A Zola Dictionary Part 12

DELOCHE, a bailiff in needy circ.u.mstances who resided at Briquebec. He treated his son Henri very badly. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DELOCHE (HENRI), a young man who got employment at "The Ladies'

Paradise" at the same time as Denise Baudu. He fell in love with Denise, but though she refused to marry him, they remained on friendly terms, and on one occasion he threw a gla.s.s of wine at Favier, a fellow-shopman, who repeated a slander about her. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DELORME, a relation of the Quenus. On the suggestion of Madame Chanteau he was nominated a member of the family council of Pauline Quenu. He consented to her emanc.i.p.ation. La Joie de Vivre.

DENEULIN, a cousin of the Gregoires. Like his cousin, he inherited a denier in the Montsou mines, but being an enterprising engineer, tormented by the desire for a royal fortune, he had hastened to sell out when the value of the denier reached a million francs. His wife possessed through an uncle the little concession of Vandame, on which were two abandoned pits--Jean-Bart and Gaston-Marie--and he invested all his money in the reopening of these pits. He was a bad manager, however, and after his wife's death he was pillaged by every one. The great strike at Montsou completed his ruin, and he was ultimately compelled to sell his pits to the great company which had already acquired all the neighbouring mines, himself receiving a situation as divisional engineer. Germinal.

DENEULIN (JEANNE), second daughter of the preceding. Having lost their mother when very young, she and her sister were brought up alone, somewhat badly, being spoiled by their father. Jeanne was fond of painting, and had already had three landscapes refused by the _Salon_.

Her sister and she remained cheerful in the midst of their father's loss of fortune, and proved themselves excellent managers. Germinal.

DENEULIN (LUCIE), elder daughter of Deneulin. She was fond of music, and at one time talked of going on the stage. Like her sister, she showed an admirable spirit at the time of her father's downfall. Germinal.

DENIZET, examining magistrate (_juge d'instruction_) at Rouen. The son of a cattle-breeder, he studied law at Caen, but had entered the judicial department of the Government late in life; and his peasant origin, aggravated by his father's bankruptcy, made his promotion slow.

After being subst.i.tute in various places he was sent to Rouen, where he acted as examining magistrate. He was fond of his profession, and at the beginning of the inquiry into the murder of President Grandmorin allowed himself to be carried away by his desire to elicit the facts of the case. He received, however, a hint from Camy-Lamotte, the secretary to the Minister of Justice, that caution must be exercised, and his desire to be decorated and removed to Paris was so great that he sacrificed the interests of justice, and caused the case to be hushed up. Later, the murder of Severine Roubaud reopened the Grandmorin inquiry, and Denizet was allowed a free hand in dealing with the affair. By a masterpiece of logical deduction he set out to prove the complicity of Cabuche and Roubaud, a complicity, however, which had no existence in fact, and the demonstration of which by Denizet produced a gross error of justice. La Bete Humaine.

DEQUERSONNIERE, an architect with whom Louis Dubuche served his apprentices.h.i.+p. He was a former winner of the Grand Prize, and was architect of the Civil Branch of Public Works, an officer of the Legion of Honour, and a member of the Inst.i.tute. His princ.i.p.al production was the church of Saint-Mathieu, a building which shared the characteristics of a pastry-cook's mould and a clock in the style of the First Empire.

L'Oeuvre.

DESBAZEILLES, President of the a.s.size Court at Rouen on the occasion of the trial of Roubaud. He was a bachelor, and an old friend of Madame Bonnehon; a friends.h.i.+p which still continued, notwithstanding his sixty years. He was the literary glory of the Court, and his cleverly turned sonnets were well known. La Bete Humaine.

DESFORGES, a stock-broker. The friends.h.i.+p of his wife with Hartmann, the great financier, had been very useful to him. He died leaving a fortune, the amount of which was minimized by some and exaggerated by others. Au Bonheur des Dames.

DESFORGES (MADAME HENRIETTE), daughter of a Councillor of State and widow of a stock-broker, who left her a small fortune. "Even during her husband's lifetime, people said she had shown herself grateful towards Baron Hartmann, whose financial tips had proved very useful to them; and later on, after her husband's death, the acquaintance had probably continued, but always discreetly." Octave Mouret, having met her at the house of a mutual friend, made love to her, chiefly with a view to gaining Baron Hartmann's a.s.sistance through her influence. Madame Desforges was extremely jealous when she learned of Mouret's affection for Denise Baudu and the probability of his marrying her. In order to injure him, she introduced Bouthemont to Baron Hartmann, who lent him money to start an opposition establishment called "The Four Seasons." Au Bonheur des Dames.

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 Leva.s.seur, 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 compet.i.tion. 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 Pla.s.sans. He was the father of Madame Campardon. Pot-Bouille.

DOMERGUE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, lived a retired life at Pla.s.sans 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 Leva.s.seurs. 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 Pla.s.sans 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 Pla.s.sans, 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-cla.s.s 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 a.s.sisting 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 Caba.s.se and of Guillaume Sambuc, and took part in the murder of Goliath Steinberg. La Debacle.

d.u.c.h.eSNE (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 h.o.a.rd 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 wis.h.i.+ng 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 ama.s.sed 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 a.s.sisted Rougon in some risky undertakings, and later on worked energetically to secure his election to the Legislative a.s.sembly 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 Pla.s.sans. 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.