike which followed he
took part, and in the attack on the troops sent to guard the pit he was
driven on by his wife to join the aggressors. He fell, shot through the
heart, after the fatal volley fired by the soldiers. Germinal.
MAHEU (VINCENT). See Bonnemort.
MAHEU (ZACHARIE), eldest child of Toussaint Maheu. He worked in
the Voreux pit along with his father, but was lazy and seized any
opportunity of pleasure. He was married to Philomene Levaque, by whom he
already had two children. The strike interested him very little, and
he spent most of his time playing _crosse_ with Mouquet. But when his
sister Catherine was entombed in the pit he was one of the first to come
forward to the rescue, and he worked day and night with frantic energy.
The ninth day, in his haste, he was imprudent enough to open his lamp,
and a sudden explosion of gas reduced him to a calcined, unrecognizable
mass. Germinal.
MAHEUDE (LA), wife of Toussaint Maheu. She was at first against the
miners’ strike, but moved by the hardship of her lot and the poverty in
which she was forced to bring up her family, she ultimately urged her
husband to take an active part. Even after she had seen him killed by
the bullets of the soldiers, she was furious with those who talked of
submitting. But further tragedies broke her spirit; her son Zacharie was
killed in an attempt to rescue his sister, entombed at the bottom of the
Voreux pit. Out of charity the company allowed the afflicted woman to
go underground again, though she was past the usual age, and found
employment for her in the manipulation of a small ventilator. Germinal.
MAHOUDEAU, a sculptor. The son of a stonemason at Plassans, he attained
great success at the local art competitions, and came to Paris as the
_laureat_ of his town, with an allowance of eight hundred francs per
annum for four years. In the capital, however, he found his level,
failing in his competitions at the School of Arts, and merely spending
his allowance to no purpose; so that in order to live he was obliged at
the end of his term to enter the employment of a manufacturer of church
statues. Later, however, he met with Claude Lantier and other companions
from Plassans, and under their influence his ambitions revived. He
installed himself in a studio in Rue du Cherche-Midi, and there set
about the production of a colossal work entitled _La Vendangeuse_ (the
Vintage Girl), for which Madame Mathilde Jabouille served as model. For
a time Chaine, who also came from Plassans, lived with Mahoudeau, but
they quarrelled over Mathilde, and ultimately separated. After this
Mahoudeau lived alone, in considerable poverty, until he got employment
from a manufacturer of artistic bronzes. He then began to produce work
which suited the popular taste, and his productions began to be seen on
middle-class chimney-pieces. L’Oeuvre.
MAIGRAT, the principal shop-keeper in Montsou. He was originally an
overseer at the Voreux pit, but, assisted by the company, started a
business which grew to such proportions that he ultimately crushed out
most of the other retail traders. He was a greedy, rapacious man, and
during the strike made the women furious by refusing credit. For other
reasons also they hated him, and his shop was one of the first places
attacked by the maddened strikers. In terror Maigrat took refuge on
the roof, but his foot slipped, and he was dashed to the ground, being
killed on the spot. Even this did not satisfy his assailants, for the
frenzied women, led by La Brule, rushed forward and mutilated the still
quivering body. Germinal.
MAIGRAT (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a pitiful creature who
passed all her days over a ledger without even daring to lift her head.
On the day of the attack by the strikers she was a witness of the death
of her husband and of the terrible events which followed. Up at the
window she stood motionless; but beneath the last gleams of the setting
sun the confused faults of the window-panes deformed her white face,
which looked as though it were laughing. Germinal.
MALGRAS (LE PERE), a picture-dealer with whom Claude Lantier had
frequent dealings. He was a thick-set old man, with close-cropped
white hair, and wore a dirty old coat that made him look like an untidy
cabman. Beneath this disguise was concealed a keen knowledge of art,
combined with a ferocious skill in bargaining. As a superb liar,
moreover, he was without an equal. He was satisfied with a small profit,
but never purchased in the morning without knowing where to dispose
of his purchase at night. He viewed with disdain the modern methods of
picture-dealing introduced by Naudet, and like a cautious man he retired
with a modest fortune to a little house at Bois-Colombes. L’Oeuvre.
MALIGNON (M.), a young stockbroker who was supposed to have a large
fortune and accordingly was received everywhere in society. He posed as
a critic of art, literature, and the drama, and pretended to be bored
with everything. Madame Deberle, being carried away by his attentions,
was foolish enough to promise to meet him at a flat which he had taken,
but Madame Helene Grandjean having warned her that Dr. Deberle had
got wind of the affair, the intended liaison came to nothing. Une Page
d’Amour.
MALIVERNE (ROSE). See Madame Rose Fouan.
MALIVOIRE, a coach-hirer at Arromanches. He was the owner of the omnibus
which ran between Arromanches and Bayeux. La Joie de Vivre.
MALOIR (MADAME), a respectable-looking elderly woman, was Nana’s friend,
chaperone, and companion, writing for her such letters as she required.
She was always ready to receive the secrets of others, but never told
anything about herself. It was said that she lived upon a mysterious
pension, but she never appeared to carry any money with her. She had a
mania for doing up all her hats afresh. Nana.
MAMAN NINI, the pet name given by Angelique to Francois Hamelin. Le
Reve.
MANGUELIN (MADAME), a young, retiring woman, who was to some extent
dependent on the bounty of Madame Deberle. Une Page d’Amour.
MANOURY, a salesman at the Central Markets in Paris. He was the employer
of Logre and Clemence. Le Ventre de Paris.
MARCEL, a vegetable-dealer at the Paris _Halles Centrales_. Le Ventre de
Paris.
MARDIENNE FRERES, manufacturers of church ornaments in Rue
Saint-Sulpice. Mademoiselle Menu worked in their establishment.
Pot-Bouille.
MARECHAL, a bookmaker who had formerly been coachman to Comte de
Vandeuvres. As the result of a racing swindle by Vandeuvres, Marechal
lost a large sum over a filly named Nana, and, his suspicions having
been aroused, he caused such a scandal that the Comte was disqualified
by the racing committee. Nana.
MARESCOT (M.), a cutler in the Rue de la Paix, who had once turned a
grindstone in the streets and was now said to be worth several millions.
