Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  BONFONS (Cruchot de), nephew of Cruchot the notary and Abbe Cruchot; born in 1786; president of the Court of First Instance of Saumur in 1819. The Cruchot trio backed by a goodly number of cousins and allied to twenty families in the city, formed a party similar to that of the olden-time Medicis at Florence; and also, like the Medicis, the Cruchots had their Pazzis in the persons of the Grassins. The prize contested for between the Cruchots and the Grassins was the hand of the rich heiress, Eugenie Grandet. In 1827, after nine years of suing, the President Cruchot de Bonfons married the young woman, now left an orphan. Previous to this he had been commissioned by her to settle in full, both principal and interest, with the creditors of Charles Grandet’s father. Six months after his marriage, Bonfons was elected councillor to the Royal Court of Angers. Then after some years signalized by devoted service he became first president. Finally chosen deputy for Saumur in 1832, he died within a week, leaving his widow in possession of an immense fortune, still further augmented by the bequests of the Abbe and the notary Cruchot. Bonfons was the name of an estate of the magistrate. He married Eugenie only through cupidity. He looked like “a big, rusty nail.” Eugenie Grandet.

  BONFONS (Eugenie Cruchot de), only daughter of M. and Mme. Felix Grandet; born at Saumur in 1796. Strictly reared by a mother gentle and devout, and by a father hard and avaricious. The single bright ray across her life was an absolutely platonic love for her cousin Charles Grandet. But, once away from her, this young man was forgetful of her; and, on his return from the Indies in 1827, a rich man, he married the young daughter of a nobleman. Upon this occurrence, Eugenie Grandet, now an orphan, settled in full with the creditors of Charles’ father, and then bestowed her hand upon the President Cruchot de Bonfons, who had paid her court for nine years. At the age of thirty-six she was left a widow without having ceased to be a virgin, following her expressed wish. Sadly she secluded herself in the gloomy home of her childhood at Saumur, where she devoted the rest of her life to works of benevolence and charity. After her father’s death, Eugenie was often alluded to, by the Cruchot faction, as Mlle. de Froidfond, from the name of one of her holdings. In 1832 an effort was made to induce Mme. de Bonfons to wed with Marquis de Froidfond, a bankrupt widower of fifty odd years and possessed of numerous progeny. Eugenie Grandet.

  BONGRAND, born in 1769; first an advocate at Melun, then justice of the peace at Nemours from 1814 to 1837. He was a friend of Doctor Mirouet’s and helped educate Ursule Mirouet, protecting her to the best of his ability after the death of the old physician, and aiding in the restitution of her fortune which Minoret-Levrault had impaired by the theft of the doctor’s will. M. Bongrand had wanted to make a match between Ursule Mirouet and his son, but she loved Savinien de Portenduere. The justice of the peace became president of the court at Melun, after the marriage of the young lady with Savinien. Ursule Mirouet.

  BONGRAND (Eugene), son of Bongrand the justice of the peace. He studied law at Paris under Derville the attorney, this constituting all his course. He became public prosecutor at Melun after the Revolution of 1830, and general prosecutor in 1837. Failing in his love suit with Ursule Mirouet, he probably married the daughter of M. Levrault, former mayor of Nemours. Ursule Mirouet.

  BONNAC, a rather handsome young fellow, who was head clerk for the notary Lupin at Soulanges in 1823. His accomplishments were his only dowry. He was loved in platonic fashion by his employer’s wife, Mme. Lupin, otherwise known as Bebelle, a fat ridiculous female without education. The Peasantry.

  BONNEBAULT, retired cavalry soldier, the Lovelace of the village of Blangy, Burgundy, and its suburbs in 1823. Bonnebault was the lover of Marie Tonsard who was perfectly foolish about him. He had still other “good friends” and lived at their expense. Their generosity did not suffice for his dissipations, his cafe bills and his unbridled taste for billiards. He dreamed of marrying Aglae Socquard, only daughter of Pere Socquard, proprietor of the “Cafe de la Paix” at Soulanges. Bonnebault obtained three thousand francs from General de Montcornet by coming to him to confess voluntarily that he had been commissioned to kill him for this price. The revelation, with other things, lead the general to weary of his fierce struggle with the peasantry, and to put up for sale his property at Aigues, which became the prey of Gaubertin, Rigou and Soudry. Bonnebault was squint-eyed and his physical appearance did not belie his depravity. The Peasantry.

