Repertory of The Comedie Humaine Part 24

GUENIC (Zephirine du) born in 1756 at Guerande; lived almost all her life with her younger brother, the Baron du Guenic, whose ideas, principles and opinions she shared. She dreamed of a rehabilitation of her improverished house, and pushed her economy to the point of refusng to undergo an operation for cataract. For a long time she wished that Mlle. Charlotte de Kergarouet might become her niece by marriage. [Beatrix.]

GUEPIN, of Provins, located in Paris. He had at the "Trois Quenouilles" one of the largest draper's shops on rue Saint-Denis. His head-clerk was his compatriot, Jerome-Denis Rogron. In 1815, he turned over his business to his grandson and returned to Provins, where his family formed a clan. Later Rogron retired also and rejoined him there. [Pierrette.]

GUERBET, wealthy farmer in the country near Ville-aux-Fayes; married, in the last of the eighteenth or first of the nineteenth century, the only daughter of Mouchon junior, then postmaster of Conches, Burgundy.

After the death of his father-in-law, about 1817, he succeeded to the office. [The Peasantry.]

GUERBET, brother of the foregoing, and related to the Gaubertins and Gendrins. Rich tax-collector of Soulanges, Burgundy. Stout, dumpy fellow with a b.u.t.ter face, wig, earrings, and immense collars; given to pomology; was the wit of the village and one of the lions of Mme.

Soudry's salon. [The Peasantry.]

GUERBET, circuit judge of Ville-aux-Fayes, Burgundy, in 1823. Like his uncle, the postmaster, and his father, the tax-collector, he was entirely devoted to Gaubertin. [The Peasantry.]

GUILLAUME, in the course of, or at the end of the eighteenth century, began as clerk to Chevrel, draper, on rue Saint-Denis, Paris, "at the Sign of the Cat and Racket"; afterwards became his son-in-law, succeeded him, became wealthy and retired, during the first Empire, after marrying off his two daughters, Virginie and Augustine, in the same day. He became member of the Consultation Committee for the uniforming of the troops, changed his home, living in a house of his own on rue du Colombier, was intimate with the Ragons and the Birotteaus, being invited with his wife to the ball given by the latter. [At the Sign of the Cat and Racket. Cesar Birotteau.]

GUILLAUME (Madame), wife of the preceding; born Chevrel; cousin of Mme. Roguin; a stiff-necked, middle-cla.s.s woman, who was scandalized by the marriage of her second daughter, Augustine, with Theodore de Sommervieux. [At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.]

GUILLAUME, servant of Marquis d'Aiglemont in 1823. [A Woman of Thirty.]

GUINARD (Abbe), priest of Sancerre in 1836. [The Muse of the Department.]

GYAS (Marquise de), lived at Bordeaux during the Restoration; gave much thought to marrying off her daughter, and, being intimate with Mme. Evangelista, felt hurt when Natalie Evangelista married Paul de Manerville in 1822. However, the Marquis de Gyas was one of the witnesses at the wedding. [A Marriage Settlement.]

H

HABERT (Abbe), vicar at Provins under the Restoration; a stern, ambitious prelate, a source of annoyance to Vinet; dreamed of marrying his sister Celeste to Jerome-Denis Rogron. [Pierrette.]

HABERT (Celeste), sister of the preceding; born about 1797; managed a girls' boarding-school at Provins, in the closing years of Charles X.'s reign. Visited at the Rogrons. Gouraud and Vinet shunned her.

[Pierrette.]

HADOT (Madame), who lived at La Charite, Nievre, in 1836, was mistaken for Mme. Barthelemy-Hadot, the French novelist, whose name was mentioned at Mme. de la Baudraye's, near Sancerre. [The Muse of the Department.]

HALGA (Chevalier du), naval officer greatly esteemed by Suffren and Portenduere; captain of Kergarouet's flagship; lover of that admiral's wife, whom he survived. He served in the Indian and Russian waters, refused to take up arms against France, and returned with a petty pension after the emigration. Knew Richelieu intimately. Remained in Paris the inseparable friend and adherent of Kergarouet. Called near the Madeleine upon the Mesdames de Rouville, other protegees of his patron. The death of Louis XVIII. took Halga back to Guerande, his native town, where he became mayor and was still living in 1836. He was well acquainted with the Guenics and made himself ridiculous by his fancied ailments as well as by his solicitude for his dog, Thisbe.

[The Purse. Beatrix.]

HALPERSOHN (Moses), a refugee Polish Jew, excellent physician, communist, very eccentric, avaricious, friend of Lelewel the insurrectionist. Time of Louis Philippe at Paris, he attended Vanda de Mergi, given up by several doctors, and also diagnosed her complicated disease. [The Seamy Side of History.]

HALPERTIUS, a.s.sumed name of Jacques Collin.

