Part 7

BOURRETTE (ABBE), one of the clergy of the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. He did duty as vicar during the illness of Abbe Compan, and had been led to expect the reversion of the appointment. Pressure brought to bear on Bishop Rousselot led to the selection of Abbe Faujas, and Bourrette was put off with vague promises for the future. He was a simple-minded, amiable man, who accepted his disappointment without murmuring, and continued on friendly terms with Faujas. La Conquete de Plassans.

BOUTAREL, a doctor who attended Nana. He was a handsome man, still young, who had a large practice in the demi-monde. Always gay and laughing, he was popular with his patients, but took care not to compromise himself with any of them. Nana.

BOUTAREL (MADAME), a lady who lived in the country and economized for months at a time, only coming to Paris occasionally. When she came, she made straight for “The Ladies’ Paradise” and spent all her savings in an afternoon. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BOUTELOUP (LOUIS), a workman at the Voreux pit. He lodged with Madame Levaque, whose lover he became. Germinal.

BOUTEROUE (HILARION), second child of Vincent Bouteroue, and grandson of Marianne Fouan (La Grande). The latter had never forgiven the marriage of her daughter, and would do nothing to assist the two children after the death of their parents. Hilarion, who was of weak intellect, was looked after from childhood by his sister Palmyre, who wore herself out in his service. After Palmyre’s death his grandmother gave him shelter, but took advantage of his great strength by employing him at work of the hardest kind. Ultimately Hilarion committed a serious assault on the old woman, and in defending herself she struck him on the head with a bill-hook, inflicting a wound from which he died. La Terre.

BOUTEROUE (PALMYRE), sister of the preceding, worked like a slave to support her brother, and died completely worn out by toil and hardship at the age of thirty-five. La Terre.

BOUTEROUE (VINCENT), a poor peasant, whom the daughter of the Pechards insisted on marrying despite the opposition of her mother. They both died of want, leaving two children, Palmyre and Hilarion. La Terre.

BOUTEROUE (MADAME VINCENT), see Mademoiselle Pechard.

BOUTHEMENT PERE, a shopkeeper at Montpellier, who sent his son to Paris to learn business. He was disgusted to find that the simple salesman in Paris could earn three times as much as he himself could make, and he was stupefied on seeing the vast emporium in which his son served. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BOUTHEMONT, manager of the silk department at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Noisy and too fond of company, he was not much good for sales, but for buying he had not his equal. Nearly every month he went to Lyons, living at the best hotels, with authority to treat the manufacturers with open purse. He had, moreover, liberty to buy what he liked, provided he increased the sales of his department in a certain proportion settled beforehand; and it was on this proportion that his commission was based. Eventually, however, his position was undermined, and Madame Desforges, having become jealous of Mouret, and wishing to injure him, introduced Bouthemont to Baron Hartmann, who lent him money to start an opposition establishment called “The Four Seasons.” This was burned down three weeks after its opening, but the enormous loss was covered by insurance. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BOUTIGNY, Lazare Chanteau’s partner in the chemical business, into which he put thirty thousand francs. After the failure of the venture, he took over the whole concern, and began to manufacture potash from seaweed by the old methods. He was very successful in this, and by degrees began to employ on a small scale the scientific systems which had before proved disastrous. In a few years he amassed a considerable fortune. La Joie de Vivre.

BOUTIN, a retired artist’s-model who kept a studio in Rue de la Huchette, which was frequented by Claude Lantier, who went there for purposes of study. A subscription of twenty francs enabled young artists to have the free use of models. L’Oeuvre.

BOUTIN, an old epileptic attended by Doctor Pascal at Plassans. He died in one of his fits. Le Docteur Pascal.

BOVES (COMTE DE), Inspector-General of the Imperial Stud, a tall, handsome man who had married his wife for her great beauty. Notwithstanding this, he carried on a liaison with Madame Guibal, whose demands upon his purse were so heavy that he was obliged to economize in his own establishment. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BOVES (COMTESSE DE), wife of the preceding, was a beautiful woman of about forty years of age. She was a constant customer at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” but as her husband kept her very short of money, was seldom able to buy anything. Eventually temptation proved too strong for her, and she was caught in the act of stealing some valuable lace. The matter was, however, kept quiet, and a scandal avoided. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BOVES (BLANCHE DE), daughter of the preceding. She usually accompanied her mother on her shopping expeditions to “The Ladies’ Paradise,” and, it is to be feared, was not unaware of the theft of lace by her. She married Paul de Vallagnosc. Au Bonheur des Dames.

