Chapter 16

LETELLIER (PAULINE), the younger daughter of M. Letellier, a wealthy silk merchant, and sister of Madame Deberle. She was a giddy young girl who went about everywhere with her father in the hope of securing a rich husband, and was a constant visitor at the house of her sister. Une Page d’Amour.

LETURC (MADAME), widow of a captain, was a protegee of Madame Correur, who obtained a tobacco licence for her. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

LEVAQUE, a neighbour of the Maheus. He was of intemperate habits, and beat his wife on little provocation. During the strike he was among the most reckless, and at the assault on the Voreux pit he was taken prisoner by the troops. His arrest made him a sort of hero, and by the Paris newspapers he was credited with a reply of antique sublimity to the examining magistrate. Germinal.

LEVAQUE (ACHILLE), the eldest child of Zacharie Maheu and of Philomene Levaque. He was three years old when his parents were married. Germinal.

LEVAQUE (BEBERT), son of the Levaques, was a little boy of twelve, who already worked in the pit. Along with Lydie Pierron, he was a companion of Jeanlin Maheu in many escapades. As Jeanlin became more daring and unscrupulous, Bebert and Lydie were drawn together in an affection born of their common fear of him. The three children were present at the attack on the Voreux pit, and Bebert and Lydie, killed by the volley fired by the troops, fell dead in one another’s arms. Germinal.

LEVAQUE (DESIREE), the youngest child of Philomene, aged nine months. Germinal.

LEVAQUE (PHILOMENE), daughter of the Levaques, had two children to Zacharie Maheu before her marriage to him. She had a delicacy of the chest and was unable to work underground. After the death of her husband she left Montsou with her two children, in the company of a miner from the Pas-de-Calais. Germinal.

LEVAQUE (LA), wife of Levaque the miner, and mother of Philomene and Bebert. She was a bad housekeeper, and was roughly treated by her husband, who, however, did not take exception to her relations with Bouteloup, their lodger. Germinal.

LEVASSEUR (MADAME), an acquaintance of Madame Deberle. Une Page d’Amour.

LEVASSEUR, chief clerk at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.

LEVASSEUR, a tax-collector at Chene Populeux. His father was one of the heroes of the army of the first Napoleon. He married a peasant woman named Fouchard, who died in bringing Maurice and his twin sister Henriette into the world. He sacrificed everything to make his son a gentleman, and the bad conduct of the lad hastened his end. La Debacle.

LEVASSEUR (HENRIETTE), daughter of the preceding, and twin sister of Maurice. After the death of her father she gave up the whole of her share of his property in order to retrieve to some extent the foolish conduct of her brother. Fortunately she had the chance soon after to marry Weiss, with whom she lived happily. On the morning of the battle of Sedan, Henriette, fearing that her husband was in danger at Bazeilles, where he had gone to look after a house he had recently bought, decided to follow him there. By this time the fighting was going on fiercely, and when, after the greatest difficulties and dangers, she arrived at Bazeilles, she was only in time to see her husband shot before her eyes. She took refuge at Remilly, at the house of her uncle Fouchard, and devoted herself to the care of the wounded in the battle. Among these was Jean Macquart, who along with Maurice had escaped from captivity. After the war with Prussia was over, Maurice unfortunately threw in his lot with the Communists, and when Henriette followed him to Paris it was to find that he had been fatally wounded in the fighting there. By an extraordinary chance, the wound was inflicted by his former comrade, Jean Macquart, who had remained in the regular army when Maurice joined the Communist ranks. The death of Maurice in this way put an end to the possibility of a dawning love idyll between Henriette and Jean Macquart. La Debacle.

LEVASSEUR (MAURICE), twin brother of the preceding. Everything was sacrificed by his father and sister in order that he might become an advocate, but when he went to Paris to complete his education he took part in every kind of foolishness and dissipation. In July, 1870, he had just been admitted to the Bar, when the outbreak of war found him full of enthusiasm, and he at once enlisted in the 106th Regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel de Vineuil. He was put into the squad of Jean Macquart, against whom he had at first an aversion. Later, the kindness of Jean when he was worn out with fatigue practically saved his life, and they became close comrades, Maurice in turn saving Jean by carrying him, severely wounded, from the battlefield of Sedan. Maurice was of a highly strung, nervous temperament, and the repeated disasters of the campaign drove him to madness. He threw himself into the Communist struggle, and sought for death when defeat became certain. It was Jean Macquart, his old comrade, who, by an extraordinary chance, was fated to deliver the fatal blow. La Debacle.