HANNEQUIN (Leopold), Parisian notary. The "Revue de l'Est," a paper published at Besancon, time of Louis Philippe, gave, in an autobiographical novel of its editor-in-chief, Albert Savarus, ent.i.tled "L'Ambitieux par Amour," the story of the boyhood of Leopold Hannequin, the author's inseparable friend. Savarus told of their joint travels, and of the quiet preparation made by his friend for a notaryship during the time known as the Restoration. During the monarchy of the barricades Hannequin remained the steadfast friend of Savarus, being one of the first to find his hiding-place. At that time the notary had an office in Paris. He married there to advantage, became head of a family, and deputy-mayor of a precinct, and obtained the decoration for a wound received at the cloister of Saint-Merri. He was welcomed and made use of in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, the Saint-Georges quarter and the Marais. At the Grandlieus' request he drew up the marriage settlement of their daughter Sabine with Calyste du Guenic--1837. Four years later he consulted with old Marshal Hulot, on rue du Montparna.s.se, regarding his will in behalf of Mlle. Fischer and Mme. Steinbock. About 1845, at the request of Heloise Brisetout, he drew up Sylvain Pons' will. [Albert Savarus. Beatrix. Cousin Betty.

Cousin Pons.]

HAPPE & DUNCKER, celebrated bankers of Amsterdam, amateur art-collectors, and sn.o.bbish parvenus, bought, in 1813, the fine gallery of Balthazar Claes, paying one hundred thousand ducats for it. [The Quest of the Absolute.]

HAUDRY, doctor at Paris during the first part of the nineteenth century. An old man and an upholder of old treatments; having a practice mainly among the middle cla.s.s. Attended Cesar Birotteau, Jules Desmarets, Mme. Descoings and Vanda de Mergi. His name was still cited at the end of Louis Philippe's reign. [Cesar Birotteau. The Thirteen. A Bachelor's Establishment. The Seamy Side of History.

Cousin Pons.]

HAUGOULT (Pere), oratorian and regent of the Vendome college, about 1811. Stern and narrow-minded, he did not comprehend the budding genius of one of his pupils, Louis Lambert, but destroyed the "Treatise on the Will," written by the lad. [Louis Lambert.]

HAUTESERRE (D'), born in 1751; grandfather of Marquis de Cinq-Cygne; guardian of Laurence de Cinq-Cygne; father of Robert and Adrien d'Hauteserre. A gentleman of caution he would willingly have parleyed with the Revolution; he made this evident after 1803 in the Arcis precinct where he resided, and especially during the succeeding years marked by an affair which jeopardized the lives of some of his family.

Gondreville, Peyrade, Corentin, Fouche and Napoleon were bugaboos to d'Hauteserre. He outlived his sons. [The Gondreville Mystery. The Member for Arcis.]

HAUTESERRE (Madame d'), wife of the preceding; born in 1763; mother of Robert and Adrien; showed throughout her wearied, saddened frame the marks of the old regime. Following Goujet's advice she countenanced the deeds of Mlle. de Cinq-Cygne, the bold, dashing counter-revolutionist of Arcis during 1803 and succeeding years. Mme.

Hauteserre survived her sons. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

HAUTESERRE (Robert d'), elder son of the foregoing. Brusque, recalling the men of mediaeval times, despite his feeble const.i.tution. A man of honor, he followed the fortunes of his brother Adrien and his kinsmen the Simeuses. Like them, he emigrated during the first Revolution, and returned to the neighborhood of Arcis about 1803. Like them again he became enamored of Mlle. de Cinq-Cygne. Wrongly accused of having abducted the senator, Malin de Gondreville, and sentenced to ten years' hard labor, he obtained the Emperor's pardon and was made sub-lieutenant in the cavalry. He died as colonel at the storming of Moskowa, September 7, 1812. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

HAUTESERRE (Adrien d'), second son of M. and Mme. d'Hauteserre; was of different stamp from his older brother Robert, yet had many things in common with the latter's career. He also was influenced by honor. He also emigrated and, on his return, fell under the same sentence. He also obtained Napoleon's pardon and a commission in the army, taking Robert's place in the attack on Moskowa; and in recognition of his severe wounds became brigadier-general after the battle of Dresden, August 26, 27, 1813. The doors of the Chateau de Cinq-Cygne were opened to admit the mutilated soldier, who married his mistress, Laurence, though his affection was not requited. This marriage made Adrien Marquis de Cinq-Cygne. During the Restoration he was made a peer, promoted to lieutenant-general, and obtained the Cross of Saint-Louis. He died in 1829, lamented by his wife, his parents and his children. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

HAUTESERRE (Abbe d'), brother of M. d'Hauteserre; somewhat like his young kinsman in disposition; made some ado over his n.o.ble birth; thus it happened that he was killed, shot in the attack on the Hotel de Cinq-Cygne by the people of Troyes, in 1792. [The Gondreville Mystery.]

HAUTOY (Francis du), gentleman of Angouleme; was consul at Valence.

