Part 8

CHANTEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding, nee Eugenie de la Vigniere, was the orphan of one of the ruined squireens of the Cotentin. An ambitious woman, she hoped to induce her husband to overcome his indolent nature, but her plans were upset by the ill-health into which he fell, and she transferred to her son her hopes for the family’s rise in life. From this source she had nothing but disappointment, as one after another of Lazare’s schemes failed. To enable him to get money to start his chemical works, she encouraged the idea of marriage between him and Pauline Quenu, her husband’s ward, who thereupon lent him thirty thousand francs. Little by little, Madame Chanteau got possession for the family use of nearly all Pauline’s fortunes, but with each fresh loan her feelings towards the girl became more embittered until her affection for her had turned to hate. From this time, she discouraged her son’s marriage with Pauline, and endeavoured to turn his thoughts towards Louise Thibaudier, who had a considerable fortune. She died of dropsy after a short illness. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (LAZARE), born 1844, son of M. Chanteau, was educated at the college of Caen, where he took his bachelor’s degree. He was undecided as to what profession he would adopt, and for some time his inclination turned towards music. Under the influence of Pauline Quenu he decided on medicine, and went to Paris, where at first he made good progress in his studies. Unfortunately he tired of this, and led a life of extravagance and dissipation, failing to pass his examinations. Having chanced to make the acquaintance of Herbelin, a celebrated chemist, Lazare entered his laboratory as an assistant. From him he got the idea of turning seaweed to profitable account by the extraction of chemicals by a new method. With a view to the commercial employment of this process he borrowed thirty thousand francs from Pauline Quenu, and entered into partnership with an old college friend named Boutigny who invested a similar sum in the business. Lazare was quite carried away by his enthusiasm, and the works were built on much too large a scale, the cost greatly exceeding the original estimates. More money was required, and a marriage having already been arranged between Lazare and Pauline Quenu, she at once lent him another ten thousand francs. Some slight success was at first attained, but this only led to fresh extravagances in the way of apparatus, and before long a hundred thousand francs of Pauline’s money had been expended. By this time it was evident that the process could not be worked on a commercial scale, and Lazare, utterly discouraged, handed over his share to Boutigny for a trifling sum. A scheme for the protection of Bonneville against the inroads of the sea was the next subject to attract him, and he entered into it with his usual enthusiasm. More money was, of course, required, and, as before, this was found by Pauline. Failure again met his efforts; the barricade was washed away by the first high sea. All along Lazare had been subject to fits of morbid depression, accompanied by a frenzied fear of death, and after the death of his mother this mental disturbance became even more acute. The marriage with Pauline had been put off on one excuse or another, and ultimately she saw that his affections had been transferred to Louise Thibaudier. With noble self-sacrifice, she released him from his engagement, and his marriage to Louise followed. He went to Paris as manager of an insurance company, but soon tiring of business, he returned to Bonneville, where he lived so tormented by the fear of death that life itself had little charm for him. La Joie de Vivre.

Having become a widower, he left his son with Pauline Quenu, and went to America to seek his fortune. Le Docteur Pascal.

CHANTEAU (MADAME LAZARE), wife of the preceding. See Louise Thibaudier. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTEAU (PAUL), the infant son of Lazare Chanteau. La Joie de Vivre.

CHANTECAILLE (i.e. SINGSMALL), an usher at the college of Plassans. He was so good-natured that he allowed the pupils to smoke when out walking. L’Oeuvre.

CHANTEGREIL, a poacher, who was sent to the galleys for shooting a gendarme. He was the father of Miette. La Fortune des Rougon.

CHANTEGREIL (MARIE), known as Miette, born 1838, daughter of Chantegreil, the poacher, who was sentenced to the galleys for murder. She went to live with her aunt, the wife of Rebufat, farmer at Plassans. Here she met Silvere Mouret, and an idyllic love affair followed. When Silvere joined the Republican Insurrection in 1861, Miette, fired by his enthusiasm, accompanied him, and carried the banner of revolt. In the attack by the regular troops, which soon followed, she fell mortally wounded. La Fortune des Rougon.

CHANTEGREIL (EULALIE). See Madame Eulalie Rebufat.

CHANTEMESSE (MADAME), a customer of Madame Francois, the market-gardener. It was she who brought up the two foundling children, Marjolin and Cadine. Le Ventre de Paris.