  BONNEBAULT (Mere), grandmother of Bonnebault the veteran. In 1823, at Conches, Burgandy, where she lived, she owned a cow which she did not hesitate to pasture in the fields belonging to General de Montcornet. The numerous depredations of the old woman, added to convictions for many similar offences, caused the general to decide to confiscate the cow. The Peasantry.

  BONNET (Abbe), Cure of Montegnac near Limoges from 1814 on. In this capacity, he assisted at the public confession of his penitent, Mme. Graslin, in the summer of 1844. Upon leaving the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, he was sent to this village of Montegnac, which he never after wished to leave. Here, sometimes unaided, sometimes with the help of Mme. Graslin, he toiled for a material and moral betterment, bringing about an entire regeneration of a wretched country. It was he who brought the outlawed Tascheron back into the Church, and who accompanied him to the very foot of the scaffold, with a devotion which caused his own very sensitive nature much cringing. Born in 1788, he had embraced the ecclesiastical calling through choice, and all his studies had been to that end. He belonged to a family of more than easy circumstancaes. His father was a self-made man, stern and unyielding. Abbe Bonnet had an older brother, and a sister whom he counseled with his mother to marry as soon as possible, in order to release the young woman from the terrible paternal yoke. The Country Parson.

  BONNET, older brother of Abbe Bonnet, who enlisted as a private about the beginning of the Empire. He became a general in 1813; fell at Leipsic. The Country Parson.

  BONNET (Germain), valet de chambre of Canalis in 1829, at the time when the poet went to Havre to contest the hand of Modeste Mignon. A servant full of finesse and irreproachable in appearance, he was of the greatest service to his master. He courted Philoxene Jacmin, chambermaid of Mme. de Chaulieu. Here the pantry imitated the parlor, for the academician’s mistress was the great lady herself. Modest Mignon.

  BONTEMS, a country landowner in the neighborhood of Bayeux, who feathered his nest well during the Revolution, by purchasing government confiscations at his own terms. He was pronounced “red cap,” and became president of his district. His daughter, Angelique Bontems, married Granville during the Empire; but at this time Bontems was dead. A Second Home.

  BONTEMS (Madame), wife of the preceding; outwardly pious, inwardly vain; mother of Angelique Bontems, whom she had reared in much the same attitude, and whose marriage with a Granville was, in consequence, so unhappy. A Second Home.

  BONTEMS (Angelique). (See Granville, Madame de.)

  BORAIN (Mademoiselle), the most stylish costumer in Provins, at the time of Charles X. She was commissioned by the Rogrons to make a complete wardrobe for Pierrette Lorrain, when that young girl was sent them from Brittany. Pierrette.

  BORDEVIN (Madame), Parisian butcher in rue Charlot, at the time when Sylvain Pons dwelt hard by in rue de Normandie. Mme. Bordevin was related to Mme. Sabatier. Cousin Pons.

  BORDIN, procureur at the Chatelet before the Revolution; then advocate of the Court of First Instance of the Seine, under the Empire. In 1798 he instructed and advised with M. Alain, a creditor of Monegod’s. Both had been clerks at the procureur’s. In 1806, the Marquis de Chargeboeuf went to Paris to hunt for Master Bordin, who defended the Simeuses before the Criminal Court of Troyes in the trial regarding the abduction and sequestration of Senator Malin. In 1809 he also defended Henriette Bryond des Tours-Minieres, nee La Chanterie, in the trial docketed as the “Chauffeurs of Mortagne.” The Gondreville Mystery. The Seamy Side of History. In 1816 Bordin was consulted by Mme. d’Espard regarding her husband. The Commission in Lunacy. During the Restoration a banker a
t Alencon made quarterly payments of one hundred and fifty livres to the Chevalier de Valois through the Parisian medium of Bordin. Jealousies of a Country Town. For ten years Bordin represented the nobility. Derville succeeded him. The Gondreville Mystery.

  BORDIN (Jerome-Sebastien), was also procureur at the Chatelet, and, in 1806, advocate of the Seine Court. He succeeded Master Guerbet, and sold his practice to Sauvagnest, who disposed of it to Desroches. A Start in Life.

  BORN (Comte de), brother of the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu. In the winter of 1829-1830, he is discovered at the home of his sister, taking part in a conversation in which the advocate Derville related the marital infelicities of M. de Restaud, and the story of his will and his death. The Comte de Born seized the chance to exploit the character of Maxime de Trailles, the lover of Mme. de Restaud. Gobseck.