Lived in the chief city of Charente between 1821 and 1824; frequented the Bargetons; was on the most intimate terms with the Senonches, and was said to be the father of Francoise de la Haye, daughter of Mme. de Senonches. Hautoy seemed slightly superior to his a.s.sociates. [Lost Illusions.]

HENRI, police-agent at Paris in 1840, given special a.s.signments by Corentin, and placed as servant successively at the Thuilliers, and with Nepomucene Picot, with the duty of watching Theodose de la Peyrade. [The Middle Cla.s.ses.]

HERBELOT, notary of Arcis-sur-Aube during the electoral period of spring, 1839; visited the Beauvisages, Marions and Mollots. [The Member for Arcis.]

HERBELOT (Malvina), born in 1809; sister of the preceding, whose curiosity she shared, when the Arcis elections were in progress. She also called on the Beauvisages and the Mollots, and, despite her thirty years, sought the society of the young women of these houses.

[The Member for Arcis.]

HERBOMEZ, of Mayenne, nick-named General Hardi; chauffeur implicated in the Royalist uprising in which Henriette Bryond took part, during the first Empire. Like Mme. de la Chanterie's daughter, Herbomez paid with his head his share in the rebellion. His execution took place in 1809. [The Seamy Side of History.]

HERBOMEZ (D'), brother of the foregoing, but more fortunate, he ended by becoming a count and receiver-general. [The Seamy Side of History.]

HEREDIA (Marie). (See Soria, d.u.c.h.esse de.)

HERMANN, a Nuremberg merchant who commanded a free company enlisted against the French, in October, 1799. Was arrested and thrown into a prison of Andernach, where he had for fellow-prisoner, Prosper Magnan, a young a.s.sistant surgeon, native of Beauvais, Oise. Hermann thus learned the terrible secret of an unjust detention followed by an execution equally unjust. Many years after, in Paris, he told the story of the martyrdom of Magnan in the presence of F. Taillefer, the unpunished author of the dual crime which had caused the imprisonment and death of an innocent man. [The Red Inn.]

HERON, notary of Issoudun in the early part of the nineteenth century, who was attorney for the Rougets, father and son. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]

HEROUVILLE (Marechal d'), whose ancestors' names were inscribed in the pages of French history, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, replete with glory and dramatic mystery; was Duc de Nivron.

He was the last governor of Normandy, returned from exile with Louis XVIII. in 1814, and died at an advanced age in 1819. [The Hated Son.

Modeste Mignon.]

HEROUVILLE (Duc d'), son of the preceding; born in 1796, at Vienna, Austria, during the emigration, "fruit of the matrimonial autumn of the last governor of Normandy"; descendant of a Comte d'Herouville, a Norman free-lance who lived under Henri IV. and Louis XIII. He was Marquis de Saint-Sever, Duc de Nivron, Comte de Bayeux, Vicomte d'Essigny, grand equerry and peer of France, chevalier of the Order of the Spur and of the Golden Fleece, and grandee of Spain. A more modest origin, however, was ascribed to him by some. The founder of his house was supposed to have been an usher at the court of Robert of Normandy.

But the coat-of-arms bore the device "Herus Villa"--House of the Chief. At any rate, the physical unattractiveness and comparative lack of means of D'Herouville, who was a kind of dwarf, contrasted with his aristocratic lineage. However, his income allowed him to keep a house on rue Saint-Thomas du Louvre, Paris, and to keep on good terms with the Chaulieus. He maintained f.a.n.n.y Beaupre, who apparently cost him dear; for, about 1829, he sought the hand of the Mignon heiress.

During the reign of Louis Philippe, D'Herouville, then a social leader, had acquaintance with the Hulots, was known as a celebrated art amateur, and resided on rue de Varenne, in Faubourg Saint-Germain.

Later he took Josepha Mirah from Hulot, and installed her in fine style on rue Saint-Maur-du-Temple with Olympe Bijou. [The Hated Son.

Jealousies of a Country Town. Modeste Mignon. Cousin Betty.]

HEROUVILLE (Mademoiselle d'), aunt of the preceding; dreamed of a rich marriage for that stunted creature, who seemed a sort of reproduction of an evil Herouville of past ages. She desired Modeste Mignon for him; but her aristocratic pride revolted at the thought of Mlle.

MoneG.o.d or Augusta de Nucingen. [Modeste Mignon.]

HEROUVILLE (Helene d'), niece of the preceding; sister of Duc d'Herouville; accompanied her relatives to Havre in 1829; afterwards knew the Mignons. [Modeste Mignon.]

HERRERA (Carlos), unacknowledged son of the Duc d'Ossuna; canon of the cathedral of Toledo, charged with a political mission to France by Ferdinand VII. He was drawn into an ambush by Jacques Collin, who killed him, stripped him and then a.s.sumed his name until about 1830.

[Lost Illusions. Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]