He was a man of fifty-five, large, bony, with the huge hands of an old
workman; one of his delights was to carry off the knives and scissors of
his tenants, which he sharpened himself for his own amusement. He owned
the large tenement-house on the Rue Goutte d’Or, in which resided the
Coupeaus, Lorilleux, and others, and though a fair landlord, would
brook no delay in payment of rent, turning out defaulters without mercy.
L’Assommoir.
MAREUIL (M. DE), a retired sugar-refiner of Havre whose real name was
Bonnet. After amassing a large fortune, he married a young girl of good
birth, whose name he assumed. He was ambitious and hoped to become
a member of the Corps Legislatif through the influence of his friend
Saccard, whose brother Eugene Rougon was a Minister of State. To secure
this he agreed to a marriage between his daughter and Maxime Saccard. He
was a man of solemn and imposing appearance, but was absolutely without
brains. La Curee.
MAREUIL (MADAME HELENE DE), wife of the preceding. She came of a noble
and wealthy family, but lived such a fast life that she died young, worn
out by pleasure. La Curee.
MAREUIL (LOUISE DE), daughter of a retired sugar-refiner of Havre.
Slightly deformed and plain-looking, but with fascinating manners, she
married Maxime Saccard, to whom she brought a large dowry. Six months
afterwards she died of consumption in Italy. La Curee.
MAREUIL (COMTESSE), employed Clara Prunaire in her house to attend to
the mending of linen. Au Bonheur des Dames.
MARGAILLAN, a great building contractor, many times a millionaire, who
made his fortune out of the great public works of Paris, running
up whole boulevards on his own account. He was a man of remarkable
activity, with a great gift of administration, and an instinctive
knowledge of the streets to construct and the buildings to buy. Moved by
the success of Dubuche at the School of Art, and by the recommendations
of his masters there, Margaillan took the young architect into
partnership, and agreed to his marriage with his daughter Regine.
Unfortunately, Dubuche showed deplorable incapacity in carrying into
practice the theories which he had learned at the School of Art, and
Margaillan, after losing considerable sums, returned to his original
methods of construction, thrusting his son-in-law to one side. He
possessed a magnificent estate named _La Richaudiere_, near Bennecourt.
L’Oeuvre.
MARGAILLAN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a girl of the
middle-classes, whose family history was a bad one, and after suffering
for years from anemia, she ultimately died of phthisis. L’Oeuvre.
MARGAILLAN (REGINE), daughter of the preceding, and wife of Louis
Dubuche. She was very delicate, and suffered from a phthisical tendency
derived from her mother, which in turn she handed to her two children,
Gaston and Alice. It was frequently necessary for her to leave home for
the benefit of her health, and during her absences the children were
left at _La Richaudiere_ in charge of their father. L’Oeuvre.
MARIA, an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. Nana.
MARJOLIN, a boy who was found in a heap of cabbages at the Paris market.
It was never known who his parents were, and he became the adopted
child of the place, always finding a lodging with one or other of the
market-women. Later on he lived with Madame Chantemesse, who had adopted
Cadine, another foundling, and the two children grew up together,
becoming inseparable. Marjolin was always of slow intellect, and as the
result of an injury to his head he became practically an idiot. Gavard
gave him employment in the poultry market. Le Ventre de Paris.
MARSOULLIER, proprietor of the Hotel Boncoeur, where Gervaise Macquart
and Lantier put up when they came to Paris. L’Assommoir.
MARTIN, coachman to Dr. Cazenove. He was an old man who formerly served
in the navy, and had his leg amputated by Cazenove. La Joie de Vivre.
MARTINE, the old servant of Dr. Pascal, with whom she had been for
thirty years. She brought up Clotilde Rougon, whose affection for the
doctor excited her jealousy later on. Martine, who was devoted to her
master, desired to force him to be reconciled with the Church, but
Clotilde, at first her accomplice, escaped from religious influences and
gave herself entirely to Pascal, leaving Martine with no other resource
but prayer. She was extremely avaricious, but when the doctor was
ruined, her devotion was such that she used some of her own money to
purchase the necessaries of life for him. Distracted at the sudden
death of her master, and in the hope of saving him from damnation, she
assisted Madame Felicite Rougon to destroy his great work on heredity,
which in her narrow-minded bigotry she believed was intended to subvert
true religion. The work of destruction completed, she went away to live
by herself at Sainte-Marthe, as she refused to serve any other master
than the one she had been with so many years. Le Docteur Pascal.
MARTINEAU (M.), a notary of Coulonges, and brother of Madame Correur.
He ignored his sister for many years, but his principles would not allow
him to disinherit her, and he made a will under which his property would
be divided between her and his wife. Soon thereafter, Madame Correur,
knowing him to be in bad health, denounced him as a dangerous Republican
to Rougon, then Minister of the Interior, and his arrest followed. The
shock, together with the unnecessary harshnesses displayed by Gilquin,
the commissary of police, caused Martineau’s death, and the subsequent
popular outcry had much to do with Rougon’s second resignation of
office. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
MARTINEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
MARSY (COMTE DE), Minister of the Interior before Eugene Rougon, who
succeeded him on his appointment as President of the Corps Legislatif.
Marsy, who was said to be the son of a queen, was brilliant, immoral,
and unscrupulous. He was the chief political opponent of Eugene Rougon
and had great influence at the Court of Napoleon III. Son Excellence
Eugene Rougon.
MARTY (M.), a master at the Lycee Bonaparte, who was being ruined by the
extravagance of his wife, and was obliged to double his salary by giving
private lessons, in order to meet the constantly growing household
expenses. Au Bonheur des Dames.
MARTY (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a woman of about thirty-five
years of age, whose face, never beautiful, was now much marked by
small-pox. She had a perfect mania for spending money on clothes, and
never visited “The Ladies’ Paradise” without buying innumerable articles
for which she had no need. As a result of her extravagance, her husband
was nearly ruined, and was forced to increase his earnings by giving
private lessons. Au Bonheur des Dames.
MARTY (VALENTINE), daughter of the preceding, a young girl of fourteen
years of age, who was used by her mother as an excuse for some of her
extravagance, as she dressed her like herself, with all the fashionable
novelties of which she submitted to the irresistible seduction. Au
Bonheur des Dames.
MASCART (PERE), a blind paralytic to whom Angelique showed much
kindness. Le Reve.
MASSACRE, one of the dogs of old Soulas, the shepherd. It shared the
hatred of its master of La Cognette. La Terre.
