Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  BROUET (Joseph), a Chouan who died of wounds received in the fight of La Pelerine or at the siege of Fougeres, in 1799. The Chouans.

  BROUSSON (Doctor), attended the banker Jean-Frederic Taillefer, a short time before the financier’s death. The Red Inn.

  BRUCE (Gabriel), alias Gros-Jean, one of the fiercest Chouans of the Fontaine division. Implicated in the affair of the “Chauffeurs of Mortagne” in 1809. Condemned to death for contumacy. The Seamy Side of History.

  BRUEL (Du), chief of division to the Ministers of the Interior, under the Empire. A friend of Bridau senior, retired on the advent of Restoration. He was on very friendly terms with the widow Bridau, coming each evening for a game of cards at her house, on rue Mazarine, with his old-time colleagues, Claparon and Desroches. These three old employes were called the “Three Sages of Greece” by Mmes. Bridau and Descoings. M. du Bruel was descended of a contractor ennobled at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. He died about 1821. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BRUEL (Madame du), wife of the preceding. She survived him. She was the mother of the dramatic author Jean-Francois du Bruel, christened Cursy on the Parisian bill-boards. Although a bourgeoisie of strict ideas, Mme. du Bruel welcomed the dancer Tullia, who became her daughter-in-law. A Prince of Bohemia.

  BRUEL (Jean-Francois du), son of the preceding; born about 1797. In 1816 he obtained a place under the Minister of Finance, thanks to the favor of the Duc de Navarreins. A Bachelor’s Establishment. He was sub-chief of Rabourdin’s office when the latter, in 1824, contested with M. Baudoyer for a place of division chief. The Government Clerks. In November, 1825, Jean-Francois du Bruel assisted at a breakfast given at the “Rocher de Cancale” to the clerks of Desroches’ office by Frederic Marest who was treating to celebrate his incoming. He was present also at the orgy which followed at Florentine’s home. A Start in Life. M. du Bruel successively rose to be chief of bureau, director, councillor of state, deputy, peer of France and commander of the Legion of Honor; he received the title of count and entered one of the classes in the Institute. All this was accomplished through his wife, Claudine Chaffaroux, formerly the dancer, Tullia, whom he married in 1829. A Prince of Bohemia. The Middle Classes. For a long time he wrote vaudeville sketches over the name of Cursy. Nathan, the poet, found it necessary to unite with him. Du Bruel would make use of the author’s ideas, condensing them into small, sprightly skits which always scored successes for the actors. Du Bruel and Nathan discovered the actress Florine. They were the authors of “L’Alcade dans l’embarras,” an imbroglio in three acts, played at the Theatre du Panorama-Dramatique about 1822, when Florine made her debut, playing with Coralie and Bouffe, the latter under the name of Vignol. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Daughter of Eve.

  BRUEL (Claudine Chaffaroux, Madame du), born at Nanterre in 1799. One of the premiere danseuses of the Opera from 1817 to 1827. For several years she was the mistress of the Duc de Rhetore A Bachelor’s Establishment., and afterwards of Jean-Francois du Bruel, who was much in love with her in 1823, and married her in 1829. She had then left the stage. About 1834 she met Charles Edouard de la Palferine and formed a violent attachment for him. In order to please him and pose in his eyes as a great lady, she urged her husband to the constant pursuit of honors, and finally achieved the title of countess. Nevertheless she continued to play the lady of propriety and found entrance into bourgeoisie society. A Prince of Bhoemia. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Letters of Two Brides. In 1840, to please Mme. Colleville, her friend, she tried to obtain a decoration for Thuillier. The Middle Classes. Mme. du Bruel bore the name of Tullia on the stage and in the “gallant” circle. She lived then in rue Chauchat, in a house afterwards occupied by Mmes. Mirah and Brisetout, when Claudine moved after her marriage to rue de la Victoire.

  BRUNET, bailiff at Blagny, Burgundy, in 1823. He was also councillor of the Canton during the Terror, having for practitioners Michel Vert alias Vermichel and Fourchon the elder. The Peasantry.

  BRUNNER (Gedeon), father of Frederic Brunner. At the time of the French Restoration and of Louis Philippe he owned the great Holland House at Frankford-on-the-Main. One of the early railway projectors. He died about 1844, leaving four millions. Calvinist. Twice married. Cousin Pons.

  BRUNNER (Madame), first wife of Gedeon Brunner, and mother of Frederic Brunner. A relative of the Virlaz family, well-to-do Jewish furriers of Leipsic. A converted Jew. Her dowry was the basis of her husband’s fortune. She died young, leaving a son aged but twelve. Cousin Pons.

