Part 9

COUPEAU (ANNA, known as NANA), born 1852, was the only child of Coupeau and Gervaise Macquart, his wife. Almost from infancy she was allowed to run wild in the gutters of Paris, and even in childhood her instincts were vicious. At thirteen years of age she was sent to learn artificial-flower making in the establishment of Madame Titreville, whose forewoman was Madame Lerat, Nana’s aunt. She had been there some time when she began to receive attentions from an elderly gentleman who had noticed her going to work. Meantime her father and mother had taken to drink so seriously that home life had become intolerable, and, after one of innumerable quarrels, Nana ran away to her venerable admirer. After a few months she tired of him and left, to spend her time amongst the low-class dancing-halls, in one of which she was found by her father, who brought her home, where she remained for a fortnight, and then ran off again. From time to time she returned, but her visits gradually became less frequent till they ceased. L’Assommoir.

At sixteen years of age she had a child by an unknown father, and two years later was installed in a flat in Boulevard Haussmann by a rich merchant of Moscow, who had come to pass the winter in Paris. Bordenave, the director of the Theatre des Varietes, gave her a part in a play called _La Blonde Venus_, and though her voice was poor and she was ignorant of acting, she was by the sheer force of her beauty an immediate and overwhelming success. All Paris was at her feet; Comte Muffat, Steiner, the Prince of Scots himself, came in turn to offer homage. It seemed as if this girl, born of four or five generations of drunkards and brought up on the pavements of Paris, was to revenge her race upon the idle rich by the wild extravagances into which she dragged them. Muffat and Steiner were her lovers, and ruined themselves by the vast sums which she squandered; Georges Hugon killed himself from jealousy of his brother Philippe, who embezzled for her sake, and brought himself to imprisonment and disgrace; Vandeuvres too, after courting dishonour, met death at his own hand; and Foucarmont, stripped bare and cast off, went to perish in the China seas. The procession was unending; more money was always required. After a successful appearance in a play called _Melusine_, Nana suddenly left Paris and went to the East. Strange stories were told of her--the conquest of a viceroy, a colossal fortune acquired in Russia--but nothing definite was known. When she returned to Paris in 1870 she found that her son Louiset had been attacked by small-pox, and she herself contracted the disease from him. A few days later she died in a room in the Grand Hotel, nursed only by Rose Mignon, who had come to her in her trouble. The war with Germany had just broken out, and as she lay dying the passing crowds were shouting ceaselessly, “A Berlin, A Berlin.” Nana.

COUPEAU (LOUIS). See Louiset.

COUPEAU (MADAME), mother of Coupeau the zinc-worker. She was an old woman, and, her sight having given way, was unable to support herself. Her daughter, Madame Lorilleux, refused anything but the most trifling assistance, and ultimately Gervaise Coupeau took the old woman into her own home and supported her till her death, which occurred some years later. L’Assommoir.

COURAJOD, a great landscape painter, whose masterpiece, the _Pool at Gagny_, is in the Luxembourg. Long before his death he disappeared from the world of art, and lived in a little house at Montmartre surrounded by his hens, ducks, rabbits, and dogs. He refused to speak of his former fame, and when Claude Lantier called on him the old man seemed to be entering into a second childhood, forgetful of his past. L’Oeuvre.

COUTARD, a soldier of infantry who belonged to the Second Division of the First Army Corps, which was defeated at Wissembourg on 4th August, 1870. He and his companion Picot were slightly wounded, and were left behind, not being able to rejoin their regiments for three weeks, most of which they spent tramping the country through wet and mud, endeavouring to overtake the vanquished army of France. La Debacle.

CRASSE (LA), i.e. “The Dirty.” Sobriquet of a professor at the college of Plassans, so called by the pupils as he marked by the constant rubbing of his head the back of every chair he occupied. L’Oeuvre.

CREVECOEUR, a lace merchant in Rue Mail. Henri Deloche left his employment, and entered Octave Mouret’s shop on the same day as Denise Baudu. Au Bonheur des Dames.

CRON, a carter at Vendome. He was the father of Leonie Cron. L’Argent.

