Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  CAMUSOT DE MARVILLE, son of Camusot the silk-merchant by his first marriage. Born about 1794. During Louis Philippe’s reign he took the name of a Norman estate and green, Marville, in order to distinguish between himself and a half-brother. In 1824, then a judge at Alencon, he helped render an alibi decision in favor of Victurnien d’Esgrignon, who really was guilty. Cousin Pons. Jealousies of a Country Town. He was judge at Paris in 1828, and was appointed to replace Popinot in the court which was to render a decision concerning the appeal for interdiction presented by Mme. d’Espard against her husband. The Commission in Lunacy. In May, 1830, in the capacity of judge of instruction, he prepared a report tending to the liberation of Lucien de Rubempre, accused of assassinating Esther Gobseck. But the suicide of the poet rendered the proposed measure useless, besides upsetting, momentarily, the ambitious projects of the magistrate. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. Camusot de Marville had been president of the Court of Nantes. In 1844 he was president of the Royal Court of Paris and commander of the Legion of Honor. At this time he lived in a house on rue de Hanovre, purchased by him in 1834, where he received the musician Pons, a cousin of his. The President de Marville was elected deputy in 1846. Cousin Pons.

  CAMUSOT DE MARVILLE (Madame), born Thirion, Marie-Cecile-Amelie, in 1798. Daughter of an usher of the Cabinet of Louis XVIII. Wife of the magistrate. In 1814 she frequented the studio of the painter Servin, who had a class for young ladies. This studio contained two factions; Mlle. Thirion headed the party of the nobility, though of ordinary birth, and persecuted Ginevra di Piombo, of the Bonapartist party. The Vendetta. In 1818 she was invited to accompany her father and mother to the famous ball of Cesar Birotteau. It was about the time her marriage with Camusot de Marville was being considered. Cesar Birotteau. This wedding took place in 1819, and immediately the imperious young woman gained the upper hand with the judge, making him follow her own will absolutely and in the interests of her boundless ambition. It was she who brought about the discharge of young d’Esgrignon in 1824, and the suicide of Lucien de Rubempre in 1830. Through her, the Marquis d’Espard failed of interdiction. However, Mme. de Marville had no influence over her father-in-law, the senior Camusot, whom she bored dreadfully and importuned excessively. She caused, also, by her evil treatment, the death of Sylvain Pons “the poor relation,” inheriting with her husband his fine collection of curios. Jealousies of a Country Town. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. Cousin Pons.

  CAMUSOT (Charles), son of the preceding couple. He died young, at a time when his parents had neither land nor title of Marville, and when they were in almost straitened circumstances. Cousin Pons.

  CAMUSOT DE MARVILLE (Cecile). (See Popinot, Vicomtesse.)

  CANALIS (Constant-Cyr-Melchior, Baron de), poet — chief of the “Angelic” school — deputy minister, peer of France, member of the French Academy, commander of the Legion of Honor. Born at Canalis, Correze, in 1800. About 1821 he became the lover of Mme. de Chaulieu, who was constantly aiding him to high positions, but who, at the same time, was always very exacting. Not long after, Canalis is seen at the opera in Mme. d’Espard’s box, being presented to Lucien de Rubempre. From 1824 he was the fashionable poet. Letters of Two Brides. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. In 1829 he lived at number 29 rue Paradis-Poissoniere (now simply rue Paradis) and was master of requests in the Council of State. This is the time when he was in correspondence with Modeste Mignon and wished to espouse that rich heiress. Modeste Mignon. Shortly after 1830, now a great man, he was present at Mlle. des Touches’, when Henri de Marsay told of his first love affair. Canalis took part in the conversation and uttered a most vigorous tirade against Napoleon. The Magic Skin. Another Study of Woman. In 1838 he married the daughter of Moreau (de l’Oise), who brought him a very large dowry. A Start in Life. In October, 1840, he and Mme. de Rochefide were present at a performance at the Varietes theatre, where that dangerous woman was encountered again after a lapse of three years by Calyste du Guenic. Beatrix. In 1845 Canalis was pointed out in the Chamber of Deputies by Leon de Lora to Palafox Gazonal. The Unconscious Humorists. In 1845, he consented to act as second to Sallenauve in his duel with Maxime de Trailles. The Member for Arcis.

  CANALIS (Baronne Melchior de), wife of the preceding and daughter of M. and Mme. Moreau (de l’Oise). About the middle of the reign of Louis Philippe, she being then recently married, she made a journey to Seine-et-Oise. She went first to Beaumont and Presles. Mme. de Canalis with her daughter and the Academician, occupied Pierrotin’s stage-coach. A Start in Life.