  BRUNNER (Madame), second wife of Gedeon Brunner. The only daughter of a German inn-keeper. She had been very badly spoiled by her parents. Sterile, dissipated and prodigal, she made her husband very unhappy, thus avenging the first Mme. Brunner. She was a step-mother of the most abominable sort, launching her stepson into an unbridled life, hoping that debauchery would devour both the child and the Jewish fortune. After ten years of wedded life she died before her parents, having made great inroads upon Gedeon Brunner’s property. Cousin Pons.

  BRUNNER (Frederic), only son of Gedeon Brunner, born within the first four years of the century. He ran through his maternal inheritance by silly dissipations, and then helped his friend Wilhelm Schwab to make away with the hundred thousand francs his parents had left him. Without resources and cast adrift by his father he went to Paris in 1835, where, upon the recommendation of Graff, the inn-keeper, he obtained a position with Keller at six hundred francs per annum. In 1843 he was only two thousand francs ahead; but Gedeon Brunner having died, he became a multi-millionaire. Then for friendship’s sake he founded, with his chum Wilhelm, the banking house of “Brunner, Schwab & Co.,” on rue Richelieu, between rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs and rue Villedo, in a magnificent building belonging to the tailor, Wolfgang Graff. Frederic Brunner had been presented by Sylvain Pons to the Camusots de Marville; he would have married their daughter had she not been the only child. The breaking off of this match involved also, the relations of Pons with the De Marville family and resulted in the death of the musician. Cousin Pons.

  BRUNO, valet de chambre of Corentin at Passy, on rue des Vignes, in 1830. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. About 1840 he was again in the service of Corentin, who was now known as M. du Portail and lived on rue Honore-Chevalier, at Paris. The Middle Classes. This name is sometimes spelled Bruneau.

  BRUTUS, proprietor of the Hotel des Trois-Maures in the Grand-Rue, Alencon, in 1799, where Alphonse de Montauran met Mlle. de Verneuil for the first time. The Chouans.

  BUNEAUD (Madame), ran a bourgeoisie boarding-house in opposition to Mme. Vauquer on the heights of Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, in 1819. Father Goriot.

  BUTIFER, noted hunter, poacher and smuggler, living in the village hard by Grenoble, where Dr. Benassis located, during the Restoration. When the doctor arrived in the country, Butifer drew a bead on him, in a corner of the forest. Later, however, he became entirely devoted to him. He was charged by Genestas with the physical education of this officer’s adopted son. It may be that Butifer enlisted in Genestas’ regiment, after the death of Dr. Benassis. The Country Doctor.

  BUTSCHA (Jean), head-clerk of Maitre Latournelle, a notary at Havre in 1829. Born about 1804. The natural son of a Swedish sailor and a Demoiselle Jacmin of Honfleur. A hunchback. A type of intelligence and devotion. Entirely subservient to Modeste Mignon, whom he loved without hope; he aided, by many adroit methods, to bring about her marriage with Ernest de la Briere. Butscha decided that this union would make the young lady happy. Modeste Mignon.

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  CABIROLLE, in charge of the stages of Minoret-Levrault, postmaster of Nemours. Probably a widower, with one son. About 1837, a sexagenarian, he married Antoinette Patris, called La Bougival, who was over fifty, but whose income amounted to twelve hundred francs. Ursule Mirouet.

  CABIROLLE, son of the preceding. In 1830 he was Dr. Minoret’s coachman at Nemours. Later he was coachman for Savinien de Portenduere, after the vicomte’s marriage with Ursule Mirouet. Ursule Mirouet. />
  CABIROLLE (Madame), wife of Cabirolle senior. Born Antoinette Patris in 1786, of a poor family of La Bresse. Widow of a workman named Pierre alias Bougival; she was usually designated by the latter name. After having been Ursule Mirouet’s nurse, she became Dr. Minoret’s servant, marrying Cabirolle about 1837. Ursule Mirouet.

  CABIROLLE (Madame), mother of Florentine, the danseuse. Formerly janitress on rue Pastourelle, but living in 1820 with her daughter on rue de Crussol in a modest affluence assured by Cardot the old silk-dealer, since 1817. According to Girondeau, she was a woman of sense. A Start in Life. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  CABIROLLE (Agathe-Florentine), known as Florentine; born in 1804. In 1817, upon leaving Coulon’s class, she was discovered by Cardot, the old silk-merchant, and established by him with her mother in a relatively comfortable flat on rue de Crussol. After having been featured at the Gaite theatre, in 1820, she danced for the first time in a spectacular drama entitled “The Ruins of Babylon.”* Immediately afterwards she succeeded Mariette as premiere danseuse at the theatre of the Porte-Saint-Martin. Then in 1823 she made her debut at the Opera in a trio skit with Mariette and Tullia. At the time when Cardot “protected” her, she had for a lover the retired Captain Girondeau, and was intimate with Philippe Bridau, to whom she gave money when in need. In 1825 Florentine occupied Coralie’s old flat, now for some three years, and it was at this place that Oscar Husson lost at play the money entrusted to him by his employer, Desroches the attorney, and was surprised by his uncle, Cardot. A Start in Life. Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  * By Renee-Charles Guilbert de Pixerecourt; played for the first time at Paris in 1810.