CHANTEREAU (MADAME), wife of an ironmaster. She was a cousin of the Fougerays, and a friend of the Muffats. With Madame du Joncquoy and Madame Hugon she gave an air of severe respectability to the drawing-room of Comtesse Sabine de Muffat. Her husband owned a foundry in Alsace, where war with Germany was feared, and she caused much amusement to her friends by expressing the opinion that Bismarck would make war with France and would conquer. Nana.

CHARBONNEL (M.), a retired oil-merchant of Plassans. His cousin Chevassu, a lawyer, died leaving his fortune of five hundred thousand francs to the Sisters of the Holy Family. Charbonnel, being next heir, contested the will on the ground of undue influence; and the Sisterhood having petitioned the Council of State to authorize the payment of the bequest to them, he went to Paris, accompanied by his wife, in order to secure the influence of Eugene Rougon. The matter dragged on for some months, and was then indefinitely delayed by Rougon’s resignation of the Presidency of the Council of State. After Rougon’s appointment as Minister of the Interior, he induced the Council of State to refuse the petition of the Sisterhood, and M. Charbonnel accordingly succeeded to the estate. Subsequently the Charbonnels accused the Sisters of having removed some of Chevassu’s silver plate, and Rougon ordered the police to make a search in the convent. This caused a scandal in the town, and brought the Charbonnels, as well as Rougon, into popular disfavour. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CHARBONNEL (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She accompanied her husband to Paris to assist him in looking after their interests in the estate of his cousin Chevassu. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CHARDON (ABBE), the candidate favoured by Abbe Fenil for the vacancy in the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.

CHARDON (MADAME), a protegee of Madame Melanie Correur. The State having refused to accept some furnishings supplied by her, Eugene Rougon, the Minister, arranged the matter. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CHARLES, a waiter at the Cafe Riche. It was he who served supper to Maxime Saccard and Renee in the White Salon. La Curee.

CHARLES, the attendant at the public washing-house where Gervaise Macquart had her great fight with Virginie. L’Assommoir.

CHARLES, a butcher whose shop was in Rue Polonceau. The Coupeaus dealt with him. L’Assommoir.

CHARLES, coachman in the service of Nana. He left her after a violent scene, in the course of which he called her a slut. Nana.

CHARLES, a cousin of the little soldier Jules from Plogof. Germinal.

CHARLES, coachman to Aristide Saccard. He was discovered stealing oats, and was dismissed. In revenge, he disclosed to Madame Caroline the relations between his master and the Baroness Sandorff. L’Argent.

CHARLES, (MONSIEUR AND MADAME), see Badeuil.

CHARPIER, a grain merchant at Vendome. He became bankrupt, and his papers having been purchased by Fayeux on behalf of Busch, the latter found among them a document signed by Comte de Beauvilliers, undertaking payment of a large sum to Leonie Cron. L’Argent.

CHARRIER, a bricklayer who amassed a fortune by speculations in building-sites during the early days of the Second Empire. Along with Mignon, his partner, he had many business dealings with Aristide Saccard. La Curee.

CHARVET, one of the party which met at Lebigre’s wine-shop to discuss revolutionary subjects. He was the best educated of the coterie, and his flood of bitter words generally crushed his adversaries. Le Ventre de Paris.

CHASSAGNE (DOCTEUR), director of the asylum at Moulineaux, where Saturnin Josserand was confined for a time. Pot-Bouille.

CHAUMETTE, counsellor at the court of Rouen. At the trial of Roubaud he acted as assessor to the assizes. La Bete Humaine.

CHAUMETTE FILS, son of the preceding, was a substitute at Rouen. He was the latest fancy of Madame Bonnehon, who did all she could to secure his advancement. La Bete Humaine.

CHAVAILLE (ROSALIE), cousin of La Mechain, and mother of Victor Saccard. She fell into a life of vice and poverty, and died at the age of twenty-six. L’Argent.

CHAVAL, a miner employed at the Voreux pit. From the first he had an instinctive hatred towards Etienne Lantier, caused partly by jealousy regarding Catherine Maheu, whose lover he became. He treated the girl very badly, and she ultimately left him. During the strike he took up a position antagonistic to Lantier, who was one of the leaders, and even undertook the direction of a party of Belgians brought in by the mine-owners to work the pits. By a strange chance, Chaval met Lantier and Catherine in a gallery of the pit after a terrible accident, which resulted in its being flooded; a struggle followed, and Chaval was killed, his body being thrown into the water. But the rise of the flood brought him back time after time to the feet of the others, as if his jealousy continued even after death. Germinal.

