Complete Works of Emile Zola (1883 page)

DESIR (VEUVE), an elderly woman who kept a ball-room known as Bon-Joyeux. She called all the miners her children, and grew tender at the thought of the flood of beer which she had poured out for them during the last thirty years. She gave her ball-room to the miners to hold a meeting during the strike, and when the police arrived to break it up she held the door long enough to allow those present to escape. Germinal.

DESLIGNIERES, a toy-seller in Rue Saint-Roch. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DESMARQUAY, a money-changer in Rue Saint-Lazare. Trublot was employed in his office. Pot-Bouille.

DESROCHES, a notary at Chene-Populeux. His house there was requisitioned for the Emperor on 27th August, 1870, during the march of the army of MacMahon. La Debacle.

DESROCHES (MADAME), mother of the preceding. Their house adjoined the early home of Maurice Levasseur, and she had been good to him when he was a child. When the house was requisitioned for the Emperor, she had to give up her room to him and take refuge in the garret. La Debacle.

DESRUMAUX (BARON), one of the founders of the coal industry in the north of France. For forty years he struggled without yielding, in the midst of continual obstacles, and when at last his pits began to yield a small profit, two neighbouring concessions, that of Cougny, belonging to the Comte de Cougny, and that of Joiselle, belonging to the Cornille and Jenard Company, nearly overwhelmed him with their competition. Happily, on 25th August, 1760, a treaty was made between the three concessions, uniting them into a single one known as the Montsou Mining Company. Germinal.

DESVIGNES (ADELE), see Madame Bouchard.

DIDE (AUNT). See Adelaide Fouque.

DIEUDONNE (MADAME), wife of a small farmer at Seguiranne. She brought up her niece Sophie, who was cured of phthisis by Doctor Pascal. Le Docteur Pascal.

DOMERGUE was formerly Director of Roads and Bridges at Plassans. He was the father of Madame Campardon. Pot-Bouille.

DOMERGUE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, lived a retired life at Plassans with her husband. She introduced Octave Mouret to her daughter, Madame Campardon, when he came to Paris. Pot-Bouille.

DOMERGUE (ROSE). See Madame Achille Campardon.

DROUARD (MADAME), an old actress at the Theatre des Varietes. She played the part of Juno in the
Blonde Venus
. Nana.

DUBREUIL, a cousin of the Levasseurs. He was sub-manager of the sugar refinery at Chene-Populeux at the time Weiss was employed there; then, in 1868, he retired to a little property near Sedan which had come to his wife as a legacy. On the evening before the battle, foreseeing the disaster, he removed his wife and children to Bouillon, and next day the house was completely destroyed during the struggle. La Debacle.

DUBRUEL, a pork-butcher at Plassans who took part in the attack on the Town Hall. Three days later he was killed in the ambush arranged by Pierre Rougon against the Republicans. La Fortune des Rougon.

DUBUCHE (ALICE), daughter of Louis Dubuche and of Regine Margaillan, his wife. She was so delicate that at six years old she was still unable to walk. Her father endeavoured to strengthen her muscles by occasionally making her hold on to the bar of a trapeze for a few moments, but the exercise only seemed to produce extreme terror in the unfortunate child. L’Oeuvre.

DUBUCHE (GASTON), the elder child of Louis Dubuche and of Regine Margaillan, his wife. At the age of ten he had the feeble limbs of a little child, and though he regularly exercised on a trapeze, he was unable to raise himself on his wrists, the least exertion producing profuse perspiration. L’Oeuvre.

DUBUCHE (LOUIS), eldest son of a baker of Plassans, and companion from childhood of Claude Lantier and Pierre Sandoz. His mother, who was very ambitious, sent him to Paris, where he studied architecture at the School of Art. His reverence for established formulas caused him to be out of sympathy with the advanced school of painting advocated by Claude Lantier and his friends, though he expressed large ideals regarding his own profession. In time he became a first-class pupil at the school, and with infinite trouble gained the regulation “honourable mention.” But his parents no longer sent him any money; it became necessary for him to gain his living, and he was already tired of earning a few francs by assisting an architect incapable of drawing his own plans. By the aid of his master, Dequersonniere, he gained a medal for a plan of a villa, and this brought him prominently under the notice of Margaillan, a wealthy building contractor, whose daughter Regine he married soon afterwards. The marriage was not a success; his wife was always ailing, and the two children which were born to them were so delicate as to cause constant anxiety. His business relations with his father-in-law were a failure, some of his ventures resulting in heavy loss, and Margaillan soon thrust him aside. His only satisfaction was that he had been able to repay to his parents the money they advanced for his education in Paris. L’Oeuvre.

DUBUCHE (MADAME LOUIS), wife of the preceding. See Regine Margaillan. L’Oeuvre.