  CABOT (Armand-Hippolyte), a native of Toulouse who, in 1800, established a hair-dressing salon on the Place de la Bourse, Paris. On the advice of his customer, the poet Parny, he had taken the name of Marius, a sobriquet which stuck to the establishment. In 1845 Cabot had earned an income of twenty-four thousand francs and lived at Libourne, while a fifth Marius, called Mougin, managed the business founded by him. The Unconscious Humorists.

  CABOT (Marie-Anne), known as Lajeunesse, an old servant of Marquis Carol d’Esgrignon. Implicated in the affair of the “Chauffeurs of Mortagne” and executed in 1809. The Seamy Side of History.

  CACHAN, attorney at Angouleme under the Restoration. He and Petit-Claud had similar business interests and the same clients. In 1830 Cachan, now mayor of Marsac, had dealings with the Sechards. Lost Illusions. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.

  CADENET, Parisian wine-merchant, in 1840, on the ground-floor of a furnished lodging-house, corner of rue des Postes and rue des Poules. Cerizet also dwelt there at that time. Cadenet, who was proprietor of the house, had something to do with the transactions of Cerizet, the “banker of the poor.” The Middle Classes.

  CADIGNAN (Prince de), a powerful lord of the former regime, father of the Duc de Maufrigneuse, father-in-law of the Duc de Navarreins. Ruined by the Revolution, he had regained his properties and income on the accession of the Bourbons. But he was a spendthrift and devoured everything. He also ruined his wife. He died at an advanced age some time before the Revolution of July. The Secrets of a Princess. At the end of 1829, the Prince de Cadignan, then Grand Huntsman to Charles X., rode in a great chase where were also found, amid a very aristocratic throng, the Duc d’Herouville, organizer of the jaunt, Canalis and Ernest de la Briere, all three of whom were suitors for the hand of Modeste Mignon. Modeste Mignon.

  CADIGNAN (Prince and Princesse de), son and daughter-in-law of the preceding. (See Maufrigneuse, Duc and Duchesse de.)

  CADINE (Jenny), actress at the Gymnase theatre, times of Charles X. and Louis Philippe. The most frolicsome of women, the only rival of Dejazet. Born in 1814. Discovered, trained and “protected” from thirteen years old on, by Baron Hulot. Intimate friend of Josepha Mirah. Cousin Betty. Between 1835 and 1840, while maintained by Couture, she lived on rue Blanche in a delightful little ground-floor flat with its own garden. Fabien du Ronceret and Mme. Schontz succeeded her here. Beatrix. In 1845 she was Massol’s mistress and lived on rue de la Victoire. At this time, she apparently led astray in short order Palafox Gazonal, who had been taken to her home by Bixiou and Leon de Lora. The Unconscious Humorists. About this time she was the victim of a jewelry theft. After the arrest of the thieves her property was returned by Saint-Esteve — Vautrin — who was then chief of the special service. The Member for Arcis.

  CADOT (Mademoiselle), old servant-mistress of Judge Blondet at Alencon, during the Restoration. She pampered her master, and, like him, preferred the elder of the magistrate’s two sons. Jealousies of a Country Town.

  CALVI (Theodore), alias Madeleine. Born in 1803. A Corsican condemned to the galleys for life on account of eleven murders committed by the time he was eighteen. A member of the same gang with Vautrin from 1819 to 1820. Escaped with him. Having assassinated the widow Pigeau of Nanterre, in May, 1830, he was rearrested and this time sentenced to death. The plotting of Vautrin, who bore for him an unnatural affection, saved his life; the sentence was commuted. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.

  CAMBON, lumber merchant, a deputy mayor to Benassis, in 1829, in a community near Grenoble, and a devoted assistant in the work of regeneration undertaken by the doctor. The Country Doctor.

  CAMBREMER (Pierre), fisherman of Croisic on the Lower-Loire, time of Louis Philippe, who, for the honor of a jeopardized name, had cast his only son into the sea and afterwards remained desolate and a widower on a cliff near by, in expiation of his crime induced by paternal justice. A Seaside Tragedy. Beatrix.