CHAVE (CAPTAIN), brother of Madame Maugendre, and uncle of Madame Jordan. He was a petty gambler of a class who frequent the Bourse daily, in order to make an almost certain profit of fifteen or twenty francs, which must be realized before the day’s operations are over. He said he was forced to speculate, as the pension which he received from the Government was not sufficient to keep him from starvation. L’Argent.

CHAVIGNAT, an employee at the Ministry of Public Education. Pot-Bouille.

CHEDEVILLE (DE), deputy for Eure-et-Loire under the Empire. He was an old beau who had flourished in the reign of Louis Philippe, and was still supposed to have Orleanist sympathies, though his reputed friendship with the Emperor was sufficient to secure his success at the polls. He had gone through all his money, and had now only the farm of La Chamade left. His political career was cut short by a scandal which gave offence at the Tuileries, and he was defeated by Rochefontaine, who was nominated by Government as the official candidate. La Terre.

CHERMETTE (MADAME DE), a friend of Madame Deberle. Une Page d’Amour.

CHEVASSU, a lawyer at Faverolles, who died leaving his fortune to the Sisters of the Holy Family. His cousin, M. Charbonnel, got the will reduced on the ground of undue influence. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

CHEZELLES (MADAME LEONIDE DE), a school friend of Comtesse Muffat, who was five years her senior. She was the wife of a magistrate. “It was rumoured that she deceived him quite openly, but people pardoned her offence, and received her just the same, because, said they, ‘She’s not answerable for her actions.’” Nana.

CHIBRAY (COMTE DE), aide-de-camp to the Emperor. He was for a time the lover of Renee Saccard. La Curee.

CHOUARD (MARQUIS DE), father of Comtesse Sabine Muffat de Beuville. He was a Councillor of State and Chamberlain to the Empress, but, notwithstanding this, had kept up his relations with the Legitimist party; he was known for his piety, and expressed the belief that his class should show an example in morals to the lower orders. In secret, however, his life was vicious, and many damaging stories were known of him. He was one of Nana’s admirers, and after a visit to her he was struck by sudden imbecility and semi-paralysis, the result of sixty years of debauchery. Nana.

CHOUARD (SABINE DE), daughter of the preceding and wife of Comte Muffat de Beuville. She was married at seventeen, and ever since had led a cloistered existence with a pious husband and a dictatorial stepmother. The death of her stepmother made little difference, and the family continued to live in an atmosphere of frigid respectability. At thirty-four Sabine looked little older than her own daughter, and would not have been taken for more than twenty-eight. About this time Comte Muffat fell entirely under the influence of Nana, and a change came over the household. Sabine accepted the attentions of Fauchery, whose mistress she became, and soon after launched into a course of extravagance which in the end went far to complete the ruin to which her husband was himself contributing. Other lovers followed Fauchery, and in the end she ran off with the manager of a large drapery store. Ultimately she returned, and was pardoned by her husband, who had lost his own self-respect as a result of his intrigue with Nana. Nana.

CHOUTEAU, an old man of over ninety years of age, who with his wife lived in a little hut in Beaumont, furnished for them by Angelique with articles taken from the attic of her adopted parents. She, as well as Felicien d’Hautecoeur, showed them much kindness. Le Reve.

CHOUTEAU, a soldier in the 106th regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. He belonged to the squad of Corporal Jean Macquart. Originally a housepainter of Montmartre, his time was almost expired when the outbreak of war prevented his leaving the army. A revolutionary in his ideas, he was the leader in every breach of discipline among his companions, suggesting to them that they should throw away their knapsacks and guns; on the plateau of Floing, in front of the enemy, he declared that as he had not eaten he would not fight. Sergeant Sapin having been severely wounded, Chouteau offered, along with Loubet, to remove him to the ambulance, and the two men disappeared from the battlefield. After the defeat of the French Army he was made prisoner at Iges, where he continued to advise his companions in committing all kinds of excesses, going the length of handing a knife to Lapoulle in order that he might kill Pache, who had hidden some provisions from him. Along with Loubet he made an attempt to escape from the Germans, and in this he attained success by treacherously sacrificing his comrade. During the Commune he took an active part in the excesses which were then committed; but during the sanguinary repression which followed he was seen in the blouse of an honest workman applauding the massacre which ensued. La Debacle.