DUCAT, a franc-tireur of the woods at Dieulet. He was formerly a bailiff at Blainville, but had to leave on account of a criminal charge against him. He was a friend of Cabasse and of Guillaume Sambuc, and took part in the murder of Goliath Steinberg. La Debacle.

DUCHESNE (GEORGES), a lover of Madame Bouchard, for whom she asked the patronage of Eugene Rougon, which he refused on the ground of his respect for her husband. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

DUCLOUX (LA), an old woman who lived in the neighbourhood of Croix de Maufras, having formerly been servant in an inn. Misard was authorized to employ her as gatekeeper on the railway after the death of Flore. She was anxious to marry Misard, and seeing him constantly searching for the little hoard of money which had been hidden by his deceased wife, La Ducloux cleverly led him to believe that she knew where the money was hidden. After she became the second Madame Misard she became infected with the feverish anxiety of her husband, and joined with him in his untiring search. La Bete Humaine.

DUMONTEIL, a rich silk manufacturer at Lyons. He supplied to Octave Mouret a special make of silk with which he achieved great success. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DU POIZAT PERE, an old bailiff at Coulonges. He was an old miser who refused any money to his son Leopold, and even threatened him with a pistol when he tried to borrow from him. He lived alone in an old ruinous house with a loaded gun behind the door. His son, having become a prefect, and wishing to dazzle the old man with his fine position, attempted to force the door; then followed a drama mysterious and without witness, at the end of which the old man was found lying at the foot of his staircase, with his head split open. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

DU POIZAT (LEOPOLD), son of a process-server at Coulonges, a little town in the district of Niort. His father, who had amassed a considerable fortune by usury, sent him to study law in Paris, giving him an allowance of only a hundred francs a month. Some months before the revolution of February, 1848, he became acquainted with Eugene Rougon, who, like himself, was boarding at that time with Madame Correur at the Hotel Vanneau. During the Bonapartist intrigues he assisted Rougon in some risky undertakings, and later on worked energetically to secure his election to the Legislative Assembly as member for Deux-Sevres. After the
Coup d’Etat
Rougon used his influence on behalf of Du Poizat, and got him appointed sub-prefect at Bressuire. He resigned this appointment on the advice of Rougon after the resignation of the latter as President of the State Council. After Rougon’s return to office he was appointed prefect at Niort. His extreme harshness and overbearing conduct produced a public scandal, and the sudden death of his father, under peculiar circumstances, still further increased his unpopularity. He was at his own request transferred to another prefecture by Delestang, who succeeded Rougon as Minister of the Interior. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

DURIEU, a wealthy brewer who, carried away by the charm of Caroline Hamelin, married her. He became an alcoholic maniac, and on one occasion pursued his wife with a knife. A separation was arranged, and Durieu ultimately died in an asylum. L’Argent.

DURIEU (MADAME). See Caroline Hamelin.

DURIEU (LE PERE), a messenger at Plassans. He was a taciturn old Provencal. Le Docteur Pascal.

DUTILLEUL. A flour-miller at Montsou whose mills were stopped by the strike. Germinal.

DUVEYRIER (ALPHONSE), a counsellor at the Court of Appeal; married Clotilde, daughter of M. Vabre. He was a man of dissolute habits, to whom his wife’s cold nature and love of music were repugnant, and he spent much of his time away from home. He squandered large sums of money on a woman named Clarisse Bocquet, who afterwards left him. Having found her again, he fell under her influence so completely as to allow her to treat him abominably. So unhappy did he become, that he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself; the wound was, however, not a serious one, and he recovered. Pot-Bouille.

DUVEYRIER (MADAME CLOTILDE), wife of the preceding, was the only daughter of M. Vabre, a notary of Versailles. She did not get on well with her husband, who found her cold nature irksome, and, perhaps even more so, her love of piano-playing. Her musical evenings were attended by Octave Mouret, the Josserands, and others of the same circle. Pot-Bouille.

DUVEYRIER (GUSTAVE), son of the preceding, a thin, precocious boy of sixteen, who was being educated at the Lycee Bonaparte. Pot-Bouille.

DUVILLARD, the owner of a large house bought by Octave Mouret for the enlargement of his shop. Au Bonheur des Dames.

E

ECOSSE (S.A.R. LE PRINCE D’), the son of a queen and heir to a throne. He was tall and strong, with a fair beard and a fresh complexion. He was an habitue of the Theatre des Varietes, and an admirer of Nana, whom he wished to bring to London as a singer. Later, Nana spoke of him with little respect. Nana.

ECREVISSE (L’), a celebrated
demi-mondaine
of the Second Empire. La Curee.