LEVEQUE (MADAME), sister-in-law of Durieu, the brewer. L’Argent.

LEVEQUE, a solicitor at Plassans. He interested himself in the affairs of Dr. Pascal Rougon after Grandguillot absconded and was able to recover a considerable sum which Pascal had believed to be entirely lost. Le Docteur Pascal.

LEVEQUE (MADEMOISELLE), daughter of the preceding, was an old friend of Clotilde Rougon, who was three years older than her. She married Dr. Ramond. Le Docteur Pascal.

LHOMME (M.), chief cashier at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” “Son of a tax-collector at Chablis, he came to Paris as a clerk in the office of a merchant of the Port-aux-Vins. Then, while lodging in Rue Cuvier, he married the daughter of his concierge, and from that day he bowed submissively before his wife, whose commercial ability filled him with respect. She earned more than twenty thousand francs a year in the dress department of ‘The Ladies’ Paradise,’ whilst he only drew a fixed salary of five thousand francs.” The loss of his right arm in an omnibus accident did not interfere with his work, and did not prevent him from playing upon a specially constructed French horn, an instrument of which he was passionately fond. Au Bonheur des Dames.

LHOMME (MADAME AURELIE), wife of the preceding. The daughter of a small tailor, she had keen business instincts, and, as head of the dress department at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” was able to make a large income. She was far from friendly to Denise Baudu, but seeing ultimately that Mouret was in love with the girl, she changed her methods in the hope of rendering her own position more secure. Au Bonheur des Dames.

LHOMME (ALBERT), son of the preceding. He was an idle and vicious youth, who could keep no position, and only got a post in the pay-desk of “The Ladies’ Paradise” through the influence of his mother. He was careless in his work, and was repeatedly reprimanded, causing his parents much anxiety; ultimately it was discovered that he had conspired with some of the salesmen in a long series of frauds, and his dismissal followed. Au Bonheur des Dames.

LIARDIN, a relation of the Quenus. He was a member of Pauline’s family council, and consented to her emancipation. La Joie de Vivre.

LIENARD, son of a rich Angers draper, came to Paris and got a situation in “The Ladies’ Paradise.” His spare time was spent in idleness and debauchery, and when his father recalled him to Angers he refused to leave Paris. Au Bonheur des Dames.

LIEUTAUD (M.), the diocesan architect at Plassans. He was consulted by Madame Mouret and Abbe Faujas regarding the Home for Girls which they founded, and he subsequently prepared the plans for the building. La Conquete de Plassans.

LIEVIN, a townsman of Plassans, who was amongst those enrolled and armed by Pierre Rougon to rescue the Town Hall, which had been occupied by the Republicans. He was so excited that he fired in the air without intending to do so. La Fortune des Rougon.

LILI, pet name of Amelie, the daughter of Gaga. Nana.

LINGUERLOT (LES), neighbours of the Lorilleux in Rue de la Goutte-d’Or. L’Assommoir.

LIOTARD (VEUVE HENRI), a firm of shipowners who joined the transport syndicate formed by Aristide Saccard. L’Argent.

LISA, a peasant girl of Les Artaud. Like the others of her class, she was void of any religious feeling, and when she came to decorate the church for the festival of the Virgin, she engaged in all sorts of irreverent pranks. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

LISA, a workwoman employed by Madame Titreville, the artificial-flower maker. L’Assommoir.

LISA, Madame Campardon’s housemaid. She was active and intelligent, and her conduct was regarded as irreproachable. This was, however, a somewhat too favourable estimate, and her companionship was by no means beneficial to the Campardons’ young daughter, Angele. Pot-Bouille.