CHRISTINE. See Christine Hallegrain.

CHUCHU (MADEMOISELLE), an actress at the Varietes. A liaison between her and Flory led to the ruin of the latter on the Stock Exchange. L’Argent.

CLARISSE, waiting-maid in the service of Baroness Sandorff. She betrayed to Delcambre the confidences of her mistress. L’Argent.

CLEMENCE, a clerk at the fish auction. She attended the meetings in Lebigre’s wine-shop along with Charvet, with whom she lived. Le Ventre de Paris.

CLEMENCE (MADEMOISELLE), occupied a room in the same tenement-house as the Coupeaus and Lorilleux, where she took in ironing, as well as added to her income by less reputable means. When Gervaise Coupeau’s laundry was at the height of its success Clemence got regular employment there, but when business began to go she had to leave. L’Assommoir.

CLEMENCE, lady’s maid to Madame Duveyrier. Pot-Bouille.

CLORINDE. See Clorinde Balbi.

CLOU, Municipal Councillor at Rognes. He played the trombone at choral services in church. La Terre.

COEUR (GERMAINE), a _demi-mondaine_ who was on intimate terms with many members of the Paris Bourse. L’Argent.

COGNET, a roadman at Rognes. He was an old drunkard, who beat his daughter unmercifully. La Terre.

COGNET (JACQUELINE), alias LA COGNETTE, daughter of the preceding. She went to La Borderie at the age of twelve years, and before long had several lovers. She made her fortune, however, by resisting her master, Alexandre Hourdequin, for six months, and when she ultimately became his mistress she had made her position so secure that he was afterwards unable to part with her. Notwithstanding her relations with Hourdequin, she had other lovers, and the old shepherd Soulas, from motives of revenge, informed Hourdequin of her intimacy with one of them, a man named Tron. The latter, having been dismissed, killed Hourdequin and burned down the farm, so that Jacqueline was compelled to leave La Borderie no richer than she had come. La Terre.

COLICHE (LA), a fine cow which belonged to the Mouche family and was a great favourite with them. La Terre.

COLIN, a notary at Havre. It was in his presence that the Roubauds made a mutual will, leaving everything to the last survivor. La Bete Humaine.

COLOMBAN PERE, a veterinary surgeon known to all in the district of Seine-et-Oise. He was of dissolute habits. Au Bonheur des Dames.

COLOMBAN, a shopman who had been for many years in the employment of M. Baudu. He was engaged to his master’s daughter Genevieve, but the marriage was put off from time to time as Baudu’s business was not prosperous. Meantime, Colomban had become infatuated by Clara Prunaire, a girl employed in “The Ladies’ Paradise,” and his affection for Genevieve rapidly cooled. Ultimately he went off with Clara, thereby hastening the death of Genevieve, who had been in bad health for some time. Au Bonheur des Dames.

COLOMBE. See Pere Colombe.

COMBELOT (M. DE), an Imperial Chamberlain whom the Department of the Landes had chosen as deputy upon the formally expressed desire of the Emperor. He was a tall, handsome man, with a very white skin, and an inky black beard, which had been the means of winning him great favour among the ladies. He was married to a sister of Delestang. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

COMBELOT (MADAME DE), see Henriette Delestang.

COMBETTE, a chemist at Chene-Populeux. He was assessor to the mayor, and the information which he received on the night of 27th August, 1870, satisfied him of the unhappy state of the Army of Chalons, which was then on its way to the front. La Debacle.

COMBETTE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. It was she who on the evening of 27th August, 1870, offered hospitality to the soldier Maurice Levasseur, who was worn out with fatigue and with the pain of his foot, which had been injured by the long march. La Debacle.

COMBEVILLE (DUCHESSE DE), mother of Princess d’Orviedo. L’Argent.

COMBOREL ET CIE, a firm of ship-owners who entered into the great transport syndicate founded by Aristide Saccard. L’Argent.

COMPAN (ABBE), vicar of the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. He was on bad terms with Abbe Fenil, and consequently the other priests were afraid to have any intercourse with him, Abbe Bourrette alone visiting him during his last illness. La Conquete de Plassans.

