FLORVILLE (La), actress at the Panorama-Dramatique in 1821. Among her
contemporaries were Coralie, Florine, and Bouffe, or Vignol. On the
first night performance of "The Alcade," she played in a
curtain-raiser, "Bertram." For a few days she was the mistress of a
Russian prince who took her to Saint-Mande, paying her manager a good
sum for her absence from the theatre. [A Distinguished Provincial at
Paris.]
FOEDORA (Comtesse), born about 1805. Of Russian lower class origin and
wonderfully beautiful. Espoused perhaps morganatically by a great lord
of the land. Left a widow she reigned over Paris in 1827. Supposed to
have an income of eighty thousand francs. She received in her
drawing-rooms all the notables of the period, and there "appeared all
the works of fiction that were not published anywhere else." Raphael
de Valentin was presented to the countess by Rastignac and fell
desperately in love with her. But he left her house one day never to
return, being definitely persuaded that she was "a woman without a
heart." Her memory was cruel, and her address enough to drive a
diplomat to despair. Although the Russian ambassador did not receive
her, she had entry into the set of Mme. de Serizy; visited with Mme.
de Nucingen and Mme. de Restaud; received the Duchesse de Carigliano,
the haughtiest of the Bonapartist clique. She had listened to many
young dandies, and to the son of a peer of France, who had offered her
their names in exchange for her fortune. [The Magic Skin.]
FONTAINE (Madame), fortune teller, Paris, rue Vielle-du-Temple, time
of Louis Philippe. At one time a cook. Born in 1767. Earned a
considerable amount of money, but previously had lost heavily in a
lottery. After the suppression of this game of chance she saved up for
the benefit of a nephew. In her divinations Mme. Fontaine made use of
a giant toad named Astaroth, and of a black hen with bristling
feathers, called Cleopatra or Bilouche. These two animals caught
Gazonal's eye in 1845, when in company with De Lora and Bixiou he
visited the fortune-teller's. The Southerner, however, asked only a
five-franc divination, while in the same year Mme. Cibot, who came to
consult her on an important matter, had to pay a hundred francs.
According to Bixiou, "a third of the lorettes, a fourth of the
statesmen and a half of the artists" consulted Mme. Fontaine. She was
the Egeria of a minister, and also looked for "a tidy fortune," which
Bilouche had promised her. [The Unconscious Humorists. Cousin Pons.]
FONTAINE (Comte de), one of the leaders of the Vendee, in 1799, and
then known as Grand-Jacques. [The Chouans.] One of the confidential
advisers of Louis XVIII. Field marshal, councillor of state,
comptroller of the extraordinary domains of the realm, deputy and peer
of France under Charles X.; decorated with the cross of the Legion of
Honor and the Order of Saint Louis. Head of one of the oldest houses
of Poitou. Had married a Mlle. de Kergarouet, who had no fortune, but
who came of a very old Brittany family related to the Rohans. Was the
father of three sons and three daughters. The oldest son became
president of a court, married the daughter of a multi-millionaire salt
merchant. The second son, a lieutenant-general, married Mlle. Monegod,
a rich banker's daughter whom the aunt of Duc d'Herouville had refused
to consider for her nephew. [Modeste Mignon.] The third son, director
of a Paris municipality, then director-general in the Department of
Finance, married the only daughter of M. Grossetete, receiver-general
at Bourges. Of the three daughters, the first married M. Planat at
Baudry, receiver-general; the second married Baron de Villaine, a
magistrate of bourgeois origin ennobled by the king; the third,
Emilie, married her old uncle, the Comte de Kergarouet, and after his
death, Marquis Charles de Vandenesse. [The Ball at Sceaux.] The Comte
de Fontaine and his family were present at the Birotteau ball, and
after the perfumer's bankruptcy procured a situation for him. [Cesar
Birotteau.] He died in 1824. [The Government Clerks.]
FONTAINE (Baronne de), born Anna Grossetete, only daughter of the
receiver-general of Bourges. Attended the school of Mlles. Chamarolles
with Dinah Piedefer, who became Mme. de la Baudraye. Thanks to her
fortune she married the third son of the Comte de Fontaine. She
removed to Paris after her marriage and kept up correspondence with
her old school-mate who now lived at Sancerre. She kept her informed
as to the prevailing styles. Later at the first performance of one of
Nathan's dramas, about the middle of the reign of Louis Philippe, Anna
de Fontaine affected not to recognize this same Mme. de la Baudraye,
then the known mistress of Etienne Lousteau. [The Muse of the
Department.]
FONTANIEU (Madame), friend and neighbor of Mme. Vernier at Vouvray in
1831. The jolliest gossip and greatest joker in town. She was present
at the interview between the insane Margaritis and Felix Gaudissart,
when the drummer was so much at sea. [Gaudissart the Great.]
FONTANON (Abbe), born about 1770. Canon of Bayeux cathedral in the
beginning of the nineteenth century when he "guided the consciences"
of Mme. and Mlle. Bontems. In November, 1808, he got himself enrolled
with the Parisian clergy, hoping thus to obtain a curacy and
eventually a bishopric. He became again the confessor of Mlle.