CRON (LEONIE), the girl to whom the Comte de Beauvilliers gave the document which afterwards came into the hands of Busch, and was used by him as a means of blackmailing the widow of the Comte. L’Argent.

CUCHE, a family of fisher people who resided at Bonneville. They were ruined by their house being washed away by the sea. The father and mother lived extremely dissolute lives, and their son grew up little better than a savage. Pauline Quenu made great efforts to reform him, but he refused all attempts to make him settle down. La Joie de Vivre.

CUDORGE (MADAME), a seller of umbrellas in the Rue Neuve de la Goutte d’Or, where she was a neighbour of Gervaise Lantier. L’Assommoir.

CUGNOT (PAULINE), daughter of a miller at Chartres who was ruined by a lawsuit. She came to Paris, and eventually got a situation at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” where she showed much kindness to Denise Baudu, who was at first badly treated by the other employees there. Later on she married Bauge, her lover, but was allowed to retain her situation. Au Bonheur des Dames.

D

DABADIE, chief station-master at Havre. He was a handsome man, with the bearing of a commercial magnate engrossed in business. Indeed, he willingly left the passenger department of the station to his assistants, in order that he might give particular attention to the enormous transit of merchandise at the docks. It is said that he was on friendly terms with Mademoiselle Guichon, the office-keeper at the station. La Bete Humaine.

DAGUENET (PAUL), the favoured lover of Nana. His father who was highly esteemed by Louis Philippe, occupied a prefecture up to the time of his death. As for himself, he had gone through three hundred thousand francs in eighteen months in the pursuit of pleasure, and was only able to keep going by small speculations on the Stock Exchange. Attracted by the fortune of Estelle Muffat, he decided to marry her, and with the assistance of Nana obtained the consent of Count Muffat. Become serious after marriage, Daguenet came under the influence of Theophile Venot, and was ruled with a rod of iron by his wife, who now exhibited a character entirely unsuspected before. He now went to Mass, and was furious with his father-in-law, who was ruining the family on account of Nana. Nana.

DAGUENET (MADAME). See Estelle Muffat de Beuville.

DAIGREMONT, a Paris financier who was possessed of an enormous fortune. It was said that his fidelity was not quite reliable, and that on one occasion at least he played his allies false and swept away the profits. He was approached by Saccard before the foundation of the Universal Bank, and being assured that Eugene Rougon was to back up his brother, he agreed to become one of the directors. He supported Saccard during the great gamble in the shares of the bank, and even on the day of the collapse had promised to come on the market and buy so heavily as to put up the price of the shares. Having received information through Jacoby that Gundermann was determined at any cost to break the market, Daigremont deserted Saccard, and instead of buying, sold all the shares he had, thereby bringing about the final collapse. L’Argent.

DAIGREMONT (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was celebrated for her beauty and for her fine singing. L’Argent.

DALICHAMP, a doctor at Raucourt, six kilometres from Remilly. He was a man of brusque manner, but of excellent heart, who showed much kindness to his patients. In the middle of August, 1870, he established an ambulance at Raucourt, and after Jean Macquart, severely wounded, had arrived at the house of Pere Fouchard, Dalichamp attended him secretly till his recovery. It was through him that Henriette Weiss and Jean gained their knowledge of the disasters which were everywhere overtaking the French army. La Debacle.

DAMBREVILLE, a Government official who married in order to secure promotion through the influence of his wife. Pot-Bouille.

DAMBREVILLE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. An elderly woman with a passion for Leon Josserand, whose appointment as Maitre des Requetes she procured by her influence. She promised to secure a wealthy wife for him, but delayed to do so until he insisted on a match being arranged between him and her niece Raymonde. Her friendly relations with him continued to subsist even after his marriage. Pot-Bouille.

DAMBREVILLE (RAYMONDE), niece of Dambreville. See Madame Leon Josserand.

DANSAERT, a head captain in the Voreux pit. He was brutal and overbearing with the workmen, but humble in the presence of his superiors. Though it was well known that he was the lover of La Pierronne, he was friendly with her husband, and got information from him regarding the progress of the strike. On the day of the accident in the pit he became mad with fear, and leaped into one of the cages, leaving his men at the bottom. This action, together with the scandals regarding him, caused the company to decide on his dismissal. Germinal.

