Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z. Anatole Cerfberr
of Bixiou and complained of his slanders. [The Member for Arcis.] Mme. Schontz treated him most cordially in 1838, and he had to pass for her "special," although their relations, in fact, did not transcend the bounds of friendship. [Beatrix.] In 1840, at the home of Marguerite Turquet, maintained by the notary Cardot, when Lousteau, Nathan and La Palferine were also present, he heard a story by Desroches. [A Man of Business.] About 1844, Bixiou helped in a high comedy relative to a Selim shawl sold by Fritot to Mistress Noswell. Bixiou himself had purchased, in a shop with M. du Ronceret, a shawl for Mme. Schontz. [Gaudissart II.] In 1845 Bixiou showed Paris and the "Unconscious Humorists" to a Pyrrenean named Gazonal, in company with Leon de Lora, a cousin of the countryman. At this time Bixiou dwelt at number 112 rue Richelieu, sixth floor; when he had a regular position he had lived in rue de Ponthieu. [The Unconscious Humorists.] In the rue Richelieu period he was the lover of Heloise Brisetout. [Cousin Pons.]
BLAMONT-CHAUVRY (Princesse de), mother of Mme. d'Espard; aunt of the Duchesse de Langeais; great aunt of Mme. de Mortsauf; a veritable d'Hozier in petticoats. Her drawing-room set the fashion in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the sayings of this feminine Talleyrand were listened to as oracles. Very aged at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVIII., she was one of the most poetic relics of the reign of Louis XV., the "Well-Beloved;" and to this nick-name—as the records had it—she had contributed her full share. [The Thirteen.] Mme. Firmiani was received by the princess on account of the Cadignans, to whom she was related on her mother's side. [Madame Firmiani.] Felix de Vandenesse was admitted to her "At Homes," on the recommendation of Mme. de Mortsauf; nevertheless he found in this old lady a friend whose affection had a quality almost maternal. The princess was in the family conclave which met to consider an amorous escapade of the Duchesse Antoinette de Langeais. [The Lily of the Valley. The Thirteen.]
BLANDUREAUS (The), wealthy linen merchants at Alencon, time of the Restoration. They had an only daughter, to whom the President du Ronceret wished to marry his son. She, however, married Joseph Blondet, the oldest son of Judge Blondet. This marriage caused secret hostility between the two fathers, one being the other's superior in office. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
BLONDET, judge at Alencon in 1824; born in 1758; father of Joseph and Emile Blondet. At the time of the Revolution he was a public prosecutor. A botanist of note, he had a remarkable conservatory where he cultivated geraniums only. This conservatory was visited by the Empress Marie-Louise, who spoke of it to the Emperor and obtained for the judge the decoration of the Legion of Honor. Following the Victurien d'Esgrignon episode, about 1825, Judge Blondet was made an officer in the Order and chosen councillor at the Royal Court. Here he remained in office no longer than absolutely necessary, retreating to his dear Alencon home. He married in 1798, at the age of forty, a young girl of eighteen, who in consequence of this disparity was unfaithful to him. He knew that his second son, Emile, was not his own; he therefore cared only for the elder and sent the younger elsewhere as soon as possible. [Jealousies of a Country Town.] About 1838 Fabien du Ronceret obtained credit in an agricultural convention for a flower which old Blondet had given him, but which he exhibited as a product of his own green-house. [Beatrix.]