Bontems, now the wife of M. de Granville, and contributed to the
trouble of that household by the narrowness of his provincial
Catholicism and his inflexible bigotry. He finally disclosed to the
magistrate's wife the relations of Granville with Caroline Crochard.
He also brought sorrow to the last moments of Mme. Crochard, the
mother. [A Second Home.] In December, 1824, at Saint-Roch he
pronounced the funeral oration of Baron Flamet de la Billardiere. [The
Government Clerks.] Previous to 1824 Abbe Fontanon was vicar at the
church of Saint Paul, rue Saint-Antoine. [Honorine.] Confessor of Mme.
de Lanty in 1839, and always eager to pry into family secrets, he
undertook an affair with Dorlange-Sallenauve in the interest of
Mariannina de Lanty. [The Member for Arcis.]
FORTIN (Madame), mother of Mme. Marneffe. Mistress of General de
Montcornet, who had lavished money on her during his visits to Paris
which she had entirely squandered, under the Empire, in the wildest
dissipations. For twenty years she queened it, but died in poverty
though still believing herself rich. Her daughter inherited from her
the tastes of a courtesan. [Cousin Betty.]
FORTIN (Valerie), daughter of preceding and of General de Montcornet.
(See Crevel, Madame.)
FOSSEUSE (La), orphan daughter of a grave-digger, whence the
nick-name. Born in 1807. Frail, nervous, independent, retiring at first,
she tried hiring out, but then fell into vagrant habits. Reared in a
village on the outskirts of Grenoble, where Dr. Benassis came to live
during the Restoration, she became an object of special attention on
the part of the physician who became keenly interested in the gentle,
loyal, peculiar and impressionable creature. La Fosseuse though homely
was not without charm. She may have loved her benefactor. [The Country
Doctor.]
FOUCHE (Joseph), Duc d'Otrante, born near Nantes in 1753; died in
exile at Trieste in 1820. Oratorian, member of the National
Convention, councillor of state, minister of police under the
Consulate and Empire, also chief of the department of the Interior and
of the government of the Illyrian provinces, and president of the
provisional government in 1815. In September, 1799, Colonel Hulot
said: "Bernadotte, Carnot, even citizen Talleyrand--all have left us.
In a word we have with us but a single good patriot, friend Fouche,
who holds everything by means of the police. There's a man for you!"
Fouche took especial care of Corentin who was perhaps his natural son.
He sent him to Brittany during an uprising in the year VIII, to
accompany and direct Mlle. de Verneuil, who was commissioned to betray
and capture the Marquis de Montauran, the Chouan leader. [The
Chouans.] In 1806 he caused Senator Malin de Gondreville to be
kidnapped by masked men in order that the Chateau de Gondreville might
be searched for important papers which, however, proved as
compromising for Fouche as for the senator. This kidnapping, which was
charged against Michu, the Simeuses and the Hauteserres, led to the
execution of the first and the ruin of the others. In 1833, Marsay,
president of the ministerial chamber, while explaining the mysteries
of the affair to the Princesse de Cadignan, paid this tribute to
Fouche: "A genius dark, deep and extraordinary, little understood but
certainly the peer of Philip II., Tiberius or Borgia." [The
Gondreville Mystery.] In 1809 Fouche and Peyrade saved France in
connection with the Walcheren episode; but on the return of the
Emperor from the Wagram campaign Fouche was rewarded by dismissal.
[Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
FOUQUEREAU, concierge to M. Jules Desmarets, stock-broker, rue Menars
in 1820. Specially employed to look after Mme. Desmarets. [The
Thirteen.]
FOURCHON, retired farmer of the Ronquerolles estate, near the forest
of Aigues, Burgundy. Had also been a schoolmaster and a mail-carrier.
An old man and a confirmed toper since his wife's death. At Blangy in
1823 he performed the three-fold duties of public clerk for three
districts, assistant to a justice of the peace, and clarionet player.
At the same time he followed the trade of rope-maker with his
apprentice Mouche, the natural son of one of his natural daughters.
But his chief income was derived from catching otters. Fourchon was
the father-in-law of Tonsard, who ran the Grand-I-Vert tavern. [The
Peasantry.]
FOY (Maximilien-Sebastien), celebrated general and orator born in 1775
at Ham; died at Paris in 1825. [Cesar Birotteau.] In 1821, General
Foy, while in the shop of Dauriat talking with an editor of the
"Constitutionnel" and the manager of "La Minerve," noticed the beauty
of Lucien de Rubempre, who had come in with Lousteau to dispose of
some sonnets. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.]
FRAISIER, born about 1814, probably at Mantes. Son of a cobbler; an
advocate and man of business at No. 9 rue de la Perle, Paris, in
1844-45. Began as copy-clerk at Couture's office. After serving
Desroches as head-clerk for six years he bought the practice of
Levroux, an advocate of Mantes, where he had occasion to meet Leboeuf,
Vinet, Vatinelle and Bouyonnet. But he soon had to sell out and leave
town on account of violating professional ethics. Whereupon he opened
up a consultation office in Paris. A friend of Dr. Poulain who
attended the last days of Sylvain Pons, he gave crafty counsel to Mme.