  CANE (Marco-Facino), known as Pere Canet, a blind old man, an inmate of the Hospital des Quinze-Vingts, who during the Restoration followed the vocation of musician, at Paris. He played the clarionet at a ball of the working-people of rue de Charenton, on the occasion of the wedding of Mme. Vaillant’s sister. He said he was a Venetian, Prince de Varese, a descendant of the condottiere Facino Cane, whose conquests fell into the hands of the Duke of Milan. He told strange stories regarding his patrician youth. He died in 1820, more than an octogenarian. He was the last of the Canes on the senior branch, and he transmitted the title of Prince de Varese to a relative, Emilio Memmi. Facino Cane. Massimilla Doni.

  CANTE-CROIX (Marquis de), under-lieutenant in one of the regiments which tarried at Angouleme from November, 1807, to March, 1808, while on its way to Spain. He was a Colonel at Wagram on July 6, 1809, although only twenty-six years old, when a shot crushed over his heart the picture of Mme. de Bargeton, whom he loved. Lost Illusions.

  CANTINET, an old glass-dealer, and beadle of Saint-Francois church, Marais, Paris, in 1845; dwelt on rue d’Orleans. A drunken idler. Cousin Pons.

  CANTINET (Madame), wife of preceding; renter of seats in Saint-Francois. Last nurse of Sylvain Pons, and a tool to the interests of Fraisier and Poulain. Cousin Pons.

  CANTINET, Junior, would have been made beadle of Saint-Francois, where his father and mother were employed, but he preferred the theatre. He was connected with the Cirque-Olympique in 1845. He caused his mother sorrow, by a dissolute life and by forcible inroads on the maternal purse. Cousin Pons.

  CAPRAJA, a noble Venetian, a recognized dilettante, living only by and through music. Nicknamed “Il Fanatico.” Known by the Duke and Duchess Cataneo and their friends. Massimilla Doni.

  CARABINE, assumed name of Seraphine Sinet, which name see.

  CARBONNEAU, physician whom the Comte de Mortsauf spoke of consulting about his wife, in 1820, instead of Dr. Origet, whom he fancied to be unsatisfactory. The Lily of the Valley.

  CARCADO (Madame de), founder of a Parisian benevolent society, for which Mme. de la Baudraye was appointed collector, in March, 1843, on the request of some priests, friends of Mme. Piedefer. This choice resulted, noteworthily, in the re-entrance into society of the “muse,” who had been beguiled and compromised by her relations with Lousteau. The Muse of the Department.

  CARDANET (Madame de), grandmother of Mme. de Senonches. Lost Illusions.

  CARDINAL (Madame), Parisian fish-vender, daughter of one Toupillier, a carrier. Widow of a well-known marketman. Niece of Toupillier the pauper of Saint-Sulpice, from whom in 1840, with Cerizet’s assistance, she tried to capture the hidden treasure. This woman had three sisters, four brothers, and three uncles, who would have shared with her the pauper’s bequest. The scheming of Mme. Cardinal and Cerizet was frustrated by M. du Portail — Corentin. The Middle Classes.

  CARDINAL (Olympe). (See Cerizet, Madame.)

  CARDOT (Jean-Jerome-Severin), born in 1755. Head-clerk in an old silk-house, the “Golden Cocoon,” rue des Bourdonnais. He bought the establishment in 1793, at the “maximum” moment, and in ten years had made a large fortune, thanks to the dowry of one hundred thousand francs brought him by his wife; she was a Demoiselle Husson, and gave him four children. Of these, the elder daughter married Camusot, who succeeded his father-in-law; the second, Marianne, married Protez, of the firm of Protez & Chiffreville; the elder son became a notary; the younger son, Joseph, took
an interest in Matifat’s drug business. Cardot was the “protector” of the actress, Florentine, whom he discovered and started. In 1822 he lived at Belleville in one of the first houses above Courtille; he had then been a widower for six years. He was an uncle of Oscar Husson, and had taken some interest in and helped the dolt, until an incident occurred that changed everything: the old man discovered the young fellow asleep one morning, on one of Florentine’s divans, after an orgy wherein he had squandered the money entrusted to him by his employer, Desroches the attorney. A Start in Life. Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Bachelor’s Establishment. Cardot had dealings with the Guillaumes, clothiers, rue Saint-Denis. At the Sign of the Cat and Racket. He and his entire family were invited to the great ball given by Cesar Birotteau, December 17, 1818. Cesar Birotteau.