MASSIAS, a frequenter of the Paris Bourse, where he gained a living by
bringing business to stockbrokers, from whom he received a commission on
each transaction. He was employed by Saccard after the foundation of the
Universal Bank, and by speculating in the shares he made a considerable
fortune. With the downfall of the institution, he lost everything, and
found himself in debt for a large sum. By borrowing from friends,
and pledging his entire life, he paid his debts and started afresh.
L’Argent.
MASSICOT, a tradesman of Plassans who was enrolled and armed by Pierre
Rougon to deliver the Town Hall from the Republicans who had occupied
it. He was so excited that when he got into the building he fired in the
air without knowing he had done so. La Fortune des Rougon.
MASSON (COLONEL), commander of the troops which crushed the Republican
rising in 1851. La Fortune des Rougon.
MATHIAS, an old hunchback who worked on the farm of La Borderie. La
Terre.
MATHIEU, a large dog which belonged to the Chanteaus at Bonneville and
was a great favourite of the family. The death of this animal greatly
accelerated the unreasoning fear of inevitable mortality with which the
mind of Lazare Chanteau was becoming obsessed. La Joie de Vivre.
MATHILDE, an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. Nana.
MATIGNON, a draper in Paris, whose shop was near that of Baudu. Au
Bonheur des Dames.
MAUDIT (ABBE), Vicar of Saint-Roch, Paris, he counted among his
parishioners the Josserands and the Duveyriers. Though well aware of the
immorality that went on in his parish, he recognized the impossibility
of stopping it, and did what he could to hide it under the cloak of
religion. When the scandal arose about Madame Auguste Vabre, he was
approached by her relations, and at their request acted as intermediary
between the husband and wife. Pot-Bouille.
MAUGENDRE (M.), father of Madame Jordan; was a retired awning
manufacturer who had made a considerable fortune from his business.
He disapproved of his daughter’s marriage, and refused to give her any
dowry, on the pretext that she would have his fortune intact when he was
dead and gone. He was a careful man, averse from speculation, but having
on one occasion made a small venture, he gradually became imbued with
the craze. The phenomenal success of the Universal Bank induced him to
purchase its shares more and more wildly, until, when the crash came,
he was so deeply committed as to be ruined. Jordan, who by this time had
met with some success in literature, came to his assistance. L’Argent.
MAUGENDRE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was at first bitterly opposed
to the small speculations entered into by her husband. She soon got
infected with the craze, and became even more reckless than he, urging
him to involve himself more and more deeply in the fortunes of the
Universal Bank. L’Argent.
MAUGENDRE (MARCELLE). See Madame Marcelle Jordan.
MAURIAC (BARON DE), starter at the racecourse of Longchamp. Nana.
MAURIN, a hatter of Plassans, who was selected by the Republicans of
that town as their candidate. At the election he only received about
fifteen hundred votes against the rival candidate. M. Delangre. La
Conquete de Plassans.
MAURIN, a notary at Tulettes, who was also Mayor of the Commune. It
was he who drew up the certificate of death of Antoine Macquart from
spontaneous combustion.
MAZAUD, a broker on the Paris Bourse, who succeeded on the death of his
uncle to one of the largest businesses in the city. He was young and
pleasant-looking, with such remarkable activity and intuition that he
soon came into the first rank. He was also assisted by the fact that
he did business with all the great bankers, and was reputed to have a
second cousin employed at the Havas News Agency. After the foundation of
the Universal Bank, he became the official broker of that institution,
and the great gamble in its shares resolved itself into a duel between
him and Jacoby, the one buying for Saccard and the other selling for
Gundermann. Mazaud did not speculate on his own account, but the failure
of the bank led to so many of his clients being unable to meet their
differences that he was ruined. After putting his affairs in order so
far as possible, he committed suicide. L’Argent.
MAZAUD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She married for love, and
brought to her husband a considerable fortune. She had two children, a
girl and a boy. The suicide of her husband completely overwhelmed her
with grief. L’Argent.
MAZEL, a famous master at the School of Arts, and the last rampart of
elegant conventionality. The first year that the Hanging Committee of
the _Salon_ was elected by the artists themselves, Mazel was chosen
president. In the selection of pictures he was susceptible to influence,
and was guided more by the name of the artist than by the quality of the
work. L’Oeuvre.
MECHAIN, proprietor of a racing-stable. Hazard, one of his horses, ran
in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.
MECHAIN (MADAME), a woman in the employment of Busch, the money-lender
and debt collector. She assisted him in tracing debtors, and in the
purchase of securities of bankrupt companies. She was a cousin of
Rosalie Chavaille, mother of Victor Saccard, on whose death she was left
with the boy to bring up. On discovering the paternity of Victor some
years later, she and Busch attempted to blackmail Saccard, but without
success, though they had previously got a considerable sum from Caroline
Hamelin, who wished to save Saccard from annoyance. L’Argent.
MEGOT (JUSTINE), a young maid-servant of Renee Saccard. She had a son
to Maxime Rougon in 1857, and was sent to live in the country with the
child on a small annuity. La Curee.
Three years later she married Anselme Thomas, a harness-maker at
Plassans. They had two children, and would have lived happily but for
the husband’s dislike to her eldest child, Charles Rougon. Her conduct
after marriage was exemplary in every way. Le Docteur Pascal.
MEHUDIN (MADAME), originally came from Rouen to Paris, where she ever
afterwards remained in the fish trade. As her two daughters, Louise
and Claire, got on badly together, she ultimately divided her business
between them, Louise going to the general fish-market, while Claire
installed herself among the fresh-water fish. “From that time the old
mother, although she pretended to have retired from business altogether,
would flit from one stall to the other, still interfering in the selling
of the fish, and causing her daughters continual annoyance by the foul
insolence with which she at times spoke to customers.” Le Ventre de
Paris.
MEHUDIN (CLAIRE), the second daughter of Madame Mehudin, was an idle,
fair-complexioned girl, with a gentle manner. She had, however, a strong
will, and was invariably at loggerheads with others. When Florent became
Inspector at the Fish Market, Claire took his part against her mother
and sister, but afterwards went to the opposite extreme when his
relations with Louise had become friendly. It appeared that she had a
real affection for him, however, as after his arrest she assaulted her
sister in the belief that she had given information to the police. Le
Ventre de Paris.