BRAMAH, an English horse which won the Grand Prix de Paris. It belonged to Lord Reading. Nana.

BRAMBILLA (SIGNOR), a Venetian political refugee, and a friend of Comtesse Balbi. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

BRETIGNY (COMTESSE DE). Auguste Lantier, reading the news from a journal to his friends Coupeau and Mes-Bottes, announced that the eldest daughter of the Comtesse de Bretigny was to be married to Baron de Valencay, aide-de-camp to His Majesty the Emperor. L’Assommoir.

BRETON-LE-CUL-SEC, one of the band of brigands led by Beau-Francois. La Terre.

BRICHET, the father of Fortune, Rosalie Bambousse’s lover. He was a little man, withered by age, and with a cringing manner. He tilled a small piece of stony land near Les Artaud, and was very poor. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

BRICHET (MADAME), wife of the preceding, a tall, lachrymose woman, was the one solitary devotee of the village of Les Artaud. Whenever she had been to communion, she hung about the parsonage, knowing that the priest’s servant always kept a couple of loaves for her from the last baking. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

BRICHET (FORTUNE), son of the preceding, was a largely built, bold-looking young fellow of about twenty-five years of age, who had been the lover of Rosalie Bambousse for some time before Abbe Mouret was able to induce the girl’s parents to consent to her marriage. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

BRICHET (VINCENT), brother of Fortune, was the boy who assisted Abbe Mouret in serving Mass. He was an idle young scamp, and constantly incurred the chastisement of Brother Archangias, who predicted a bad end for him on account of his friendship for Catherine Bambousse. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

BRIQUET, a peasant of Rognes. His son drew the number 13 for the conscription. La Terre.

BRON (MADAME), concierge at the Theatre des Varietes. She sold liquor to the employees at the theatre. Nana.

BRU, an old house-painter who lived in a garret in the same tenement-house as the Coupeaus, where he starved with cold and hunger. He had lost three sons in the Crimea, and he lived on what he could pick up, now that for two years past he could hold a brush no longer. Gervaise Coupeau showed him some kindness and asked him to her famous birthday party. Things having gone from bad to worse with him, he was found one morning lying dead in his garret. L’Assommoir.

BRULE (LA), mother of La Pierronne. She was the widow of a miner who had been killed in the pit, and lived with her daughter at the settlement known as the Deux-Cent-Quarante. A terrible old woman, frantic to revenge on the masters the death of her husband, she was the leader in the outrages perpetrated by the strikers in the Montsou district. It was she who gave the signal for the attack on the troops, but at the first volley fired by the soldiers she fell back stiff and crackling like a bundle of dry faggots, stammering one last oath in the gurgling of blood. Germinal.

BRUNET (LES), a bourgeois family in the new quarter of Plassans, of whom Madame Felicite Rougon was jealous. La Fortune des Rougon.

BUDIN (LES), peasants of Rognes, whose daughter was said to have been cured of a fever by Sourdeau, who cut a live pigeon in two, and applied the halves to her head. La Terre.

BUQUIN-LECOMTE, a deputy at the Corps Legislatif. He desired leave of absence. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

BURGAT, a blacksmith, one of the band of insurgents which entered Plassans in December, 1851. La Fortune des Rougon.

BURNE, an English jockey who rode a horse called Spirit in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.

BUSCH, a man of German origin who came to Paris, and engaged in business of a shady character on the fringe of the Bourse. “In addition to usury and a secret traffic in jewels and precious stones, he particularly occupied himself with the purchase of ‘bad debts.’” In pursuit of creditors he was unsparing, and his methods were not infrequently of the nature of blackmail. Jordon, Madame de Beauvilliers, and Saccard himself fell into his power, though Saccard refused to submit to extortion. Another of Busch’s lines of business was the purchase of depreciated shares and debentures, thousands of which he collected together, selling them to bankrupts who found difficulty in accounting for real or imaginary losses. His one redeeming feature was his extraordinary love for his brother Sigismond, whom he nursed with the greatest care until his death. L’Argent.