  BORNICHE, son-in-law of M. Hochon, the old miser of Issoudun. He died of chagrin at business failures, and at not having received any assistance from his father or mother. His wife preceded him but a short time to the tomb. They left a son and a daughter, Baruch and Adolphine, who were brought up by their maternal grandfather, with Francois Hochon, another grandchild of the goodman’s. Borniche was probably a Calvinist. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BORNICHE (Monsieur and Madame), father and mother of the preceding. They were still living in 1823, when their son and their daughter-in-law had been deceased some time. In April of this year, old Mme. Borniche and her friend Mme. Hochon, who ruled socially in Issoudun, assisted at the wedding of La Rabouilleuse with Jean-Jacques Rouget. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BORNICHE (Baruch), grandson of the preceding, and of M. and Mme. Hochon. Born in 1800. Early left an orphan, he and his sister were reared by his grandfather on the maternal side. He had been one of the accomplices of Maxence Gilet, and took part in the nocturnal raids of the “Knights of Idlesse.” When his conduct became known to his grandfather, in 1822, the latter lost no time in removing him from Issoudun, sending him to Monegod’s office, Paris, to study law. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BORNICHE (Adolphine), sister of Baruch Borniche; born in 1804. Brought up almost a recluse in the frigid, dreary house of her grandfather, Hochon, she spent most of her time peering through the windows, in the hope of discovering some of the terrible things which — as Dame Rumor had it — occurred in the home of Jean-Jacques Rouget, next door. She likewise awaited with some impatience the arrival of Joseph Bridau in Issoudun, wishing to inspire some sentiment in him, and taking the liveliest interest in the painter, on account of the monstrosities which were attributed to him because of his being an artist. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BOUCARD, head-clerk of the attorney Derville in 1818, at the time when Colonel Chabert sought to recover his rights with his wife who had been remarried to Comte Ferraud. Colonel Chabert.

  BOUCHER, Besancon merchant in 1834, who was the first client of Albert Savarus in that city. He assumed financial control of the “Revue de l’Est,” founded by the lawyer. M. Boucher was related by marriage to one of the ablest editors of great theological works. Albert Savarus.

  BOUCHER (Alfred), eldest son of the preceding. Born in 1812. A youth, eager for literary fame, whom Albert Savarus put on the staff of his “Revue de l’Est,” giving him his themes and subjects. Alfred Boucher conceived a strong admiration for the managing editor, who treated him as a friend. The first number of the “Revue” contained a “Meditation” by Alfred. This Alfred Boucher believed he was exploiting Savarus, whereas the contrary was the case. Albert Savarus.

  BOUFFE (Marie), alias Vignol, actor born in Paris, September 4, 1800. He appeared about 1822 at the Panorama-Dramatique theatre, on the Boulevard du Temple, Paris, playing the part of the Alcade in a three-act imbroglio by Raoul Nathan and Du Bruel entitled “L’Alcade dans l’embarras.” At the first night performance he announced that the authors were Raoul and Cursy. Although very young at the time, this artist made his first great success in this role, and revealed his talent for depicting an old man. The critique of Lucien de Rubempre established his position. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.

  BOUGIVAL (La). (See Cabirolle, Madame.)

  BOUGNIOL (Mesdemoiselles), proprietors of an inn at Guerande (Loire-Inferieure), at the time of Louis Philippe. They had as guests some artist friends of Felicite des Touches — Camille Maupin — who had come from Paris to see her. Beatrix.

  BOURBONNE (De), wealthy resident of Tours, time of Louis XVIII. and Charles X. An uncle of Octave de Camps. In 1824 he visited Paris to ascertain the cause of the ruin of his nephew and sole heir, which ruin was generally credited to dissipations with Mme. Firmiani. M. de Bourbonne, a retired musketeer in easy circumstances, was well connected. He had entry into the Faubourg Saint-Germain through the Listomeres, the Lenoncourts and the Vandenesses. He caused himself to be presented at Mme. Firmiani’s as M. de Rouxellay, the name of his estate. The advice of Bourbonne, which was marked by much perspicacity, if followed, would have extricated Francois Birotteau from Troubert’s clutches; for the uncle of M. de Camps fathomed the plottings of the future Bishop of Troyes. Bourbonne saw a great deal more than did the Listomeres of Tours. Madame Firmiani. The Vicar of Tours.

  BOURDET (Benjamin), old soldier of the Empire, formerly serving under Philippe Bridau’s command. He lived quietly in the suburbs of Vatan, in touch with Fario. In 1822 he placed himself at the entire disposal of the Spaniard, and also of the officer who previously had put him under obligations. Secretly he served them in their hatred of and plots against Maxence Gilet. A Bachelor’s Establishment.