MEHUDIN (LOUISE), commonly called La Normande. She was a beautiful
woman who had at one time been engaged to be married to a clerk in the
corn-market. He was, however, accidentally killed, leaving Louise with
a son, who was known in the market by the nickname of _Muche_. When
Florent was first appointed Inspector in the Fish Market, Louise, who
had quarrelled with his sister-in-law, Lisa, did everything she could to
annoy him. Afterwards, partly gratified by his kindness to her son,
and partly to annoy Madame Lisa Quenu, she became reconciled to him. Le
Ventre de Paris.
MEINHOLD (MADAME DE), a lady well-known in the Society of the Second
Empire. She was a friend of Madame de Lauwerens and of the Saccards. La
Curee.
MELANIE, cook in the employment of the Gregoires, with whom she had been
for thirty years. Germinal.
MELANIE, the servant of Denizet, the examining magistrate at Rouen. The
latter was anxious for promotion, in order that his old servant might be
better fed and consequently better tempered. La Bete Humane.
MELIE, niece of the Fancheurs. She was a girl from the village of
Bennecourt, who waited on Claude Lantier and Christine in their cottage
there, and greatly amused them by her stupidity. After the death of
the Fancheurs, the inn came into the possession of Melie, but soon lost
favour on account of its dirt and disorder. L’Oeuvre.
MENU (MADEMOISELLE), aunt of Fanny Menu, who lived with her. She had
been an embroideress for thirty years, but her sight failed and she was
obliged to give up work. Fortunately she received a small legacy from a
relative, and on this, added to the earnings of her niece, she was able
to live. Pot-Bouille.
MENU (FANNY), a young girl who was protected by Narcisse Bachelard.
As he on one occasion found her with Gueulin, his nephew, under
compromising circumstances, he insisted on their marriage, and gave her
a handsome dowry. Pot-Bouille.
MERLE, usher at the Council of State. He was appointed by Eugene Rougon,
through the influence of Madame Correur. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
MES BOTTES, the sobriquet of one of Coupeau’s companions. He was a heavy
drinker and an enormous eater, and on account of the latter gift he was
occasionally asked by his friends to join such parties of pleasure as
paid by contract for their entertainment, in order that they might watch
the landlord’s face lengthen at the rapid disappearance of food.
Chiefly for this reason, he was asked to the Coupeaus’ wedding party.
L’Assommoir.
MEYER, owner of a Viennese bakery in Faubourg Poissonniere. The Coupeaus
bought their bread from him in order to please Lantier. L’Assommoir.
MICHELIN (M.), a surveyor of the Municipal Council. “His wife, a pretty
woman, occasionally called to apologize to her husband’s chiefs for his
absence, when he stayed away through ill-health. He was often ill, but
he obtained promotion at each illness.” In order to secure Saccard’s
influence, Michelin assisted him in getting exorbitant prices for land
sold to the city. La Curee.
MICHELIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. By means of her good looks and
a determination to get on at any cost, she secured the influence of her
husband’s superiors, and got rapid promotion for him in the office of
the Municipal Council. La Curee.
MIETTE, the pet name of Marie Chantegreil. (q.v.).
MIETTE, one of the peasant girls of Les Artaud who assisted to decorate
the church for the festival of the Virgin. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
MIGNON, a man who, beginning life as a bricklayer, had amassed a fortune
by speculations in building land during the early days of the Second
Empire. Along with Charrier, his partner, he had many business dealings
with Aristide Saccard. La Curee.
MIGNON, husband of an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. When Rose
married him he was leader of the orchestra at a cafe concert where she
sang. They were the best of friends, and lived together on the earnings
of the wife, who exploited her beauty not less than her talents. Mignon
was always on the best of terms with his wife’s lovers, even assisting
them occasionally to deceive her, with the view of bringing them back in
penitence later on. Nana.
MIGNON (CHARLES), younger son of the preceding. Nana.
MIGNON (HENRI), elder son of Mignon. Along with his brother Charles he
was educated at a boarding-school. Nana.
MIGNON (ROSE), wife of Mignon, was a star actress at the Theatre des
Varietes, being a fine comedienne and an admirable singer. She was dark
and thin with that charming ugliness which is peculiar to the gamins
of Paris. It was she who, annoyed by the rivalry of Nana, one day made
Comte de Muffat aware of the liaison between his wife and Fauchery. She
was, however, a good-hearted woman, and when she learned that Nana had
contracted small-pox she arranged for her removal to the Grand Hotel,
and nursed her there till she died. Nana.
MIGNOT, one of the salesmen in the glove department at “The Ladies’
Paradise.” He entered into a conspiracy with Albert Lhomme to defraud
his employer, and this was successful to a considerable extent before
its discovery; his dismissal followed, but there was no prosecution, as
the firm preferred not to bring its internal affairs before the public
eye. He afterwards got a situation as a traveller, and had even the
boldness to call at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.
MIMI-LA-MORT, a pupil at the College of Plassans, who was also nicknamed
_Le Squelette-Externe_ (The Skeleton Day-Boarder) on account of his
extreme thinness. Against the regulations of the College, he used to
bring in snuff to the other scholars. L’Oeuvre.
MINOUCHE, a white cat which belonged to the Chanteaus. La Joie de Vivre.
MISARD, signalman on the railway at Croix-de-Maufras, between Malaunay
and Barentin. He was a little puny man, with thin, discoloured hair and
beard, and a lean, hollow-cheeked face. His work was mechanical, and he
seemed to carry it through without thought or intelligence. His wife,
a cousin of Jacques Lantier, looked after the level-crossing which
adjoined their house until failing health prevented her from leaving
the house. For this little man, silently and without anger, was slowly
poisoning his wife with a powder which he placed in the salt which she
ate. This crime, patient and cunning, had for its cause a legacy of a
thousand francs left to Aunt Phasie by her father, a legacy which
she had hidden, and refused to hand over to Misard. But the old woman
triumphed in the end, for though Misard searched day and night for the
treasure, he was never able to find it; she died taking her secret with
her. An old woman of the neighbourhood, La Ducloux, whom he had employed
to attend to the level-crossing after the death of his wife, induced him
to marry her by pretending that she had discovered the secret hoard. La
Bete Humaine.
MISARD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Phasie (Aunt).
MORANGE (CHARLOT), son of Silvine Morange and of Goliath Steinberg.
Physically he resembled his father’s race, whom, however, he was brought
up to hate. Hidden behind his mother, he was at three years old a
witness of the murder of his father by the francs-tireurs. La Debacle.