LISON (LA), the name of the express engine driven by Jacques Lantier up to the time of the terrible railway accident caused by Flore. La Bete Humaine.

LLORENTZ (MADAME DE), one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress Eugenie and sister of M. La Rouquette, was the widow of General de Llorentz. She carried on an intrigue with De Massy, and was said to hold three compromising letters from him regarding certain august personages. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

LOGRE, a fish auctioneer at the _Halles Centrales_. He attended the revolutionary meetings at Lebigre’s wine shop, and made violent speeches there, but was really an agent of the Police. Le Ventre de Paris.

LOISEAU, a municipal councillor of Rognes. He was devoted to the Mayor, Alexandre Hourdequin, on whose farm his son worked. He was an uncle of Macqueron. La Terre.

LONJUMEAU, a member of the band of brigands led by Beau-Francois. La Terre.

LORET (MADAME), a woman who lived in the neighbourhood of the _Halles Centrales_. Mademoiselle Saget made ill-natured remarks regarding her. Le Ventre de Paris.

LORILLEUX, a maker of gold chains, who was married to Coupeau’s sister. He was a little man who looked much older than his age, and suffered from a constant cough. Miserly and spiteful, he was jealous of the Coupeaus in their success, and rejoiced at their downfall. L’Assommoir.

LORILLEUX (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a sister of Coupeau, who married Gervaise Macquart. Along with her husband, she worked at the trade of gold chain-making; like him, she was so avaricious that her custom was to examine the soles of her visitors’ boots lest they should depart with any adhering gold dust. From the first she resented her brother’s marriage, and took every opportunity of being disagreeable to Gervaise. Though she was willing to accept the Coupeaus’ hospitality in their prosperous days, she refused to do anything to assist them after their downfall. L’Assommoir.

LORILLON (LES), peasants at Rognes, who were said to have been cured of illness by the bone-setter Sourdeau. La Terre.

LOUBET, a soldier in the 106th Regiment of the line; in the squad of Corporal Jean Macquart. He was unwilling to fight, and during the battle of 1st September, 1870, he assisted his comrade Chouteau to carry Sapin to the ambulance, spending the rest of the day in a tavern. After the capitulation of the French army, Loubet was made a prisoner. Along with Chouteau he made a determined effort to escape, and would have done so had not his companion treacherously tripped him up in order to increase his own chance. La Debacle.

LOUHETTE, an elderly draper in Rue Neuve Saint-Augustin. He was the father of Madame Theophile Vabre. Pot-Bouille.

LOUHETTE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, and mother of Madame Theophile Vabre. Pot-Bouille.

LOUHETTE (VALERIE). See Theophile Vabre.

LOUIS, Irma Becot’s butler at her house in the Avenue de Villiers. L’Oeuvre.

LOUIS, cousin of Cabuche, and, like him, a quarryman. He drove Cabuche’s wagon on the evening of the murder of President Grandmorin. La Bete Humaine.

LOUIS, an artillery gunner, in the same battery as Honore Fouchard and Adolphe. He was mated with Adolphe, who was inclined to treat him as an inferior. In the attack by the Prussians on the Calvary d’Illy Louis fell, killed by the same shot as his comrade, and the two died entwined in one another’s arms. La Debacle.

LOUIS (LA MERE), a wine-seller, who was famous for her “hen feet.” L’Assommoir.

LOUISE, an actress at the Palais-Royal. Nana.

LOUISE, a young girl who was brought up in an Orphanage. At fifteen she went as maid-servant to Madame Jazeur, but not proving satisfactory, was sent back to the Orphanage. Pot-Bouille.

LOUISET, the pet name of Louis Coupeau, son of Nana, born 1867. Left at first with a nurse in the country, he was afterwards taken charge of by his aunt, Madame Lerat, who removed him to Batignolles. He was a delicate child, pale and scrofulous, bearing a legacy of ill-health derived from an unknown father. He died in July, 1870, of small-pox, which he communicated to his mother, who had just returned from Russia. Nana.