  BOURGEAT, foundling of Saint-Flour. Parisian water-carrier about the end of the eighteenth century. The friend and protector of the young Desplein, the future famous surgeon. He lived in rue Quatre-Vents in an humble house rendered doubly famous by the sojourn of Desplein and by that of Daniel d’Arthez. A fervent Churchman of unswerving faith. The future famous savant (Desplein) watched by his bedside at the last and closed his eyes. The Atheist’s Mass.

  BOURGET, uncle of the Chaussard brothers. An old man who became implicated in the trial of the Chauffeurs of Mortagne in 1809. He died during the taking of the testimony, while making some confessions. His wife, also apprehended, appeared before the court and was sentenced to twenty-two years’ imprisonment. The Seamy Side of History.

  BOURGNEUFS (The), a family ruined by the De Camps and living in poverty and seclusion at Saint-Germain en Laye, during the early part of the nineteenth centruy. This family consisted of: the aged father, who ran a lottery-office; the mother, almost always sick; and two delightful daughters, who took care of the home and attended to the correspondence. The Bourgneufs were rescued from their troubles by Octave de Camps who, prompted by Mme. Firmiani, and at the cost of his entire property, restored to them the fortune made away with by his father. Madame Firmiani.

  BOURGNIER (Du). (See Bousquier, Du.)

  BOURIGNARD (Gratien-Henri-Victor-Jean-Joseph), father of Mme. Jules Desmarets. One of the “Thirteen” and the former chief of the Order of the Devorants under the title of Ferragus XXIII. He had been a laborer, but afterwards was a contractor of buildings. His daughter was born to an abandoned woman. About 1807 he was sentenced to twenty years of hard labor, but he managed to escape during a journey of the chain-gang from Paris to Toulon, and he returned to Paris. In 1820 he lived there under diverse names and disguises, lodging successively on rue des Vieux Augustins (now rue d’Argout), corner of rue Soly (an insignificant street which disappeared when the Hotel des Postes was rebuilt); then at number seven rue Joquelet; finally at Mme. E. Gruget’s, number twelve rue des Enfants-Rouges (now part of the rue des Archives running from rue Pastourelle to rue Portefoin), changing lodgings at this time to evade the investigations of Auguste de Maulincour. Stunned by the death of his daughter, whom he adored and with whom he held secret interviews to prevent her becoming amenable to the law, he passed his last days in an indifferent, almost idiotic way, idly watching match games at bowling on the Place de l’Obse
rvatoire; the ground between the Luxembourg and the Boulevard de Montparnasse was the scene of these games. One of the assumed names of Bourignard was the Comte de Funcal. In 1815, Bourignard, alias Ferragus, assisted Henri de Marsay, another member of the “Thirteen,” in his raid on Hotel San-Real, where dwelt Paquita Valdes. The Thirteen.

  BOURLAC (Bernard-Jean-Baptiste-Macloud, Baron de), former procureur-general of the Royal Court of Rouen, grand officer of the Legion of Honor. Born in 1771. He fell in love with and married the daughter of the Pole, Tarlowski, a colonel in the French Imperial Guard. By her he had a daughter, Vanda, who became the Baronne de Mergi. A widower and reserved by nature, he came to Paris in 1829 to take care of Vanda, who was seized by a strange and very dangerous malady. After having lived in the Quartier du Roule in 1838, with his daughter and grandson, he dwelt for several years, in very straitened circumstances, in a tumble-down house on the Boulevard du Montparnasse, where Godefroid, a recent initiate into the “Brotherhood of the Consolation” and under the direction of Mme. de la Chanterie and her associates, came to his relief. Afterwards it was discovered that the Baron de Bourlac was none other than the terrible magistrate who had pronounced judgment on this noble woman and her daughter during the trial of the Chauffeurs of Mortagne in 1809. Nevertheless, the aiding of the family was not abated in the least. Vanda was cured, thanks to a foreign physician, Halpersohn, procured by Godefroid. M. de Bourlac was enabled to publish his great work on the “Spirit of Modern Law.” At Sorbonne a chair of comparative legislation was created for him. At last he obtained forgiveness from Mme. de la Chanterie, at whose feet he flung himself. The Seamy Side of History. In 1817 the Baron de Bourlac, then procureur-general, and superior of Soudry the younger, royal procureur, helped, with the assistance also of the latter, to secure for Sibilet the position of estate-keeper to the General de Montcornet at Aigues. The Peasantry.