  CAMBREMER (Joseph), younger brother of Pierre Cambremer, father of Pierrette, called Perotte. A Seaside Tragedy.

  CAMBREMER (Jacques), only son of Pierre Cambremer and Jacquette Brouin. Spoiled by his parents, his mother especially, he became a rascal of the worst type. Jacques Cambremer evaded justice only by reason of the fact that his father gagged him and cast him into the sea. A Seaside Tragedy.

  CAMBREMER (Madame), born Jacquette Brouin, wife of Pierre Cambremer and mother of Jacques. She was of Guerande; was educated; could write “like a clerk”; taught her son to read and this brought about his ruin. She was usually spoken of as the beautiful Brouin. She died a few days after Jacques. A Seaside Tragedy.

  CAMBREMER (Pierrette), known as Perotte; daughter of Joseph Cambremer; niece of Pierre and his goddaughter. Every morning the sweet and charming creature came to bring her uncle the bread and water upon which he subsisted. A Seaside Tragedy.

  CAMERISTUS, celebrated physician of Paris under Louis Philippe; the Ballanche of medicine and one of the defenders of the abstract doctrines of Van Helmont; chief of the “Vitalists” opposed to Brisset who headed the “Organists.” He as well as Brisset was called in consultation regarding a very serious malady afflicting Raphael de Valentin. The Magic Skin.

  CAMPS (Octave de), lover then husband of Mme. Firmiani. She made him restore the entire fortune of a family named Bourgneuf, ruined in a lawsuit by Octave’s father, thus reducing him to the necessity of making a living by teaching mathematics. He was only twenty-two years old when he met Mme. Firmiani. He married her first at Gretna Green. The marriage at Paris took place in 1824 or 1825. Before marriage, Octave de Camps lived on rue de l’Observance. He was a descendant of the famous Abbe de Camps, so well known among bookmen and savants. Madame Firmiani. Octave de Camps reappears as an ironmaster, during the reign of Louis Philippe. At this time he rarely resided at Paris. The Member for Arcis.

  CAMPS (Madame Octave de), nee Cadignan; niece of the old Prince de Cadignan; cousin of the Duc de Maufrigneuse. In 1813, at the age of sixteen, she married M. Firmiani, receiver-general in the department of Montenotte. M. Firmiani died in Greece about 1822, and she became Mme. de Camps in 1824 or 1825. At this time she dwelt on rue du Bac and had entree into the home of Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, the oracle of Faubourg Saint-Germain. An accomplished and excellent lady, loved even by her riva
ls, the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, her cousin, Mme. de Macumer — Louise de Chaulieu — and the Marquise d’Espard. Madame Firmiani. She welcomed and protected Mme. Xavier Rabourdin. The Government Clerks. At the close of 1824 she gave a ball where Charles de Vandenesse made the acquaintance of Mme. d’Aiglemont whose lover he became. A Woman of Thirty. In 1834 Mme. Octave de Camps tried to check the slanders going the rounds at the expense of Mme. Felix de Vandenesse, who had compromised herself somewhat on account of the poet Nathan; and Mme. de Camps gave the young woman some good advice. A Daughter of Eve. On another occasion she gave exceedingly good counsel to Mme. de l’Estorade, who was afraid of being smitten with Sallenauve. The Member for Arcis. Mme. Firmiani, “that was,” shared her time between Paris and the furnaces of M. de Camps; but she gave the latter much the preference — at least so said one of her intimate friends, Mme. de l’Estorade. The Member for Arcis.

  CAMUSET, one of Bourignard’s assumed names.

  CAMUSOT, silk-merchant, rue des Bourdonnais, Paris, under the Restoration. Born in 1765. Son-in-law and successor of Cardot, whose eldest daughter he had married. At that time he was a widower, his first wife being a Demoiselle Pons, sole heiress of the celebrated Pons family, embroiderers to the Court during the Empire. About 1834 Camusot retired from business, and became a member of the Manufacturers’ Council, deputy, peer of France and baron. He had four children. In 1821-1822 he maintained Coralie, who became so violently enamored of Lucien de Rubempre. Although she abandoned him for Lucien, he promised the poet, after the actress’ death, that he would purchase for her a permanent plot in the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Bachelor’s Establishment. Cousin Pons. Later he was intimate with Fanny Beaupre for some time. The Muse of the Department. He and his wife were present at Cesar Birotteau’s big ball in December, 1818; he was also chosen commissary-judge of the perfumer’s bankruptcy, instead of Gobenheim-Keller, who was first designated. Cesar Birotteau. He had dealings with the Guillaumes, clothing merchants, rue Saint-Denis. At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.