MANERVILLE (De), born in 1731; Norman gentleman to whom the governor
of Guyenne, Richelieu, married one of the wealthiest Bordeaux
heiresses. He purchased a commission as major of the Gardes de la
Porte, in the latter part of Louis XV.'s reign; had by his wife a son,
Paul, who was reared with austerity; emigrated, at the outbreak of the
Revolution, to Martinique, but managed to save his property, Lanstrac,
etc., thanks to Maitre Mathias, head-clerk of the notary. He became a
widower in 1810, three years before his death. [A Marriage
Settlement.]
MANERVILLE (Paul Francois-Joseph, Comte de), son of the preceding,
born in 1794, received his education in the college at Vendome,
finishing his work there in 1810, the year of his mother's death. He
passed three years at Bordeaux with his father, who had become
overbearing and avaricious; when left an orphan, he inherited a large
fortune, including Lanstrac in Gironde, and a house in Paris, rue de
la Pepiniere. He spent six years in Europe as a diplomat, passing his
vacations in Paris, where he was intimate with Henri de Marsay, and
was a lover of Paquita Valdes. There he was subject to the trifling of
Madame Charles de Vandenesse, then Emilie de Fontaine; also, perhaps,
met Lucien de Rubempre. In the winter of 1821 he returned to Bordeaux,
where he was a social leader. Paul de Manerville received the
appropriate nick-name of "le fleur des pois." Despite the good advice
of his two devoted friends, Maitre Mathias and Marsay, he asked,
through the instrumentality of his great-aunt, Madame de Maulincour,
for the hand of Natalie Evangelista in marriage, and obtained it.
After being wedded five years, he was divorced from his wife and
sailed for Calcutta under the name of Camille, one of his mother's
given names. [The Thirteen. The Ball at Sceaux. Lost Illusions. A
Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Marriage Settlement.]
MANERVILLE (Comtesse Paul de), wife of the preceding, born
Mademoiselle Natalie Evangelista, non-lineal descendant of the Duke of
Alva, related also to the Claes. Having been spoiled as a child, and
being of a sharp, domineering nature, she robbed her husband without
impoverishing him. She was a leader at Paris as well as at Bordeaux.
As the mistress of Felix de Vandenesse she disliked his dedication to
a story, for in it he praised Madame de Mortsauf. Later, in company
with Lady Dudley and Mesdames d'Espard, Charles de Vandernesse and de
Listomere, she attempted to compromise the Comtesse Felix de
Vandenesse, recently married, with Raoul Nathan. [A Marriage
Settlement. The Lily of the Valley. A Daughter of Eve.]
MANETTE, under the Restoration at Clochegourde in Touraine, the
Comtesse de Mortsauf's housekeeper, taking her mother's place in the
care of her young master and mistress, Jacques and Madeleine de
Mortsauf. [The Lily of the Valley.]