MORANGE (SILVINE), servant with Fouchard at Remilly. Her mother, who was
a worker in a factory at Raucourt, died when she was quite young, and
her godfather, Dr. Dalichamp, got her a situation with Fouchard.
Honore Fouchard fell in love with her, and they became engaged, but the
opposition of the old man was so great that Honore went away from home
and enlisted in the army. During his absence Silvine fell a victim
to the wiles of Goliath Steinberg, and a child, Charlot, was born,
Steinberg having previously disappeared. She had all along loved Honore,
and when he passed through Remilly on his way to fight the Prussians
he forgave her, and promised to marry her on his return. When she heard
that he had been killed in the battle of Sedan, she became nearly mad,
and with Prosper Sambuc made a wild search of the battlefield for her
lover’s body. They found it eventually, and brought it back in a cart
for burial. Goliath Steinberg, who was a German spy, again made advances
to her, and, to save herself and her friends, she betrayed him to the
francs-tireurs, who killed him in her presence. La Debacle.
MORIZOT, a friend of Malignon, who took him to the children’s party at
Deberle’s house. Une Page d’Amour.
MOSER, a speculator on the Paris Bourse. He was a short, yellow-skinned
man, who suffered from liver complaint and was continually lamenting,
in constant dread of some imminent catastrophe. In consequence of his
views, he was known on the Bourse as “bear” Moser. Speculating heavily
against the rise in the shares of the Universal Bank, he was at one time
on the verge of ruin, but the collapse of that institution left him with
an enormous fortune. L’Argent.
MOUCHE (LE PERE), the sobriquet of Michel Fouan, the third son of Joseph
Casimir Fouan, and brother of La Grande, Pere Fouan, and Laure
Badeuil. When his father’s estate was divided, he received the family
dwelling-house and some land, but was dissatisfied with his share and
continued to accuse his brother and sister, though forty years had
elapsed, of having robbed him when the lots were drawn. He had been
long a widower, and, a soured unlucky man, he lived alone with his
two daughters, Lise and Francoise. At sixty years of age he died of an
attack of apoplexy. La Terre.
MOUCHE (FRANCOISE), younger daughter of Michel Fouan, alias Mouche. Her
mother died early, and she was brought up by her sister Lise, to whom
she was devotedly attached. She had a passion for justice, and when she
had said “that is mine and that is yours,” she would have been prepared
to go to the stake in support of her rights. This execration of
injustice gradually led to a change of feeling between the two sisters,
for after the marriage of Lise to Buteau a division of the land should
have been made. Buteau and his wife on various pretexts put off this
division, and it was only on the marriage of Francoise to Jean Macquart
that it was carried out. An entire estrangement between the two families
followed, and constant quarrels took place. After a shameful assault by
Buteau upon Francoise, his wife threw her upon a scythe which lay upon
the ground near by, and the unfortunate girl received injuries from
which she died a few hours later. A sense of loyalty to her family
induced her to conceal the cause of these injuries, which were
attributed to accident. La Terre.
MOUCHE (LISE), elder daughter of Pere Mouche, and sister of the
preceding. She had a son to her cousin Buteau, who, however, did not
marry her for three years afterwards, when the death of her father made
her heiress to some land. She was at first an amiable woman, but grew
hardened under the influence of her husband, and ultimately her whole
desire was to avoid the necessity of a division of her father’s estate
between her sister and herself. Moved by these feelings, her love for
Francoise became transformed into a hatred so intense that she did not
hesitate to assist her husband in attempting to bring about the girl’s
ruin. In the end, having assisted Buteau in a shameful assault on
Francoise, she afterwards threw her upon a scythe which was lying on
the ground near by, inflicting injuries which proved fatal. Pere Fouan,
having been a witness of the assault, was subsequently murdered by Lise
and her husband, to ensure his silence and their own safety. La Terre.
MOULIN, an assistant station-master at Havre along with Roubaud. La Bete
Humaine.
MOULIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a little woman, timid
and weak, who was seldom seen. She had a large family of young children.
La Bete Humaine.
MOUNIER, a tenor singer at the Opera, who gave the cue to Madame
Daigremont at a performance in her house. L’Argent.
MOUQUE, father of Mouquet and of Mouquette. He had charge of the horses
in the Voreux pit, and also acted as caretaker at a ruined mine known
as the Requillart, where the company had given him two rooms to live in.
Almost every evening he received a visit from his old comrade Bonnemort.
Germinal.
MOUQUET, son of the preceding, was an inseparable companion of Zacharie
Maheu, along with whom he worked at the Voreux pit. During the strike he
went out of curiosity to see the attack by the strikers on the soldiers
who were guarding the mines, and was killed by a stray ball which struck
him in the mouth.
MOUQUETTE, daughter of Mouque. She was a putter in the Voreux pit, and
lived with her father at the ruined mine of Requillart, where he was
caretaker. She was present at the attack by the strikers on the soldiers
guarding the Voreux, and when the fatal volley was fired she was killed,
in an instinctive attempt to save Catherine Maheu, before whom she
placed herself. Germinal.
MOURET, a hatter of Plassans who married Ursule Macquart in 1810 and
went to live at Marseilles. He was devoted to his wife, and a year after
her death in 1839, he hanged himself in a cupboard where her dresses
were still suspended. He left three children, Helene, Francois, and
Silvere. La Fortune des Rougon.
MOURET (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Ursule Macquart. La Fortune
des Rougon.
MOURET (DESIREE), born 1844, daughter of Francois Mouret, and sister of
Octave and Serge. La Fortune des Rougon.
She was of feeble intellect, and when a girl of sixteen was still
mentally like a child of eight. When her mother fell under the influence
of Abbe Faujas, and began entirely to neglect her family, Francois
Mouret removed Desiree to the home of her old nurse, in whose custody
she remained. La Conquete de Plassans.
When her brother Serge was appointed priest of Les Artaud, she
accompanied him there. By that time she had grown to be a tall, handsome
girl, but her mind had never developed, and she was still like a young
child. Her love of animals had become a passion, and at her brother’s
home she was able to indulge it to the fullest extent, and to her
complete happiness. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
She accompanied her brother to Saint Eutrope, where he became cure,
and she continued innocent and healthy, like a happy young animal. Le
Docteur Pascal.