BUSCH (SIGISMOND), brother of Busch, the money-lender, was an able man, educated at a German University, and speaking several languages. He had met Carl Marx at Cologne in 1849, and became a contributor to the _New Rhenish Gazette_. “From that time he professed Socialism with an ardent faith, giving his entire being to the idea of an approaching social renovation, which would assure the happiness of the poor and humble.” After his master was banished from Germany, Sigismond, engrossed in his dreams, was so careless of his material affairs that he would have perished of hunger had his brother not taken him to live with him. From this time the elder Busch, ferocious as a wolf towards a debtor, looked after his brother with almost maternal care, and was heart-broken when Sigismond died of consumption a few years later. L’Argent.

BUTEAU, second son of Pere Fouan; brother of Hyacinthe and of Fanny Delhomme; cousin and husband of Lise Mouche; father of Jules and Laure. From early youth he was of violent temper, and having drawn a lucky number in the conscription, he went away from home, and got work, first at the farm of La Borderie and later at La Chamade. He was a true son of the soil, knowing nothing of the world beyond the narrow district in which he was born, and possessing that fierce passion for the land which is the characteristic of so many peasants. When Pere Fouan made a division of his property among his family, Buteau was dissatisfied with the lot which he drew, and refused to take possession of it. In this attitude he persisted for two years, until the formation of a new road gave a greatly increased value to his share. In the same way he refused to marry his cousin Lise Mouche, by whom he already had a son, until, after her father’s death, she had inherited a share of his property. Buteau’s chief anxiety then became to prevent a division of this land between his wife and her sister Francoise, and when, after the girl’s marriage to Jean Macquart, this became imminent, he and his wife eventually murdered her. His father had been a witness of the crime, and as his silence was essential, he too was cruelly done to death. After these terrible events Buteau was able to sleep calmly, for the land, his overwhelming passion in life, was his beyond possibility of dispute. La Terre.

BUTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Lise Mouche. La Terre.

BUTEAU (JULES), the eldest child of the preceding, who were not married till three years after his birth. At nine years old he was the sole friend of old Fouan, but he soon came to neglect the old man. La Terre.

BUTEAU (LAURE), the second child of the Buteaus. At four years old she had already the hard eyes of her family, and was hostile to her grandfather, old Fouan. By jealousy she detached from him her brother Jules. La Terre.

C

CABASSE, a franc-tireur of the woods of Dieulet. He was the favourite companion of Ducat, and along with Guillaume Sambuc formed part of the band which so greatly embarrassed the Prussians in the neighbourhood of Sedan. He took part in the execution of Goliath Steinberg, the German spy. La Debacle.

CABIN (MADAME), the woman who looked after the bedrooms occupied by the saleswomen in “The Ladies’ Paradise.” In consideration of small bribes, she allowed numerous breaches of the strict rules of the establishment. Au Bonheur des Dames.

CABIROCHE (SIMONNE), an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. She was the daughter of a furniture dealer in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and had been educated at a boarding-school in order that she might become a governess. She played the part of Isabelle in the _Petite Duchesse_. Nana.

CABUCHE, a quarryman at Becourt, who lived alone in a hut in the middle of the forest. He was condemned to five years’ imprisonment for having killed a man in a tavern brawl, but on account of his good conduct was liberated at the end of four years. From that time he was avoided by every one, and lived like a savage in the woods. Louisette, the younger daughter of Madame Misard, who was then fourteen years old, met him one day in the forest, and a strange friendship was formed between them, the rough man almost adoring this child, who alone was not afraid to speak to him. The girl afterwards went as a servant to Madame Bonnehon, but one evening Cabuche found her at his door, half mad with fright and on the verge of brain fever. He nursed her tenderly, but she died a few days later. The conduct of President Grandmorin was believed to be the cause of Louisette’s flight from Doinville, and Cabuche was overheard to say in ungovernable rage that he would “bleed the pig.” This remark led Denizet, the examining magistrate, to attribute to him the murder of the President, which was committed soon afterwards by the Roubauds, and still later he had the misfortune to be found beside the body of Severine Roubaud, who had been murdered by Jacques Lantier. He was found guilty of the two crimes, neither of which he committed, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. It was Cabuche’s wagon, loaded with huge blocks of stone, that Flore stopped in front of an express train in order to cause an accident. La Bete Humaine.