Cibot, who coveted the chattels of the old bachelor. He also assured
the Camusot de Marvilles that they should be the legatees of the old
musician despite the faithful Schmucke. In 1845 he succeeded Vitel as
justice of the peace; the coveted place being secured for him by
Camusot de Marville, as a fee for his services. In Normandy he again
acted successfully for this family. Fraisier was a dried-up little man
with a blotched face and an unpleasant odor. At Mantes a certain Mme.
Vatinelle nevertheless "made eyes at him"; and he lived at Marais with
a servant-mistress, Dame Sauvage. But he missed more than one
marriage, not being able to win either his client, Mme. Florimond, or
the daughter of Tabareau. To tell the truth De Marville advised him to
leave the latter alone. [Cousin Pons.]
FRANCHESSINI (Colonel), born about 1789, served in the Imperial Guard,
and was one of the most dashing colonels of the Restoration, but was
forced to resign on account of a slur on his character. In 1808, to
provide for foolish expenditures into which a woman led him, he forged
certain notes. Jacques Collin--Vautrin--took the crime to himself and
was sent to the galleys for several years. In 1819 Franchessini killed
young Taillefer in a duel, at the instigation of Vautrin. The
following year he was with Lady Brandon--probably his mistress--at the
grand ball given by the Vicomtesse de Beauseant, just before her
flight. In 1839, Franchessini was a leading member of the Jockey club,
and held the rank of colonel in the National Guard. Married a rich
Irishwoman who was devout and charitable and lived in one of the
finest mansions of the Breda quarter. Elected deputy, and being an
intimate friend of Rastignac, he evinced open hostility for Sallenauve
and voted against his being seated in order to gratify Maxime de
Trailles. [Father Goriot. The Member for Arcis.]
FRANCOIS (Abbe), cure of the parish at Alencon in 1816. "A Cheverus on
a small scale" he had taken the constitutional oath during the
Revolution and for this reason was despised by the "ultras" of the
town although he was a model of charity and virtue. Abbe Francois
frequented the homes of M. and Mme. du Bousquier and M. and Mme.
Granson; but M. du Bousquier and Athanase Granson were the only ones
to give him cordial welcome. In his last days he became reconciled
with the curate of Saint-Leonard, Alencon's aristocratic church, and
died universally lamented. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
FRANCOIS, head valet to Marshal de Montcornet at Aigues in 1823.
Attached specially to Emile Blondet when the journalist visited them.
Salary twelve hundred francs. In his master's confidence. [The
Peasantry.]
FRANCOIS, in 1822, stage-driver between Paris and Beaumont-sur-Oise,
in the service of the Touchard Company. [A Start in Life.]
FRANCOISE, servant of Mme. Crochard, rue Saint-Louis in Marais in
1822. Toothless woman of thirty years' service. Was present at her
mistress' death-bed. This was the fourth she had buried. [A Second
Home.]
FRAPPART, in 1839, at Arcis-sur-Aube, proprietor of a dance-hall where
was held the primary, presided over by Colonel Giguet, which nominated
Sallenauve. [The Member for Arcis.]
FRAPPIER, finest carpenter in Provins in 1827-28. It was to him that
Jacques Brigaut came as apprentice when he went to the town to be near
his childhood's friend, Pierrette Lorrain. Frappier took care of her
when she left Rogron's house. Frappier was married. [Pierrette.]
FREDERIC, one of the editors of Finot's paper in 1821, who reported
the Theatre-Francais and the Odeon. [A Distinguished Provincial at
Paris.]
FRELU (La Grande), girl of Croisic who had a child by Simon Gaudry.
Nurse to Pierrette Cambremer whose mother died when she was very
young. [A Seaside Tragedy.]
FRESCONI, an Italian who, during the Restoration and until 1828, ran a
nursery on Boulevard du Montparnasse. The business was not a success.
Barbet the book-seller was interested in it; he turned it into a
lodging-house, where dwelt Baron Bourlac. [The Seamy Side of History.]
FRESQUIN, former supervisor of roads and bridges. Married and father
of a family. Employed, time of Louis Philippe, by Gregoire Gerard in
the hydraulic operations for Mme. Graslin at Montegnac. In 1843
Fresquin was appointed district tax collector. [The Country Parson.]
FRISCH (Samuel), Jewish jeweler on rue Saint-Avoie in 1829. Furnisher
and creditor of Esther Gobseck. A general pawnbroker. [Scenes from a
Courtesan's Life.]
FRITAUD (Abbe), priest of Sancerre in 1836. [The Muse of the
Department.]
FRITOT, dealer in shawls on the stock exchange, Paris, time of Louis
Philippe. Rival of Gaudissart. He sold an absurd shawl for six
thousand francs to Mistress Noswell, an eccentric Englishwoman. Fritot
was once invited to dine with the King. [Gaudissart II.]