LOUISETTE, the younger daughter of Madame Misard (Aunt Phasie). She was a fair and sweet child who had a strong affection for Cabuche, a man who was regarded by nearly everyone as an outcast. As a maid-servant in the house of Madame Bonnehon, she attracted the notice of President Grandmorin, and fleeing from him, half-mad with fear, she came to the hut of Cabuche, who tenderly nursed her till she died of brain fever a few days later. La Bete Humaine.

LOULOU, a dog which belonged to Nana. Nana.

LULU, a dog which belonged to Nana. Nana.

LUSIGNAN, a racehorse in the stable of Vandeuvres. Mounted by Gresham, it was the favourite in the race for the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.

M

MACQUART, a poacher and smuggler who lived at Plassans in a hovel adjoining the Fouque property. His reputation was of the worst, and “although no crimes had actually been brought home to him, the first suspicions always fell upon him whenever a theft or murder had been perpetrated in the country.” He frequently disappeared for long periods, but during his short sojourns in the town he drank to great excess. He became the lover of Adelaide Fouque in 1789, less than a year after the death of her husband, and had two children by her, Antoine and Ursule Macquart. A man of violent and unrestrained passions, and of incorrigibly lazy habits, he retained complete influence over Adelaide, and they lived in the same relationship for over twenty years. About 1810, Macquart was killed on the frontier by a custom-house officer while he was endeavouring to smuggle a cargo of Geneva watches into France. Adelaide was sole legatee, the estate consisting of the hovel at Plassans and the carbine of the deceased, which a smuggler loyally brought back to her. La Fortune des Rougon.

MACQUART (ANTOINE), born 1789, son of Macquart the smuggler and Adelaide Fouque; was drawn in the conscription in 1809. On his return to Plassans, he found that his half-brother Pierre had sold the family property and had appropriated the proceeds. Being a confirmed drunkard, he was averse from work of any kind, but in order to support himself he learned the trade of basket-making. In 1826 he married Josephine Gavaudan, a market-woman, whom he afterwards allowed to support him. They had three children, Lisa, Gervaise, and Jean. His wife died in 1850, and soon after his daughter Gervaise and his son Jean, who had assisted to keep him in idleness, ran off. He had a bitter ill-will towards his brother Pierre Rougon, and, chiefly with a view to his annoyance, expressed strong Republican principles. For the same reason he took every opportunity of teaching these principles to his young nephew Silvere Mouret. After the _Coup d’Etat_ he took an active share in the agitation which resulted in a Republican rising. When the Insurgents left Plassans, he remained with a few men to overawe the inhabitants. He and his whole band were, however, taken prisoners by the citizens under the leadership of Pierre Rougon. He was assisted to escape by Madame Felicite Rougon, who promised him a sum of money on condition that he would bring about an attack on the Town Hall by the Republicans. He did so the same night, and an ambush having been prepared by the Rougons, a number of lives were sacrificed. He thereafter left the country. La Fortune des Rougon.

Some time afterwards he returned to France, and bought a small house at Les Tulettes, about three leagues from Plassans. He fitted up his establishment by degrees, and even became possessed of a horse and trap. Where the money came from no one knew, but it was believed that his brother Pierre Rougon was keeping him. Notwithstanding this, he had great ill-will towards the Rougons, and lost no opportunity of annoying them. Partly with this object, and partly at the instigation of Abbe Fenil, who wished to be revenged on Abbe Faujas, he contrived the escape of Francois Mouret from the asylum at Les Tulettes; as result, Mouret returned to Plassans, and setting fire to his house, caused the death of Abbe Faujas, himself perishing in the flames. La Conquete de Plassans.

Macquart lived to an old age at Les Tulettes, though he increasingly gave way to drunkenness. His relations with the Rougons were friendly, but he was hated by Felicite on account of his knowledge of the origin of the family fortune. At eighty-four years of age he was still healthy, but his flesh was so saturated with alcohol that it seemed to be preserved by it. One day, as he was sitting helpless with drink and smoking his pipe, he set fire to his clothes, and his body, soaked as it was with ardent spirits, was burned to the last bone. Felicite Rougon chanced to enter the house just as the conflagration began, but she did nothing to stop it, and went silently away. The combustion was so complete that there was nothing left to bury, and the family had to content itself with having masses said for the repose of the dead. When Macquart’s will was opened, it was found that he had left all his money for the erection of a magnificent tomb for himself, with weeping angels at the head and foot. Le Docteur Pascal.