  CARDOT, elder son of the preceding. Parisian notary, successor of Sorbier. Born in 1794. Married to a Demoiselle Chiffreville, of a family of celebrated chemists. Three children were born to them: a son who in 1836 was fourth clerk in his father’s business, and should have succeeded him, but dreamed instead of literary fame; Felicie, who married Berthier; and another daughter, born in 1824. The notary Cardot maintained Malaga, during the reign of Louis Philippe. The Muse of the Department. A Man of Business. Jealousies of a Country Town. He was attorney for Pierre Grassou, who deposited his savings with him every quarter. Pierre Grassou. He was also notary to the Thuilliers, and, in 1840, had presented in their drawing-rooms, on rue Saint-Dominique d’Enfer, Godeschal an aspirant for the hand of Celeste Colleville. After living on Place du Chatelet, Cardot become one of the tenants of the house purchased by the Thuilliers, near the Madeleine. The Middle Classes. In 1844 he was mayor and deputy of Paris. Cousin Pons.

  CARDOT (Madame) nee Chiffreville, wife of Cardot the notary. Very devoted, but a “wooden” woman, a “veritable penitential brush.” About 1840 she lived on Place du Chatelet, Paris, with her husband. At this time, the notary’s wife took her daughter Felicie to rue des Martyrs, to the home of Etienne Lousteau, whom she had planned to have for a son-in-law, but whom she finally threw over on account of the journalist’s dissipated ways. The Muse of the Department.

  CARDOT (Felicie or Felicite). (See Berthier, Madame.)

  CARIGLIANO (Marechal, Duc de), one of the illustrious soldiers of the Empire; husband of a Demoiselle Malin de Gondreville, whom he worshipped, obeyed and stood in awe of, but who deceived him. At the Sign of the Cat and Racket. In 1819, Marechal de Carigliano gave a ball where Eugene de Rastignac was presented by his cousin, the Vicomtesse de Beauseant, at the time he entered the world of fashion. Father Goriot. During the Restoration he owned a beautiful house near the Elysee-Bourbon, which he sold to M. de Lanty. Sarrasine.

  CARIGLIANO (Duchesse de), wife of the preceding, daughter of Senator Malin de Gondreville. At the end of the Empire, when thirty-six years of age, she was the mistress of the young Colonel d’Aiglemont, and of Sommervieux, the painter, almost at the same time; the latter had recently wedded Augustine Guillaume. The Duchesse de Carigliano received a visit from Mme. de Sommervieux, and gave her very ingenious advice concerning the method of conquering her husband, and binding him forever to her by her coquetry. At the Sign of the Cat and Racket. In 1821-1822 she had an opera-box near Mme. d’Espard. Sixte du Chatelet came to her to make his acknowledgments on the evening when Lucien de Rubempre, a newcomer in Paris, cut such a sorry figure at the theatre in company with Mme. de Bargeton. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. It was the Duchesse de Carigliano who, after a great effort, found a wife suited to General de Montcornet, in the person of Mlle. de Troisville. The Peasantry. Mme. de Carigliano, although a Napoleonic duchesse, was none the less devoted to the House of the Bourbons, being attached especially to the Duchesse de Berry. Becoming imbued also with a high degree of piety, she visited nearly every year a retreat of the Ursulines of Arcis-sur-Aube. In 1839 Sallenauve’s friends counted on the duchesse’s support to elect him deputy. The Member for Arcis.

  CARMAGNOLA (Giambattista), an old Venetian gondolier, entirely devoted to Emilio Memmi, in 1820. Massimilla Doni.

  CARNOT (Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite), born at Nolay — Cote-d’Or — in 1753; died in 1823. In June, 1800, while Minister of War, he was present in company with Talleyrand, Fouche and Sieyes, at a council held at the home of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, rue du Bac, when the overthrow of First Consul Bonaparte was discussed. The Gondreville Mystery.

  CAROLINE (Mademoiselle), governess, during the Empire, of the four children of M. and Mme. de Vandenesse. “She was a terror.” The Lily of the Valley.

  CAROLINE, chambermaid of the Marquis de Listomere, in 1827-1828, on rue Saint-Dominique-Saint-Germain, Paris, when the marquis received a letter from Eugene de Rastignac intended for Delphine de Nucingen. A Study of Woman.

  CAROLINE, servant of the Thuilliers in 1840. The Middle Classes.

  CARON, lawyer, in charge of the affairs of Mlle. Gamard at Tours in 1826. He acted against Abbe Francois Birotteau. The Vicar of Tours.