EMPEREUR, one of the dogs of the shepherd Soulas. He was a fierce animal, and, like his master, hated Jacqueline Cognet. La Terre.

ERNESTINE, a woman who once occupied a room in Bourras’s house, and had written her name in candle-smoke on the ceiling. Au Bonheur des Dames.

ESCORAILLES (MARQUIS D’), father of Jules d’Escorailles. “The Escorailles family was one of the oldest in Plassans, where it was treated with the utmost respect; and Rougon, who in former days had often dragged his worn-down boots past the old Marquis’s house, took a pride in protecting and assisting the young man. The family retained an enthusiastic devotion for Henri V, though it allowed its heir to serve the Empire.” The Marquis and his wife visited Paris specially to ask the assistance of Rougon in furthering the interests of their son. After Rougon’s proceedings against the Sisters of the Holy Family, in the interest of the Charbonnels, they again visited Paris to insist on their son retiring from the administration, as they said they could not allow him to be mixed up in any persecution of the Church. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

ESCORAILLES (MARQUISE D’), wife of the preceding. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

ESCORAILLES (JULES D’), son of the Marquis d’Escorailles, a nobleman of Plassans, at whose request Rougon got Jules an appointment as auditor at the Council of State. After Rougon’s return to office he appointed M. Escorailles his private secretary. He carried on an intrigue with Madame Bouchard. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

ESPANET (MARQUIS D’), husband of the Marquise Adeline. He was made aide-de-camp to the Emperor, but by his riotous conduct scandalized the older nobility. He never appeared in society with his wife. La Curee.

ESPANET (MARQUISE D’), one of the most prominent leaders of society of the Second Empire, was the inseparable companion of Madame Haffner, whose name was always associated with hers by the public. They were both schoolfellows and friends of Madame Renee Saccard. La Curee.

EUGENIE, cook for a short time to Madame Theophile Vabre. Pot-Bouille.

EUGENIE, a child buried in the cemetery of Cayenne at Saint-Ouen, where Bongard and Sandoz read the inscription on a poor cross, without railing, set up slantingly across a path, “Eugenie, three days.” L’Oeuvre.

EUGENIE (EMPRESS), referred to in Son Excellence Eugene Rougon, and La Debacle.

EULALIE, a laundress who lived in Rue Montmartre. Gilquin, when visiting her, chanced to overhear in an adjoining room a conversation between some Italians who had come to Paris to assassinate the Emperor. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

EULALIE, a fish-seller, mistress of Bec-Sale, alias Boit-sans-soif. L’Assommoir.

EULALIE (LA MERE), a vegetable seller at Montmartre. She lodged with Madame Mechain. L’Argent.

EUSEBE, a choir-boy in the church of Saint-Saturnin at Plassans. He accompanied Abbe Bourrette to the deathbed of Abbe Compan. La Conquete de Plassans.

F

FAGEROLLES PERE, a manufacturer of zinc objects of art who lived in a gloomy old house in Rue Vieille-du-Temple. His workshop was on the ground floor, above it was a warehouse, and still higher, facing a courtyard, were the rooms in which he lived with his son Henri. He intended to bring up Henri as a designer of ornaments for his own trade, and when the boy showed higher ambitions, taking to painting proper and talking about the School of Art, there were quarrels, blows, a series of falling-outs and reconciliations. Even when the young man had achieved some success, the manufacturer of artistic zincwork, while resigned to letting him have his will, treated him harshly, like a lad who was spoiling his career. Later, in the desire of a decoration for himself, the merchant forgot his former opposition; he held out his son, who had now arrived at notoriety, as an additional claim for his own distinction. L’Oeuvre.

FAGEROLLES (HENRI), son of the preceding. In the gloomy house of his father he grew up like a true child of the Paris pavements. Though his father desired him to become a designer of ornaments for use in his trade, the lad had higher ambitions, and desiring to study painting, became a student at the School of Art. Notwithstanding this orthodox training, he was a disciple of Claude Lantier and his somewhat revolutionary band, whom he delighted by sly attacks upon his professors and praise of themselves. He paid particular court to Claude, under whose artistic influence he had come, and though he continued to paint with tricky skill, he no longer talked in anything but the jargon of the new open-air school. This did not prevent him, however, from elsewhere making fun of the adepts of that school, whom he accused of doing their work with a kitchen ladle. He made a success with a picture of an actress before her glass, which caught the popular taste, and afterwards appeared as an engraving. Taken up by Naudet, the picture-dealer, he began to receive large prices for his work, and by doing everything in his power to make his way in society his position soon became secure. He was elected a member of the Hanging Committee of the
Salon
, and secured the admission of Claude Lantier’s picture
L’Enfant Mort
. He made large sums of money, in the spending of which he was assisted by Irma Becot. L’Oeuvre.