MACQUART (MADAME ANTOINE), wife of the preceding. See Josephine Gavaudan.

MACQUART (GERVAISE), born 1828, was a daughter of Antoine Macquart, and was slightly lame from birth. She was apprenticed to a laundress, but at an early age had two children to a journeyman tanner named Lantier.[*]

Soon after the death of her mother, in 1850, she ran off to Paris with Lantier and her children, Claude, a boy of eight, and Etienne, aged four. La Fortune des Rougon.

The party had only been in the city a few weeks when Lantier ran off with a girl named Adele, leaving Gervaise and the children unprovided for. She got work in the laundry of Madame Fauconnier, and not long after received an offer of marriage from Coupeau, a respectable zinc-worker, which after some hesitation she accepted. The marriage took place, and for a considerable time things prospered, one child, a daughter named Nana being born. An accident to Coupeau, who fell from a roof and was seriously injured, led to a gradual change; formerly temperate and industrious, he became unwilling to work, and began to spend his time in public-houses. Gervaise had meantime taken a shop with money borrowed from the Goujets, and had started a laundry in it. She was at first successful, but in time grew lazy and fond of good living, while Coupeau continued idle and became increasingly intemperate. Business began to go, and Gervaise became more careless, even taking more drink occasionally than she had been wont to do. About this time Lantier, her former lover, appeared again, and made friends with Coupeau, who agreed to take him into the house as a lodger. After that, the descent of Gervaise was rapid. Lantier never paid anything for his support, Coupeau drank more heavily than ever, and Gervaise, who was gradually drifting into intemperance, resumed her old connection with her lover. All the time work was being neglected, and debts were accumulating with alarming rapidity. Eventually Madame Virginie Poisson took over the shop, and with it Lantier, who transferred his affections along with the lease, and the Coupeaus removed into a small house high up in the same building. Coupeau suffered from repeated attacks of delirium tremens, and eventually died in an asylum. Gervaise continued to sink still lower, until no work was too menial or too repulsive for her to undertake for the price of drink, and one day in the winter of 1869 she was found dead in a garret of that great tenement house where she had passed so much of her life. L’Assommoir.

Her sister, Lisa Quenu, the pork-butcher, did not come to her assistance. Lisa did not like people who were unfortunate, and she was ashamed that Gervaise should have married a workman. Le Ventre de Paris.

Her son Etienne sent her small sums of money from time to time while he was in a situation at Lille. Germinal.

[*] These two are the only children of Gervaise and Lantier mentioned by M. Zola in _La Fortune des Rougon_, _L’Assommoir_, _L’Oeuvre_, and _Germinal_. In _La Bete Humaine_, however, the hero, Jacques Lantier, is stated to have been a child of these parents.

MACQUART (JEAN), born 1811, son of Antoine Macquart, was apprenticed to a carpenter. A quiet, industrious lad, Jean’s father took advantage of his simple nature and made him give up his whole earnings to assist in keeping him in idleness. Like his sister Gervaise, he ran off soon after the death of his mother. La Fortune des Rougon.

He entered the army, and, after seven years of soldiering was discharged in 1859. When he had left the ranks he turned up at Bazoches-le-Doyen with a comrade, a joiner like himself; and he resumed his occupation with the latter’s father, a master carpenter in the village. But his heart was no longer in his work, and having been sent to La Borderie to make some repairs, he stayed on to assist at the harvest, and eventually became a regular farm servant. He was not popular, however, with the peasants, who resented his having had a trade before he came back to the soil. He became acquainted at Rognes with Mouche and his daughters, Lise and Francoise, and eventually married the latter, in spite of the determined opposition of her brother-in-law, Buteau. Notwithstanding his marriage, he remained a stranger, and, after the death of his wife, went away, leaving everything in the hands of her relatives. The war with Germany had just broken out, and Jean, disgusted with his life, again enlisted in the service of his country. La Terre.