  CARPENTIER, formerly captain in the Imperial Army, retired at Issoudun during the Restoration. He had a position in the mayor’s office. He was allied by marriage to one of the strongest families of the city, the Borniche-Hereaus. He was an intimate friend of the artillery captain, Mignonnet, sharing with him his aversion for Commandant Maxence Gilet. Carpentier and Mignonnet were seconds of Philippe Bridau in his duel with the chief of the “Knights of Idlesse.” A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  CARPI (Benedetto), jailer of a Venetian prison, where Facino Cane was confined between the years 1760 and 1770. Bribed by the prisoner, he fled with him, carrying a portion of the hidden treasure of the Republic. But he perished soon after, by drowning, while trying to cross the sea. Facino Cane.

  CARTHAGENOVA, a superb basso of the Fenice theatre at Venice. In 1820 he sang the part of Moses in Rossini’s opera, with Genovese and La Tinti. Massimilla Doni.

  CARTIER, gardener in the Montparnasse quarter, Paris, during the reign of Louis Philippe. In 1838 he supplied flowers to M. Bernard — Baron de Bourlac — for his daughter Vanda. The Seamy Side of History.

  CARTIER (Madame), wife of the preceding; vender of milk, eggs and vegetables to Mme. Vauthier, landlady of a miserable boarding-house on Boulevard Montparnasse, and also to M. Bernard, lessee of real estate. The Seamy Side of History.

  CASA-REAL (Duc de), younger brother of Mme. Balthazar Claes; related to the Evangelistas of Bordeaux; of an illustrious family under the Spanish monarchy; his sister had renounced the paternal succession in order to procure for him a marriage worthy of a house so noble. He died young, in 1805, leaving to Mme. Claes, a considerable fortune in money. The Quest of the Absolute. A Marriage Settlement.

  CASTAGNOULD, mate of the “Mignon,” a pretty, hundred-ton vessel owned by Charles Mignon, the captain. In this he made several important and prosperous voyages, from 1826 to 1829. Castagnould was a Provencal and an old servant of the Mignon family. Modeste Mignon.

  CASTANIER (Rodolphe), retired chief of squadron in the dragoons, under the Empire. Cashier of Baron de Nucingen during the Restoration. Wore the decoration of the Legion of Honor. He maintained Mme. de la Garde — Aquilina — and on her account, in 1821, he counterfeited the banker’s name on a letter of credit for a considerable amount. John Melmoth, an Englishman, got him out of this scrape by exchanging his own individuality for that of the old officer. Castanier was thus all-powerful, but becoming promptly at outs with the proceeding, he adopted the same tactics of exchange, transferring his power to a financier named Claparon. Castanier was a Southerner. He had seen service from sixteen till nearly forty. Melmoth Reconciled.

  CASTANIER (Madame), wife of the preceding, married during the first Empire. Her family — that of the bourgeoisie of Nancy — fooled Castanier about the size of her dowry and her “expectations.” Mme. Castanier was honest, ugly and sour-tempered. She was separated from her husband, to his relief, and for several years previous to 1821 lived in the
suburbs of Strasbourg. Melmoth Reconciled.

  CASTERAN (De), a very ancient aristocracy of Normandy; related to William the Conqueror; allied with the Verneuils, the Esgrignons and the Troisvilles. The name is pronounced “Cateran.” A Demoiselle Blanche de Casteran was the mother of Mlle. de Verneuil, and died Abbess of Notre-Dame de Seez. The Chouans. In 1807 Mme. de la Chanterie, then a widow, was hospitably received in Normandy by the Casterans. The Seamy Side of History. In 1822 a venerable couple, Marquis and Marquise de Casteran visited the drawing-room of Marquis d’Esgrignon at Alencon. Jealousies of a Country Town. The Marquise de Rochefide, nee Beatrix Maximilienne-Rose de Casteran, was the younger daughter of a Marquis de Casteran who wished to marry off both his daughters without dowries, and thus save his entire fortune for his son, the Comte de Casteran. Beatrix. A Comte de Casteran, son-in-law of the Marquis of Troisville, relative of Mme. de Montcornet, was prefect of a department of Burgundy between 1820 and 1825. The Peasantry.

  CATANEO (Duke), noble Sicilian, born in 1773; first husband of Massimilla Doni. Physically ruined by early debaucheries, he was a husband only in name, living only by and through the influence of music. Very wealthy, he had educated Clara Tinti, discovered by him when still a child and a simple tavern servant. The young girl became, thanks to him, the celebrated prima donna of the Fenice theatre, at Venice in 1820. The wonderful tenor Genovese, of the same theatre, was also a protege of Duke Cataneo, who paid him a high salary to sing only with La Tinti. The Duke Cataneo cut a sorry figure. Massimilla Doni.

  CATANEO (Duchess), nee Massimilla Doni, wife of the preceding; married later to Emilio Memmi, Prince de Varese. (See Princesse de Varese.)