CONDAMIN (M. DE), commissioner of woods and rivers for the district of Plassans. He was an elderly man, whose morality was looked upon with some suspicion by the respectable inhabitants of Plassans. He married a young wife, whom he brought from no one knew where, but who had evidently influential friends at Paris, as it was she who got her husband and Dr. Porquier decorated. La Conquete de Plassans.

CONDAMIN (MADAME DE), wife of the preceding. She was at first received with some suspicion at Plassans, nothing being known of her past history, but by the charm of her manner she soon overcame prejudice. Madame Mouret having asked her assistance in connection with the Home for Girls proposed by Abbe Faujas, she entered heartily into the scheme and used her influence on its behalf. Acting on advice from her influential friends at Paris, she assisted Faujas in the schemes which resulted in the election of M. Delangre as deputy for Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.

CONIN, a stationer at the corner of Rue Feydeau, who supplied note-books to most members of the Bourse. He was assisted in the business by his wife, and seldom came out of the back shop. L’Argent.

CONIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was on too friendly terms with many of her customers, but was so discreet that no scandal arose. L’Argent.

COQUART (LES), proprietors of the farm of Saint-Juste, which, however, they were forced by bad times to sell. The family consisted of the father, mother, three sons and two daughters. La Terre.

COQUETS, neighbours of the Lorilleux in Rue de la Goutte-d’Or. They took a fancy to light their cooking-stove on the stair-landing, and, as they also owed their term’s rent, they were given notice to quit. L’Assommoir.

CORBIERE (COMTE DE), proprietor of the Paradou, an estate near Artaud. When he died, the care of the property was confided to Jeanbernat, a foster-brother of the Comte. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

CORBREUSE (DUC DE), proprietor of a racing-stable. Nana.

CORNAILLE, the principal draper in Valognes. Denise Baudu served her apprenticeship to him. Au Bonheur des Dames.

CORNEMUSE, a racehorse which was the prize of the City of Paris. Nana.

CORNILLE, a member of the firm of Cornille and Jenard, who held in the eighteenth century the mineral concession of Joiselle, which was joined in 1760 to two neighbouring concessions, those of Comte de Cougny and of Baron Desrumaux, in order to form the Company of the Mines of Montsou. Germinal.

CORNILLE (ABBE), one of the clergy of the cathedral of Beaumont. He accompanied Monseigneur d’Hautecoeur when the latter came to administer the last rites of the Church to Angelique. Le Reve.

CORREUR (MADAME MELANIE), was the daughter of a notary of Coulonges, a town in the district of Niort. When she was twenty-four years old she eloped with a journeyman butcher, and thereafter lived in Paris, ignored by her family. For some time she kept a boarding-house at the Hotel Vanneau in the Rue Vanneau, where among her lodgers were Eugene Rougon, Du Poizet, and Theodore Gilquin. She established a claim on Rougon’s gratitude, and he assisted a number of her friends in obtaining pensions and appointments. Having ascertained that her brother, M. Martineau, had made a will by which she would benefit, she, knowing him to be in bad health, denounced him to Rougon as a dangerous Republican. His arrest and sudden death followed. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

COSINUS, a racehorse which ran in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.

COSSARD (LE PERE), prompter at the Theatre des Varietes. He was a little hunchback.

COUDELOUP (MADAME), a baker in Rue des Poissonniers. She supplied the Coupeaus until Lantier decided that they must have finer bread from a Viennese bakery. L’Assommoir.

COUGNY (COMTE DE), owner in the eighteenth century of the mining concession of Cougny, which in 1760 was joined to two neighbouring concessions to form the Company of the Mines of Montsou. Germinal.

COUILLOT (LES), peasants at Rognes. Their son got the number 206 in the drawing for the conscription. La Terre.

COUPEAU, a zinc-worker, who married Gervaise Macquart after her desertion by Lantier. He was the son of a drunken father, but was himself steady and industrious until a serious accident caused by a fall from a roof brought about a change. After that he became unwilling to work and began to spend his time in public-houses; his days of work became fewer and fewer, until, a confirmed drunkard, he lived entirely on his wife’s earnings. Attacks of delirium tremens followed, and in the end he died in the Asylum of Sainte-Anne after an attack of more than usual violence. L’Assommoir.

COUPEAU (MADAME GERVAISE), wife of the preceding. See Gervaise Macquart. L’Assommoir.