MOURET (FRANCOIS), born in 1817, son of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his
wife. He got a situation in the business of his uncle, Pierre Rougon,
whose daughter Marthe he married in 1840. They had three children,
Octave, Serge, and Desiree. On the retirement of his uncle, Mouret
returned to Marseilles and established himself in business there. La
Fortune de Rougon.
During fifteen years of close application on the part of Mouret and his
wife, he made a fortune out of wines, oil, and almonds, and then retired
to Plassans, where he lived on his means, making an occasional deal in
wine or oil when a chance occurred. He was not on good terms with his
wife’s relations, and placed himself politically in opposition to them
by supporting the Legitimist candidate, the Marquis de Lagrifoul. In
1858, having two vacant rooms in his house, he was induced by the Abbe
Bourrette to let them to Abbe Faujas, a priest who had been sent to
Plassans by the Government to undermine the existing clerical influence
there, which had been exercised in support of the Marquis de
Lagrifoul. Mouret was a man of narrow and restricted intellect, and his
peculiarities became more and more marked as the Abbe Faujas gradually
came to dominate the household and induce Madame Mouret to neglect her
husband and family for the service of the Church. By degrees Mouret
came to be regarded as insane, and his wife having had several epileptic
attacks, he was accused of having caused the injuries she had really
inflicted on herself. His wrongful removal to the asylum at Les Tulettes
followed, and confinement soon confirmed the insanity which before had
only threatened. In 1864, his uncle, Antoine Macquart, in order to annoy
the Rougons contrived his escape from the asylum, and he returned by
night to his home at Plassans. Finding it in the occupancy of Abbe
Faujas and his relatives, he was overcome by the fury of madness, and
set fire to the house in several places. So thoroughly did he do his
work that all the inmates, including himself, perished in the flames. La
Conquete de Plassans.
MOURET (MADAME MARTHE), wife of the preceding. See Marthe Rougon.
MOURET (HELENE), born 1824, daughter of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his
wife. La Fortune des Rougon.
When seventeen years old she married M. Grandjean, the son of a
sugar-refiner of Marseilles, whose family were bitterly opposed to the
match on account of her poverty. The wedding was a secret one, and
the young couple had difficulty making ends meet until an uncle died,
leaving them ten thousand francs a year. “It was then that Grandjean,
within whom an intense hatred of Marseilles was growing, had decided on
coming to Paris, to live there for good.” The day after their arrival
Grandjean was seized with illness, and after eight days he died, leaving
his wife with one daughter, a young girl of ten. Helene, who was a woman
of singular beauty, had no friends in Paris except Abbe Jouve and his
half-brother M. Rambaud, but from them she received much kindness.
Her daughter Jeanne was far from strong, having inherited much of the
hereditary neurosis of her mother’s family, along with a consumptive
tendency from that of her father. A sudden illness of the girl led to an
acquaintance with Doctor Deberle, and this ripened into love between
him and Helene, though considerations of duty kept them apart. Meantime,
Helene had discovered the beginnings of an intrigue between Madame
Deberle and M. Malignon, and in order to break it off was herself placed
in such a compromising position towards Doctor Deberle that he became
her lover. The discovery of the fact by Jeanne, whose jealous love of
her mother amounted to a mania, led to the child’s illness and death,
and to her mother’s bitter repentance. Two years later Helene married M.
Rambaud, and went to live at Marseilles. Une Page d’Amour.
She lived for many years, very happy, and idolized by her husband, in a
house which he owned near Marseilles, close to the seashore. She had no
children by her second marriage. Le Docteur Pascal.
MOURET (OCTAVE), born 1840, son of Francois Mouret. La Fortune des
Rougon.
A young man of high spirits and somewhat idle habits, he made little
progress at college, and failed to pass the examinations for a degree.
His father was much annoyed at this, and sent him off to Marseilles to
enter a commercial business. The reports regarding him were, however,
unsatisfactory, as it appeared that he showed no inclination to
settle to hard work and was living a dissolute life.[*] La Conquete de
Plassans.
After the death of his parents, Serge Mouret, who was about to take Holy
Orders, renounced his share of his father’s fortune in favour of his
brother Octave. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
He was appointed a member of the family council which nominally had
charge of Pauline Quenu’s fortune. La Joie de Vivre.
After three years at Marseilles he came to Paris, where he secured an
appointment as assistant at “The Ladies’ Paradise” through the influence
of the Campardons, who were old friends of his mother. He formed the
project of advancing his prospects by making love to Madame Hedouin,
wife of his employer, but she gave him no encouragement. He resigned his
situation, and went as salesman to Auguste Vabre, a neighbouring silk
merchant. Vabre’s wife (nee Berthe Josserand) was not on good terms with
her husband, and a liaison was formed between her and Octave Mouret,
which subsisted for some time before it was discovered by Vabre, who
received information from Rachael, his maid-servant. Mouret returned to
his former employment at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” and M. Hedouin having
died in the interval, he married the widow a few months afterwards. He
had developed keen business ability, with large ideas, and under his
management the shop became one of the most important in the district.
Pot-Bouille.
In Mouret’s hands the business of “The Ladies’ Paradise” continued to
grow, and repeated extensions of the building became necessary. While
one of these was in progress, Madame Mouret, who was inspecting the
work, fell into a hole, and as a result of her injuries died three
days afterwards. Mouret remained a widower, and devoted himself to the
extension of his business, though it was believed that a liaison with
Madame Desforges was not the only entanglement of its kind. On the
introduction of Madame Desforges he came to know Baron Hartmann,
director of the Credit Immobilier, who became interested in him, and
eventually found the money necessary to carry out the vast schemes of
extension which he had long had in mind. By this time Denise Baudu
had come to “The Ladies’ Paradise” as a saleswoman, and from the first
Mouret had taken an interest in her. This was probably increased by the
fact that she resisted all his advances, and refused all his offers.
Ultimately he became so infatuated by her that he asked her to marry
him, which she agreed to do. By this time the success of “The Ladies’
Paradise” had become triumphant, and the smaller traders of the
district were being crushed out of existence, and driven one by one into
bankruptcy. Au Bonheur des Dames.
He assisted at the burial of his cousin, Claude Lantier the artist.
By this time he had become very rich, was decorated with the Legion
of Honour, and was desirous of giving the impression of an enlightened
taste for art. L’Oeuvre.
Octave Mouret, whose immense fortune continued to increase, had towards
the end of 1872 a second child by his wife Denise Baudu, whom he adored,
though he again began to lead a somewhat irregular life. Their little
girl was puny, but the younger child, a boy, took after his mother, and
grew magnificently. Le Docteur Pascal.