DASTE (MADAME), a friend of the Saccards and of Madame de Lauwerens. La Curee.

DAUVERGNE, deputy station-master for the main lines at the Gare Saint-Lazare. He occupied with his family, Claire, Henri, and Sophie, a house belonging to the railway company in the Impasse d’Amsterdam. La Bete Humaine.

DAUVERGNE (CLAIRE), daughter of the preceding and sister of Sophie. The two sisters were both charming blondes, one eighteen and the other twenty, who, amidst a constant stream of gaiety, looked after the housekeeping with the six thousand francs earned by the two men. The elder one would be heard laughing, while the younger sang, and a cage full of exotic birds rivalled one another in roulades. La Bete Humaine.

DAUVERGNE (HENRI), a chief guard in the service of the Western Railway Company. He was in love with Severine Roubaud, but was aware of her liaison with Jacques Lantier. He was injured in the railway accident at Croix-de-Maufras, and having been removed to a house which belonged to Severine, he was nursed by her there. In a hallucination of illness, he believed that he heard, outside his window, Roubaud arranging with Cabuche for the murder of Severine: his mistaken evidence was greatly instrumental in leading to the conviction of the two men. La Bete Humaine.

DAUVERGNE (SOPHIE), the elder of the two sisters. La Bete Humaine.

DAVOINE, the purchaser of Chanteau’s timber business at Caen. When Chanteau became incapacitated by gout, he sold his business to Davoine for a hundred thousand francs, of which one-half was to be paid in cash and the balance to remain in the business. Davoine was, however, constantly launching into speculations, and the consequence was that the profits were drained away, and the balance sheet generally showed a loss. He ultimately became bankrupt, and Chanteau lost all the money he had left in the business. La Joie de Vivre.

DEBERLE (DOCTOR HENRI), a medical man of Passy who inherited from his father a large fortune and an excellent practice. A chance call to attend Jeanne Grandjean led to an intimacy with her mother, which resulted in the fleeting love episode which forms the subject of the novel. Deberle, deceived by the circumstances under which Helene Grandjean prevented an assignation between his wife and M. Malignon, believed that Helene had arranged an assignation with himself, and she found it impossible to enlighten him without compromising his wife. The brief liaison was terminated by the illness and death of Jeanne. Une Page d’Amour.

DEBERLE (MADAME JULIETTE), wife of the preceding, was the elder daughter of M. Letellier, a wealthy silk merchant of Paris. Empty-headed and fond of gaiety, she was carried away by the attentions of M. Malignon, an idle young man who went everywhere in Paris society, and to whom she was foolish enough on one occasion to grant an assignation. Madame Helene Grandjean, who was on intimate terms with the family, warned Madame Deberle that her husband’s suspicions had been aroused, and that lady, seeing in time the folly of her action, broke off the intrigue. Une Page d’Amour.

DEBERLE (LUCIEN), the young son of Doctor Deberle. He was a playmate of Jeanne Grandjean. Une Page d’Amour.

DECKER (BARONNE), a friend of the Marquis de Chouard, who occasionally visited her at Viroflay. Nana.

DEJOIE, a man who was appointed by Saccard to be attendant at the offices of the newspaper purchased in the interest of the Universal Bank. He had a small sum of money, intended for the dowry of his daughter, and to increase this he invested it in shares of the bank. On the rise of the shares he gained a large sum, but, refusing to sell, he lost everything in the final catastrophe. L’Argent.

DEJOIE (JOSEPHINE), wife of Dejoie, who first knew her when she was cook with Madame Leveque, sister-in-law of Durieu, the brewer. She was afterwards with Dr. Renaudin, and then in a shop in Rue Rambuteau. The husband and wife were never fortunate enough to get employment in one place. Josephine died when her daughter was fourteen years old. L’Argent.

DEJOIE (NATHALIE), daughter of the preceding. In order to provide a dowry for her, her father invested all his savings in shares of the Universal Bank, losing everything after its failure. She was a pretty girl, but absolutely heartless, and after the downfall of the bank she ran away from home, leaving her old father in his poverty. L’Argent.