CADET-CASSIS, the sobriquet of Coupeau. L’Assommoir.

CADINE, a young girl who when only two years old was found by Madame Chantemesse and adopted by her. She was brought up along with Marjolin, and the two became inseparable companions and lovers. When she was eleven years old she set up as a dealer in birds’ food, but in a year or two became a flower-seller. After the accident to Marjolin by which his intellect was affected, Cadine looked after him, and the two were seldom found apart. Le Ventre de Paris.

CAFFIN (ABBE), the predecessor of Abbe Mouret as cure at Les Artaud. He was originally from Normandy, and had a large face which always seemed laughing. His history was bad, and he had been sent in disgrace to this hot and dusty corner of Provence. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

CAMPARDON (ACHILLE), an architect, in whose house Octave Mouret boarded when he first came to Paris. His views on religion were somewhat free, but having been appointed diocesan architect he gradually became orthodox, though this did not prevent him from carrying on an intrigue with Gasparine, his wife’s cousin, who ultimately came to live with the family. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPARDON (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Rose Domergue. Born at Plassans, she was an old friend of Madame Mouret, and when Octave Mouret came to Paris he boarded with the Campardons. After the birth of her child, Madame Campardon was an invalid, and was obliged to spend much of her time in bed, amusing herself by reading the works of Dickens. She tacitly accepted the liaison between her husband and Gasparine, her cousin, whom she ultimately asked to live with the family and manage the household affairs. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPARDON (ANGELE), daughter of the preceding. She was brought up at home by her parents, in order that she might remain ignorant of the realities of life, but intercourse with the servants in a large tenement-house early developed her unnatural precocity. Pot-Bouille.

CAMPENON, an incapable person to whom M. de Marsy gave a post as prefect, which Eugene Rougon had promised to Du Poizat. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CAMY-LAMOTTE, secretary to the Minister of Justice, an office of great influence. It was his duty to prepare the list of promotions, and he was in constant communication with the Tuileries. He was a handsome man, who started his career as a substitute; but through his connections and his wife he had been elected deputy and made grand officer of the Legion of Honour. In examining the papers of President Grandmorin, he discovered the identity of the murderers, but knowing the probability of serious scandal arising in the event of public inquiry, he said nothing, and later, struck by the courage and charm of Severine Roubaud, who threw herself on his protection, he gave instructions that all proceedings were to be stopped. He rewarded Denizet, the examining magistrate, with a decoration and the promise of early promotion. La Bete Humaine.

CANIVET, an old peasant, of whom Zephyrin Lacour announced the death to Rosalie Pichon. Une Page d’Amour.

CARNAVANT (MARQUIS DE), a nobleman of Plassans. Said to have been intimate with the mother of Felicite Puech during the early period of her married life. He visited Pierre Rougon and his wife occasionally, and after their retirement from business he interested them in politics. La Fortune des Rougon.

CAROLINE, an artificial-flower maker employed by Madame Titreville. She was very unhappy at home. L’Assommoir.

CAROLINE (MADAME). See Caroline Hamelin.

CAROUBLE, a baker at Montsou. His business was threatened by the competition of Maigrat. Germinal.

CASIMIR, a liquor-dealer on the road to Montsou. Germinal.

CASSOUTE, an inhabitant of Plassans, who formed one of the group of insurgents which accompanied Antoine Macquart to the Rougons’ house. He was left there to signal the return of Pierre Rougon, but not being very intelligent, allowed himself to be sent by Rougon to the Town Hall, where he was arrested. La Fortune des Rougon.

CATHERINE, servant to Granoux. She talked for a long time before letting in Pierre Rougon and Roudier, who came to seek her master to save Plassans. La Fortune des Rougon.