[*] It is interesting to note that by a curious oversight M.
Zola in _Pot-Bouille_ refers to Octave Mouret as having
passed the examination for his bachelor’s degree before
leaving Plassans, and states that at Marseilles the lad
showed a passion for business life, being able during his
three years’ stay there to make a sum of five thousand
francs (two hundred pounds), which he took with him to
Paris.
MOURET (MADAME CAROLINE), first wife of the preceding. See Madame
Caroline Hedouin.
MOURET (MADAME DENISE), second wife of Octave Mouret. See Denise Baudu.
MOURET (SERGE), born 1841, son of Francois Mouret. La Fortune des
Rougon.
He was a young man of nervous temperament and of somewhat delicate
health. Educated at Plassans, he took his degree at the college there,
and it was intended that he should go to Paris to study for the bar. The
state of his health caused his departure to be delayed, and meantime he,
like his mother, fell under the influence of Abbe Faujas. Ultimately he
decided to abandon the study of the law in order to become a priest, and
against the wishes of his father he entered the Seminary at Plassans. La
Conquete de Plassans.
After being ordained to the priesthood he was appointed cure of Les
Artaud, a small village in Provence, to whose degenerate inhabitants
he ministered with small success. From his parents he had inherited
the family taint of the Rougon-Macquarts, which in him took the form of
morbid religious enthusiasm bordering on hysteria. Brain fever resulted,
and bodily recovery left the priest without a mental past. Dr. Pascal
Rougon, his uncle, in the hope of saving his reason, removed him to
Paradou, the neglected demesne of a ruined mansion, where he left him in
the care of Albine, the keeper’s niece. Here Serge slowly recovered
his health, though the memory of his past was gone, and his mental
development was that of a boy. In that enchanted garden, lush with
foliage and with the scent of flowers, the drama of life unfolded, and
Serge, loving Albine, and oblivious of his vows unwittingly broke them.
A chance meeting with Brother Archangais, and a glimpse of the
world outside the Paradou, recalled to Serge the recollection of his
priesthood, and, filled with horror, he tore himself from Albine and
returned to his cure of souls. A fierce struggle between love and duty
followed, but in the end the Church conquered, and Albine was left to
die, while Serge threw himself even more feverishly than before into the
observances of his faith. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
Sent later to Saint-Eutrope, at the bottom of a marshy gorge, he was
cloistered there with his sister Desiree. He showed a fine humility,
refusing all preferment from his bishop, waiting for death like a holy
man, averse to remedies, although he was already in the early stage of
phthisis. Le Docteur Pascal.
MOURET (SILVERE), born 1834, son of Mouret, the hatter, and Ursule
Macquart, his wife. After the death of his father, Silvere went to live
with his grandmother Adelaide Fouque. Though poorly educated, he was
fond of reading, and his lonely life with this old half-imbecile woman
increased his own tendency to visionary dreamings. “He was predisposed
to Utopian ideas by certain hereditary influences; his grandmother’s
nervous disorders became in him a chronic enthusiasm, striving after
everything that was grandiose and impossible.” His Uncle Antoine
Macquart, who hoped through him to annoy the Rougons, encouraged him
in his Republican views, and after the _Coup d’Etat_ he joined the
insurrection which then arose. Miette Chantegreil, a young girl to whom
he was tenderly devoted, accompanied him, but was shot in the attack by
regular troops. He was taken prisoner, and having been brought back to
Plassans, was executed there. La Fortune des Rougon.
MOUSSEAU (ABBE), a priest at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.
MOURGUE, a peasant of Poujols, who, armed with a fork, had taken part
in the insurrectionary rising against the _Coup d’Etat_. He was made
prisoner, and was led to Plassans, tied by the arm to Silvere Mouret,
who had also been arrested. He was shot at the same time as Silvere by
Rengade, the gendarme. La Fortune des Rougon.
MOUTON, a cat which belonged to the Quenus, and was a favourite of
little Pauline. Le Ventre de Paris.
MUCHE, the name by which Louise Mehudin’s son was known in the market.
He was befriended by Florent, who taught him to read and write. Le
Ventre de Paris.
MUFFAT (MAMAN), wife of General Muffat de Beuville, who was created
Comte by Napoleon I. She was an insufferable old woman, who was always
hand-in-glove with the priests, and had an authoritative manner, which
bent every one to her will. Her daughter-in-law, Comtesse Sabine, was
entirely under her dominion, and was forced by her to lead an almost
cloistered existence. Nana.
MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (COMTE), son of the preceding and of General Muffat
de Beuville. Brought up in the strictest manner by his mother, his life
was one of cold and severe propriety, and being regarded with favour
at the Court, he was appointed Chamberlain to the Empress. He married
Sabine de Chouard, by whom he had one daughter, Estelle. For seventeen
years of married life his career was a pattern of all the virtues, until
a chance meeting with Nana led to an infatuation amounting to mania.
Everything was sacrificed to her, and no degradation to his self-respect
seemed too high a price to pay for her favour. Disgusted for a time by
her liaison with Fontan, he left her, and turned for amusement to Rose
Mignon, but the infatuation for Nana reasserted itself, and he recovered
her good graces by inducing Bordenave to give her a part which she
greatly desired in _La Petite Duchesse_, a play by Fauchery. He spent
vast sums upon Nana, giving her a magnificent house in the Avenue de
Villiers. Her influence over him became complete, and he even accepted
Daguenet, her former lover, as his son-in-law. He overlooked too his
wife’s numerous liaisons, as he required her signature to enable him to
raise still more money for Nana. Muffat’s means were coming to an end,
however, and the scandal reached such a height that he was forced to
resign his position at the Tuileries. It was only when he learned that
Nana was carrying on a liaison with his own father-in-law, the aged
Marquis de Chouard, that he finally broke with her, and coming once more
under the influence of Venot, he sought forgetfulness of the past in an
exaggerated devotion to the service of the Church. Nana.
MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (COMTESSE), wife of the preceding. See Sabine de
Chouard. Nana.
MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (ESTELLE), daughter of the preceding. At sixteen she
was thin and insignificant, seldom speaking, but after her marriage to
Daguenet, she exhibited a will of iron, and completely dominated her
husband. Nana.
MULLER (BLANCHE), a favourite actress at the Theatre des Varietes. La
Curee.