DELAHERCHE (MADAME), mother of Jules Delaherche. Her husband’s gay life rendered her unhappy, and after she became a widow she trembled lest her son should take to the same courses as his father; so, after marrying him to a woman who was devout and of simple tastes, she sought to keep him in a dependent state as though he were a mere youth. At fifty years of age, his wife having died, Delaherche determined to marry a young widow about whom there had been much gossip, and did so in spite of all the remonstrances of his mother. After that she only lived on in silent remonstrance, spending most of her time shut up in her own room. The miseries of war told severely on the old woman, and to these were added domestic troubles, for she became aware of her daughter-in-law’s relations with Captain Baudoin and Edmond Lagarde. After the occupation of Sedan by the Prussians she devoted herself to nursing her old friend Colonel Vineuil, who had been brought to the house severely wounded. She remained with him till his death, shut up from the world, and refusing to hear of the defeats daily accumulating against their unhappy country. La Debacle.

DELAHERCHE (JULES), one of the principal cloth manufacturers of Sedan. He owned a large factory in Rue Maqua, which had been the property of the family for a hundred and sixty years; in the rear of the building was a palatial courtyard shaded with old trees, gigantic elms dating from the foundation of the establishment. Jules, married to a woman dull and plain-looking, had been kept by his mother in the dependent position of a mere boy, but at fifty years of age, his wife being dead, he became enamoured of Gilberte Maginot, a pretty young widow of Charleville, and married her in spite of the determined opposition of his mother. An ardent Bonapartist, he was much excited by a chance meeting with Napoleon III, but after the repeated defeats of the army in the war with Prussia his loyalty cooled, and he ultimately charged the Emperor with all the miseries which ensued. After the battle of Sedan an ambulance was established in the courtyard of his factory, and the wounded Colonel Vineuil was removed to his house. La Debacle.

DELAHERCHE (MADAME JULES). See Gilberte Vineuil. La Debacle.

DELANGRE (M.), mayor of Plassans. He was the son of a bricklayer, and when he passed as a lawyer had to be content with petty suits that no one else would take up. It was said that he became the lover of Madame Rastoil, and it was certainly through her influence that he won his first cases. He was shrewd enough to show no particular political proclivities; so after the _Coup d’Etat_ of 1851, when they were looking out for a mayor, his name was at once thought of. He was elected, and from that time everything prospered with him. As a result of much scheming by Abbe Faujas, Delangre was adopted as candidate for the representation of Plassans, and was elected by a triumphant majority over Maurin, the Republican candidate. After his election, he voted steadily with the Government, thus accomplishing the object for which Faujas was sent to the town. La Conquete de Plassans.

DELANGRE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. “She was a tame little woman of a servant-like meekness, whose dissoluteness had remained a matter of legend in Plassans.” She was consulted by Madame Mouret regarding the Home for Girls proposed by Abbe Faujas, and agreed to act on the Committee. La Conquete de Plassans.

DELANGRE (LUCIEN), son of M. Delangre, mayor of Plassans. He was a young barrister of four-and-twenty, short and sharp-eyed, with a crafty brain, and pleaded with all the coolness of an old practitioner. On the suggestion of Abbe Faujas he took a leading part in starting the Club for Young Men at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.

DELAROCQUE, a stockbroker who was married to the sister of Jacoby. L’Argent.

DELCAMBRE, Public Prosecutor, afterwards Minister of Justice. Having been for some time the lover of Baroness Sandorff, he was much annoyed at her subsequent intimacy with Saccard, and after the failure of the Universal Bank he instigated the proceedings which led to the conviction of its officials. L’Argent.

DELESTANG (M.), son of a wine merchant at Bercy, was himself a retired attorney and owner of a model farm. He was a man of great wealth, but of foolish and shallow character. Having got into political trouble at the time of the _Coup d’Etat_ of 1851, he was helped out of an awkward position by Eugene Rougon. Acting on the suggestion of Rougon, he married Clorinde Balbi, and soon after was appointed Minister of Commerce and Agriculture. After Rougon’s second retirement from office Delestang was appointed to succeed him as Minister of the Interior. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

DELESTANG (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Clorinde Balbi.

