BEAUPRE (Fanny), an actress at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin,
Paris, time of Charles X. Young and beautiful, in 1825, she made a
name for herself in the role of marquise in a melodrama entitled "La
Famille d'Anglade." At this time she had replaced Coralie, then dead,
in the affections of Camusot the silk-merchant. It was at Fanny
Beaupre's that Oscar Husson, one of the clerks of lawyer Desroches,
lost in gaming the sum of five hundred francs belonging to his
employer, and that he was discovered lying dead-drunk on a sofa by his
uncle Cardot. [A Start in Life.] In 1829 Fanny Beaupre, for a money
consideration, posed as the best friend of the Duc d'Herouville.
[Modeste Mignon.] In 1842, after his liaison with Mme. de la Baudraye,
Lousteau lived maritally with her. [The Muse of the Department.] A
frequent inmate of the mansion magnificently fitted up for Esther
Gobseck by the Baron de Nucingen, she knew all the fast set of the
years 1829 and 1830. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
BEAUSEANT (Marquis and Comte de), the father and eldest brother of the
Vicomte de Beauseant, husband of Claire de Bourgogne. [The Deserted
Woman.] In 1819, the marquis and the comte dwelt together in their
house, rue Saint-Dominique, Paris. [Father Goriot.] While the
Revolution was on, the marquis had emigrated. The Abbe de Marolles had
dealings with him. [An Episode under the Terror.]
BEAUSEANT (Marquise de). In 1824 a Marquise de Beauseant, then rather
old, is found to have dealings with the Chaulieus. It was probably the
widow of the marquis of this name, and the mother of the Comte and
Vicomte de Beauseant. [Letters of Two Brides.] The Marquise de
Beauseant was a native of Champagne, coming of a very old family. [The
Deserted Woman.]
BEAUSEANT (Vicomte de), husband of Claire de Bourgogne. He understood
the relations of his wife with Miguel d'Ajuda-Pinto, and, whether he
liked it or not, he respected this species of morganatic alliance
recognized by society. The Vicomte de Beauseant had his residence in
Paris on the rue de Grenelle in 1819. At that time he kept a dancer
and liked nothing better than high living. He became a marquis on the
death of his father and eldest brother. He was a polished man,
courtly, methodical, and ceremonious. He insisted upon living
selfishly. His death would have allowed Mme. de Beauseant to wed
Gaston de Nueil. [Father Goriot. The Deserted Woman.]
BEAUSEANT (Vicomtesse de), born Clair de Bourgogne, in 1792. Wife of
the preceding and cousin of Eugene de Rastignac. Of a family almost
royal. Deceived by her lover, Miguel d'Ajuda-Pinto, who, while
continuing his intimacy with her, asked and obtained the hand of
Berthe de Rochefide, the vicomtesse left Paris secretly before this
wedding and on the morning following a grand ball which was given at
her home where she shone in all her pride and splendor. In 1822 this
"deserted woman" had lived for three years in the most rigid seclusion
at Courcelles near Bayeux. Gaston de Nueil, a young man of three and
twenty, who had been sent to Normandy for his health, succeeded in
making her acquaintance, was immediately smitten with her and, after a
long seige, became her lover. This was at Geneva, whither she had
fled. Their intimacy lasted for nine years, being broken by the
marriage of the young man. In 1819 the Vicomtesse de Beauseant
received at Paris the most famous "high-rollers" of the day
--Malincour, Ronquerolles, Maxime de Trailles, Marsay, Vandenesse,
together with an intermingling of the most elegant dames, as Lady
Brandon, the Duchesse de Langeais, the Comtesse de Kergarouet, Mme. de
Serizy, the Duchesse Carigliano, the Comtesse Ferraud, Mme. de Lantry,
the Marquise d'Aiglemont, Mme. Firmiani, the Marquise de Listomere,
the Marquise d'Espard and the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse. She was
equally intimate with Grandlieu, and the General de Montriveau.
Rastignac, then poor at the time of his start in the world, also
received cards to her receptions. [Father Goriot. The Deserted Woman.
Albert Savarus.]
BEAUSSIER, a bourgeois of Issoudun under the Restoration. Upon seeing
Joseph Bridau in the diligence, while the artist and his mother were
on a journey in 1822, he remarked that he would not care to meet him
at night in the corner of a forest--he looked so much like a
highwayman. That same evening Beaussier, accompanied by his wife, came
to call at Hochon's in order to get a nearer view of the painter. [A
Bachelor's Establishment.]
BEAUSSIER the younger, known as Beaussier the Great; son of the
preceding and one of the Knights of Idlesse at Issoudun, commanded by
Maxence Gilet, under the Restoration. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
BEAUVISAGE, physician of the Convent des Carmelites at Blois, time of
Louis XVIII. He was known by Louise de Chaulieu and by Renee de
Maucombe, who were reared in the convent. According to Louise de
Chaulieu, he certainly belied his name. [Letters of Two Brides.]
BEAUVISAGE, at one time tenant of the splendid farm of Bellache,
pertaining to the Gondreville estate at Arcis-sur-Aube. The father of
Phileas Beauvisage. Died about the beginning of the nineteenth
century. [The Gondreville Mystery. The Member for Arcis.]
BEAUVISAGE (Madame), wife of the preceding. She survived him for quite
a long period and helped her son Phileas win his success. [The Member
for Arcis.]
BEAUVISAGE (Phileas), son of Beauvisage the farmer. Born in 1792. A
hosier at Arcis-sur-Aube during the Restoration. Mayor of the town in
1839. After a preliminary defeat he was elected deputy at the time
when Sallenauve sent in his resignation, in 1841. An ardent admirer of
Crevel whose affectations he aped. A millionaire and very vain, he
would have been able, according to Crevel, to advance Mme. Hulot, for
a consideration, the two hundred thousand francs of which that unhappy
lady stood in so dire a need about 1842. [Cousin Betty. The Member for
Arcis.]
BEAUVISAGE (Madame), born Severine Grevin in 1795. Wife of Phileas
Beauvisage, whom she kept in complete subjugation. Daughter of Grevin
the notary of Arcis-sur-Aube, Senator Malin de Gondreville's intimate
friend. She inherited her father's marvelous faculty of discretion;
and, though diminutive in stature, reminded one forcibly, in her face
and ways, of Mlle. Mars. [The Member for Arcis.]
BEAUVISAGE (Cecile-Renee), only daughter of Phileas Beauvisage and
Severine Grevin. Born in 1820. Her natural father was the Vicomte
Melchior de Chargeboeuf who was sub-prefect of Arcis-sur-Aube at the
commencement of the Restoration. She looked exactly like him, besides
having his aristocratic airs. [The Member for Arcis.]
BEAUVOIR (Charles-Felix-Theodore, Chevalier de), cousin of the
Duchesse de Maille. A Chouan prisoner of the Republic in the chateau
de l'Escarpe in 1799. The hero of a tale of marital revenge related by
Lousteau, in 1836, to Mme. de la Baudraye, the story being obtained
--so the narrator said--from Charles Nodier. [The Muse of the
Department.]