MUSSY (M. DE) was an admirer of Renee Saccard, and aspired to be her
lover. He received an appointment on the staff of the London embassy. La
Curee.
N
NANA. See Anna Coupeau.
NANA, name of a filly in the racing stable of Vandeuvres. She had been
beaten in several races, and when run for the Grand Prix de Paris was
looked on as an outsider. The success of the filly by fraudulent means
led to the disqualification of the owner. Nana.
NAPOLEON III, Emperor of the French. Referred to in _Son Excellence
Eugene Rougon_ and in _La Debacle_.
NATHANSOHN, a stockbroker. He came from Besancon, where his father was a
watchmaker. He was very fortunate in his speculations, and soon became
a man of consequence. His Jewish caution prevented him from becoming
involved with Saccard in the affairs of the Universal Bank, and when
that institution collapsed he was in a position to snatch a fortune from
its ruin. L’Argent.
NAUD, a shoemaker in Rue d’Antin who felt severely the competition of
Octave Mouret’s great shop. Au Bonheur des Dames.
NAUDET, a cousin of the Quenus. He was a member of Pauline’s family
council, and consented to her emancipation. La Joie de Vivre.
NAUDET, a picture-dealer who for some years had been revolutionizing the
trade. He put aside the old cautious methods, the watching for pictures
by beginners, bought for ten francs and sold for fifteen. To judge by
his appearance he might have been a nobleman, and his habits were in
keeping; he was, in fact, a pure speculator in pictures, caring nothing
for art. But he unfailingly scented success; he guessed what artists
ought to be taken up, not the ones likely to develop the genius of
a great painter, but the one whose deceptive talent, set off by a
pretended display of audacity, would command a premium in the market. He
speculated, in fact, on the ignorance and vanity of amateurs. It was
he who invented Fagerolles as a fashion, and made large sums out of his
works. His success in forcing up the prices of pictures turned his
head to some extent, and he even talked of crushing out all the other
dealers. The exaggerated rise in the price of pictures came, as was
inevitable, to an end, and in the fall which followed Naudet was
practically ruined. L’Oeuvre.
NEGREL (MADAME), sister of M. Hennebeau, the manager of the Montsou
mines. She was married to a captain, and after she became a widow lived
at Avignon on a small income, contenting herself with little in order
that she might properly educate her son Paul. Germinal.
NEGREL (PAUL), son of the preceding. He was an engineer at the Voreux
pit, an appointment which he received from his uncle, M. Hennebeau, with
whom he lived, being treated as one of the family. Madame Hennebeau,
notwithstanding a liaison which subsisted between her and Negrel,
planned for him a marriage with Cecile Gregoire, an arrangement which
was only prevented by the murder of the girl by old Bonnemort. Negrel
posed as taking no interest in the affairs of practical life, but in the
terrible disaster at the Voreux pit he threw himself into the work of
rescue with an ardour beyond praise. Germinal.
NOEMI, an actress at the Vaudeville. Madame Deberle admired the
realistic manner in which she died in a piece she played. Une Page
d’Amour.
NORINE, a vendor of salted provisions, who went around the neighbourhood
of Cloyes. La Terre.
NORMANDE (LA), the sobriquet of Louise Mehudin. Le Ventre de Paris.
NOUGAREDE, an old senator who was on the point of asking the hand of
Clorinde Balbi after having seen her at a ball in the character of Diana
the huntress. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
O
OCTAVE, the favourite lover of Blanche de Sivry. Nana.
ORVIEDO (PRINCE D’), came to Paris from Spain with an immense fortune
made on the Stock Exchange. There were strange stories told regarding
the sources of his wealth; stories not more creditable than those told
of the armed bandits of former days, for his robberies, though less
open, were more dangerous. For twenty years he took his share of booty
in all the great financial swindles. He ultimately died of apoplexy.
L’Argent.
ORVIEDO (PRINCESS D’), was for a time one of the most curious
notabilities of the Second Empire. At the command of her mother, the
Duchesse de Combeville, she married the Prince in ignorance of the
source of his regal fortune, estimated at three hundred millions of
francs (twelve millions sterling). It was said that for twenty years
the Prince had appropriated the lion’s share of every great piece of
financial rascality on the Bourses of France and Spain. After his sudden
death from a stroke of apoplexy, the Princess shut up the great house
in the Rue Saint-Lazare and retired with a maid to three rooms on the
second floor, where she lived the life of a recluse. From thenceforth
she lived solely for deeds of charity on a colossal scale. During five
years she founded the St. Mary’s Infant Asylum, the St. Joseph’s Orphan
Asylum, an Asylum for the aged at Chatillon, a hospital in the suburbs
of Paris, and an institution known as _L’Oeuvre du Travail_, in which
were boarded three hundred waifs and strays from the streets of Paris.
On these foundations, and on other charities, she spent in five years
over a hundred millions of francs. For some time Saccard assisted her
in a disinterested way in carrying out her schemes, and later he rented
from her the premises in which he started the Universal Bank. As time
went on, the Princess seemed to be swayed more and more by the desire
of restitution to the poor of the uttermost remnants of her husband’s
fortune. In the end, when she had divided it all, she retired to a
convent of Carmelites, walled off from the world. L’Argent.
OZIL, a pointsman at the junction for Dieppe, between the tunnel and the
station of Malaunay. He was in love with Flore, who for a time seemed
to encourage him. He was dismissed from his post on account of grave
negligence caused by Flore, who distracted his attention in order
that he might allow the Havre express to dash into a train loaded with
ballast. The accident was only averted by a new automatic signalling
apparatus. La Bete Humaine.
P
PACHE, a soldier in the 106th regiment of the line, in the squad of
Corporal Jean Macquart. He brought from his native village strong
religious principles, and was in the regular habit of saying his prayers
outside his tent. The example of his companions, however, made him a
bad soldier, and during the battle of 1st September, 1870, he left the
ranks, and took refuge in a tavern. After the capitulation of Sedan, he
was imprisoned along with his regiment on the promontory of Iges. Moved
by famine, he concealed some bread from his companions; but having been
denounced by Chouteau, he refused to share the spoil, and was murdered
by Lapoulle, who stabbed him with a knife. La Debacle.
PAILLOT, a farmer in the neighbourhood of Montsou. Germinal.
PALETTE (LA MERE), a poultry-seller at the Central Markets in Paris. Le
Ventre de Paris.