BLONDET (Madame), wife of the preceding; born in 1780; married in 1798. She was intimate with a prefect of Orne, who was the natural father of Emile Blondet. Distant ties bound her to the Troisville family, and it was to them that she sent Emile, her favored son. Before her death, in 1818, she commended him to her old-time lover and also to the future Madame de Montcornet, with whom he had been reared. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
BLONDET (Joseph), elder son of Judge Blondet of Alencon; born in that city about 1799. In 1824 he practiced law and aspired to become a substitute judge. Meanwhile he succeeded his father, whose post he filled till his death. He was one of the numerous men of ordinary talent. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
BLONDET (Madame Joseph), nee Claire Blandureau, wife of Joseph Blondet, whom she married when he was appointed judge at Alencon. She was the daughter of wealthy linen dealers in the city. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
BLONDET (Emile), born at Alencon about 1800; legally the younger son of Judge Blondet, but really the son of a prefect of Orne. Tenderly loved by his mother, but hated by Judge Blondet, who sent him, in 1818, to study law in Paris. Emile Blondet knew the noble family of d'Esgrignon in Alencon, and for the youngest daughter of this illustrious house he felt an esteem that was really admiration. [Jealousies of a Country Town.] In 1821 Emile Blondet was a remarkably handsome young fellow. He made his first appearance in the "Debats" by a series of masterly articles which called forth from Lousteau the remark that he was "one of the princes of criticism." [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1824 he contributed to a review edited by Finot, where he collaborated with Lucien de Rubempre and where he was allowed full swing by his chief. Emile Blondet had the most desultory of habits; one day he would be a boon companion, without compunction, with those destined for slaughter on the day following. He was always "broke" financially. In 1829, 1830, Bixiou, Lousteau, Nathan and he were frequenters of Esther's house, rue Saint-Georges. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] A cynic was Blondet, with little regard for glory undefiled. He won a wager that he could upset the poet Canalis, though the latter was full of assurance. He did this by staring fixedly at the poet's curls, his boots, or his coat-tails, while he recited poetry or gesticulated with proper emphasis, fixed in a studied pose. [Modeste Mignon.] He was acquainted with Mlle. des Touches, being present at her home on one occasion, about 1830, when Henri de Marsay told the story of his first love affair. He took part in the conversation and depicted the "typical woman" to Comte Adam Laginski. [Another Study of Woman.] In 1832 he was a guest at Mme. d'Espard's, where he met his childish flame, Mme. de Montcornet, also the Princesse de Cadignan, Lady Dudley, d'Arthez, Nathan, Rastignac, the Marquis d'Ajuda-Pinto, Maxime de Trailles, the Marquis d'Esgrignon, the two Vandenesses, du Tillet, the Baron Nucingen and the Chevalier d'Espard, brother-in-law of the marquise. [The Secrets of a Princess.] About 1833 Blondet presented Nathan to Mme. de Montcornet, at whose home the young Countess Felix de Vandenesse made the acquaintance of the poet and was much smitten with him for some time. [A Daughter of Eve.] In 1836 he and Finot and Couture chimed in on the narrative of the rise of Nucingen, told with much zest by Bixiou in a private room of a famous restaurant. [The Firm of Nucingen.] Eight or ten years prior to February, 1848, Emile Blondet, on the brink of suicide, witnessed an entire transition in his affairs. He was chosen a prefect, and he married the wealthy widow of Comte de Montcornet, who offered him her hand when she became free. They had known and loved each other since childhood. [The Peasantry.]
BLONDET (Virginie), wife by second marriage of Emile Blondet; born in 1797; daughter of the Vicomte de Troisville; granddaughter of the Russian Princesse Scherbelloff. She was brought up at Alencon, with her future husband. In 1819 she married the General de Montcornet. Twenty years later, a widow, she married the friend of her youth, who this long time had been her lover. [Jealousies of a Country Town. The Secrets of a Princess. The Peasantry.] She and Mme. d'Espard tried to convert Lucien de Rubempre to the monarchical side in 1821. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] She was present at Mlle. des Touches', about 1830, when Marsay told about his first love, and she joined in the conversation. [Another Study of Woman.] She received a rather mixed set, from an aristocratic standpoint, but here might be found the stars of finance, art and literature. [The Member for Arcis.] Mme. Felix de Vandenesse saw Nathan the poet for the first time and noticed him particularly at Mme. de Montcornet's, in 1834, 1835. [A Daughter of Eve.] Mme. Emile Blondet, then Madame la Generale de Montcornet, passed the summer and autumn of 1823 in Burgundy, at her beautiful estate of Aigues, where she lived a burdened and troubled life among the many and varied types of peasantry. Remarried, and now the wife of a prefect, eight years or so before February, 1848, time of Louis Philippe, she visited her former properties. [The Peasantry.]
BLUTEAU (Pierre), assumed name of Genestas. [The Country Doctor.]
BOCQUILLON, an acquaintance of Mme. Etienne Gruget. In 1820, rue des Enfants-Rouges, Paris, she mistook for him the stock-broker, Jules Desmarets, who was entering her door. [The Thirteen.]
BOGSECK (Madame van), name bestowed by Jacques Collin on Esther van Gobseck when, in 1825, he gave her, transformed morally and intellectually, to Lucien de Rubempre, in an elegant flat on rue Taitbout. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
BOIROUGE, president of the Sancerre Court at the time when the Baronne de la