CAUCHE, the commissary of police attached to the railway station at Havre. He was a former officer who considered his present occupation as practically a sinecure, spending much of his time at the cafe. He was a confirmed gambler, who could lose or win without change of expression. A room on the first floor of the Cafe du Commerce was his usual haunt, and there Roubaud frequently spent half the night playing cards with him. Later, it fell to him to arrest Roubaud on the charge of murdering President Grandmorin. La Bete Humaine.

CAZENOVE (DOCTOR), a man of fifty-four years of age, of a vigorous and lean habit, who after thirty years’ service in the navy settled down at Arromanches, where an uncle of his had left him a house. He affected scepticism of the power of medicine, but was unremitting in the care of his patients. Among the earliest of these was Madame Chanteau, and he became on intimate terms with the family, for some time acting as trustee to Pauline Quenu. La Joie de Vivre.

CECILE (MADEMOISELLE), daughter of a butcher in the neighbourhood of the _Halles Centrales_. Le Ventre de Paris.

CELESTE, lady’s maid and confidante of Madame Renee Saccard. La Curee.

CELESTINE, a friend of Clemence. She was neurotic, and had a horror of the hair of cats, seeing it everywhere, and even turning her tongue in the belief that some of it had got into her mouth. L’Assommoir.

CESAR, a bull at the farm of La Borderie. La Terre.

CHADEUIL (MADAME), a milliner in the Rue Sainte-Anne. Octave Mouret’s shop, “The Ladies’ Paradise,” ruined her within two years. Au Bonheur des Dames.

CHAINE, the companion of Mahoudeau, the sculptor. He was born at Saint-Firmin, a village about six miles from Plassans, where he served as a cowboy until he was drawn in the conscription. Unfortunately for him, a gentleman of the district who admired the walking-stick handles which he carved out of roots with his knife, persuaded Chaine that he was a rustic genius, and with extreme foolishness persuaded him to go in for painting. Having forty pounds, he went to Paris, where his small fortune lasted him for a year. Then, as he had only twenty francs left, he took up his quarters with his friend Mahoudeau. He had no talent, but had a certain skill in copying pictures with extreme exactness. The relations of Chaine and Mahoudeau with Mathilde Jabouille led to a coldness between the two friends, and ultimately they ceased to be on speaking terms, though they continued to live together, and even to sleep in the same bed. Some time afterwards Chaine gave up art, and started a booth at country fairs, in which he ran a wheel-of-fortune for trifling prizes. The booth was decorated with some of his alleged masterpieces. L’Oeuvre.

CHAMBOUVARD, a celebrated sculptor. He was said to be the son of a veterinary surgeon of Amiens, and at forty-five had already produced twenty masterpieces. He had, however, a complete lack of critical acumen, and was unable to distinguish between the most glorious offspring of his hands and the detestably grotesque figures which he happened to put together now and then. At one _Salon_ he exhibited a _Sower_, admirable in every way, while at another he showed an execrable _Reaping Woman_, so bad that it seemed like a hoax; but he was no less pleased with the later work, feeling sure that he had turned out yet another masterpiece. L’Oeuvre.

CHAMPION, a master hatter at Montrouge. Auguste Lantier pretended to have left his employment because they had not the same political views. L’Assommoir.

CHAMPION, a retired sergeant, who was afterwards delivery manager at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.

CHANTEAU PERE, came originally from the south of France, beginning his life as a journeyman carpenter. He created a considerable timber business at Caen, but being somewhat daring in his speculation, he left it rather embarrassed at the time of his death. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (M.), a cousin of M. Quenu, by whom he was nominated guardian of his daughter Pauline Quenu. On the death of his father, he succeeded to the timber business at Caen. Being an inactive man, unaspiring and careful, he contented himself with putting his affairs on a safe basis, and living on a moderate but sure profit. He married Eugenie de la Vigniere, who was an ambitious woman and hoped to rouse his indolent nature. Her schemes were, however, frustrated by the ill-health of her husband, who suffered from gout to such a degree that he ultimately sold his business to Devoine, and retired to Bonneville, where he had a house. His sufferings from gout gradually became more and more severe until he was a complete invalid. His ward Pauline Quenu showed him much kindness, and the Abbe Horteur played draughts with him regularly. La Joie de Vivre.

Until the end of his life he was taken care of by Pauline. Le Docteur Pascal.