A Zola Dictionary Part 11

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 pa.s.senger department of the station to his a.s.sistants, 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 m.u.f.fat, he decided to marry her, and with the a.s.sistance of Nana obtained the consent of Count m.u.f.fat. 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 Ma.s.s, and was furious with his father-in-law, who was ruining the family on account of Nana. Nana.

DAGUENET (MADAME). See Estelle m.u.f.fat 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 a.s.sured 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 pa.s.sion 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 Impa.s.se 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 Pa.s.sy 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 circ.u.mstances under which Helene Grandjean prevented an a.s.signation between his wife and M. Malignon, believed that Helene had arranged an a.s.signation 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 a.s.signation. 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 acc.u.mulating against their unhappy country.

La Debacle.

DELAHERCHE (JULES), one of the princ.i.p.al 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 Pla.s.sans. He was the son of a bricklayer, and when he pa.s.sed 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 Pla.s.sans, 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 Pla.s.sans.

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 Pla.s.sans." 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 Pla.s.sans.

DELANGRE (LUCIEN), son of M. Delangre, mayor of Pla.s.sans. 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 pract.i.tioner. On the suggestion of Abbe Faujas he took a leading part in starting the Club for Young Men at Pla.s.sans. La Conquete de Pla.s.sans.

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 pa.s.sion 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 princ.i.p.al 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 f.a.n.n.y 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 munic.i.p.al councillor, and ultimately became mayor. La Terre.

DELHOMME (MADAME), nee f.a.n.n.y 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 a.s.sist 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.