DELESTANG (HENRIETTE), sister of Delestang, the Minister, and wife of M. de Combelot, Chamberlain to Napoleon III. She had a passion for the Emperor, who, however, would not look at her. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

DELEUZE founded, along with his brother, in 1822, the drapers’ shop in Paris known as _Au Bonheur des Dames_. When he died, his daughter Caroline, who was married to Hedouin, succeeded to his share in the business. Pot-Bouille.

The beginning of the business was exceedingly modest; there was only one window in the shop, and the stock was a small one. At that time the principal shop in the neighbourhood was the _Vieil Elbeuf_, of which Baudu afterwards became proprietor. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DELEUZE (UNCLE), one of the founders of the shop known as _Au Bonheur des Dames_. After the death of his elder brother he continued the business along with his niece Madame Hedouin. He became much affected by rheumatism, and left the management in the hands of Hedouin. Pot-Bouille.

DELEUZE (CAROLINE). See Caroline Hedouin.

DELHOMME was the son-in-law of Pere Fouan, whose daughter Fanny he married. He was the owner of a small farm, which he managed so well that he became one of the richest of the peasant proprietors at Rognes. He was a man of calm, upright nature, and was frequently selected as arbiter in petty disputes. In his own affairs, however, he allowed himself to be much influenced by his wife. He was a municipal councillor, and ultimately became mayor. La Terre.

DELHOMME (MADAME), nee Fanny Fouan, wife of the preceding. At first a not unamiable woman, she became hardened, and eventually the cleanliness of her house became a mania with her. She was unkind to her father, with whose little weaknesses she had no patience, and her persecution of him was carried to such an extent that he ceased to live with her and her husband. She was so annoyed at this that she refused to speak to him again, and her ill-will was not even terminated by his death. When her husband became mayor her conceit knew no bounds. La Terre.

DELHOMME (ERNEST), known as Nenesse, son of the preceding. From childhood he had a fancy for dressing himself up and aping the city lads, and as he had always a horror of the land he went to Chartres to assist in a restaurant, with which was connected a public dancing-hall. His parents effected an insurance against him being drawn in the conscription; but he drew a lucky number, and the loss of the money caused his mother considerable annoyance. He proposed to take over the _maison de tolerance_ at Chartres which belonged to his grand-aunt Madame Badeuil and her husband, and he eventually did so by marrying their granddaughter Elodie Vaucogne. La Terre.

DELOCHE, a bailiff in needy circumstances who resided at Briquebec. He treated his son Henri very badly. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DELOCHE (HENRI), a young man who got employment at “The Ladies’ Paradise” at the same time as Denise Baudu. He fell in love with Denise, but though she refused to marry him, they remained on friendly terms, and on one occasion he threw a glass of wine at Favier, a fellow-shopman, who repeated a slander about her. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DELORME, a relation of the Quenus. On the suggestion of Madame Chanteau he was nominated a member of the family council of Pauline Quenu. He consented to her emancipation. La Joie de Vivre.

DENEULIN, a cousin of the Gregoires. Like his cousin, he inherited a denier in the Montsou mines, but being an enterprising engineer, tormented by the desire for a royal fortune, he had hastened to sell out when the value of the denier reached a million francs. His wife possessed through an uncle the little concession of Vandame, on which were two abandoned pits--Jean-Bart and Gaston-Marie--and he invested all his money in the reopening of these pits. He was a bad manager, however, and after his wife’s death he was pillaged by every one. The great strike at Montsou completed his ruin, and he was ultimately compelled to sell his pits to the great company which had already acquired all the neighbouring mines, himself receiving a situation as divisional engineer. Germinal.

DENEULIN (JEANNE), second daughter of the preceding. Having lost their mother when very young, she and her sister were brought up alone, somewhat badly, being spoiled by their father. Jeanne was fond of painting, and had already had three landscapes refused by the _Salon_. Her sister and she remained cheerful in the midst of their father’s loss of fortune, and proved themselves excellent managers. Germinal.

DENEULIN (LUCIE), elder daughter of Deneulin. She was fond of music, and at one time talked of going on the stage. Like her sister, she showed an admirable spirit at the time of her father’s downfall. Germinal.