SECHARD (David), only son of the preceding, school-mate and friend of Lucien de Rubempre, learned the art of printing from the Didots of Paris. On one occasion, upon his return to his native soil, he gave many evidences of his kindness and delicacy; having purchased his father’s printing shop, he allowed himself to be deliberately cheated and duped by him; employed as proof-reader Lucien de Rubempre, whose sister, Eve Chardon, he adored with a passion that was fully reciprocated; he married her in spite of the poverty of both parties, for his business was on the decline. The expense involved, the competition of the Cointets, and especially his experiments as inventor in the hope of finding the secret of a particular way of making paper, reduced him to very straitened circumstances. Indeed, everything combined to destroy Sechard; the cunning and power of the Cointet house, the spying of the ungrateful Cerizet, formerly his apprentice, the disorderly life of Lucien de Rubempre, and the jealous greed of his father. A victim of the wiles of Cointet, Sechard abandoned his discovery, resigned himself to his fate, inherited from his father, and cheered by the devotion of the Kolbs, dwelt in Marsac, where Derville, led by Corentin, hunted him out with a view to gaining information as to the origin of Lucien de Rubempre’s million. Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SECHARD (Madame David), wife of the preceding, born Eve Chardon in 1804, daughter of a druggist of L’Houmeau (a suburb of Angouleme), and a member of the house of Rubempre; worked first at the house of Madame Prieur, a laundress, for the consideration of fifteen sous a day; manifested great devotion to her brother Lucien, and on marrying David Sechard, in 1821, transferred her devotion to him; having undertaken to manage the printing shop, she competed with Cerizet, Cointet, and Petit-Claud, and almost succeeded in softening Jerome-Nicolas Sechard. Madame Sechard shared with her husband the inheritance of old J.-N. Sechard, and was then the modest chatelaine of La Verberie, at Marsac. By her husband she had at least one child, named Lucien. Madame Sechard was tall and of dark complexion, with blue eyes. Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SECHARD (Lucien), son of the preceding couple. Lost Illusions.
SEGAUD, solicitor at Angouleme, was successor to Petit-Claud, a magistrate about 1824. Lost Illusions.
SELERIER, called the Auvergnat, Pere Ralleau, Le Rouleur, and especially Fil-de Soie, belonged to the aristocracy of the galleys, and was a member of the group of “Ten Thousand,” whose chief was Jacques Collin; the latter, however, suspected him of having sold him to the police, about 1819, when Bibi-Lupin arrested him at the Vauquer boarding-house. Father Goriot. In his business Selerier always avoided bloodshed. He was of philosophical turn, very selfish, incapable of love, and ignorant of the meaning of friendship. In May, 1830, when being a prisoner at the Conciergerie, and about to be condemned to fifteen years of forced labor, he saw and recognized Jacques Collin, the pseudo-Carlos Herrera, himself incriminated. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SENONCHES (Jacques de), a noble of Angouleme, a great huntsman, stiff and haughty, a sort of wild boar; lived on very good terms with his wife’s lover, Francois du Hautoy, and attended Madame de Bargeton’s receptions. Lost Illusions.
SENONCHES (Madame Jacques de), wife of the preceding, bore the given name of Zephirine, which was abbreviated to Zizine. By Francois du Hautoy, her adored lover, she had a daughter, Francoise de la Haye, who was presented as her ward, and who became Madame Petit-Claud. Lost Illusions.
SEPHERD (Carl), name assumed by Charles Grandet in the Indies, the United States, Africa, etc., while he was in the slave-trading business. Eugenie Grandet.
SERIZY, or Serisy (Comte Hugret de), born in 1765, descended in direct line from the famous President Hugret, ennobled under Francois I. The motto of this family was “I, semper melius eris,” so that the final s of melius, the word eris, and the I of the beginning, represented the name (Serizy) of the estate that had been made a county. A son of a first president of Parliament (who died in 1794), Serizy was himself, as early as 1787, a member of the Grand Council; he did not emigrate during the Revolution, but remained in his estate of Serizy, near Arpajon; became a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and afterwards of the Council of State. The Empire made him a count and a senator. Hugret de Serizy was married, in 1806, to Leontine de Ronquerolles, the widow of General Gaubert. This union made him the brother-in-law of the Marquis de Ronquerolles, and the Marquis du Rouvre. Every honor was alloted to him in course; chamberlain under the Empire, he afterwards became vice-president of the Council of State, peer of France, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and member of the Privy Council. The glorious career of Serizy, who was an unusually industrious person, did not offer compensation for his domestic misfortunes. Hard work and protracted vigils soon aged the high functionary, who was ever unable to win his wife’s heart; but he loved her and sheltered her none the less constantly. It was chiefly to avenge her for the indiscretion of the volatile young Oscar Husson, Moreau’s godson, that he discharged the not overhonest steward of Presles. A Start in Life. The system of government that succeeded the Empire increased Serizy’s influence and renown; he was an intimate friend of the Bauvans and the Grandvilles. A Bachelor’s Establishment. Honorine. Modeste Mignon. His weakness in matters concerning his wife was such that he assisted her in person, when, in May, 1830, she hastened to the Conciergerie in the hope of saving her lover, Lucien de Rubempre, and entered the cell where the young man had just committed suicide. Serizy even consented to be executor of the poet’s will. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SERIZY (Comtesse de), wife of the preceding, born Leontine de Ronquerolles about 1784, sister of the Marquis du Ronquerolles; married, as her first husband, General Gaubert, one of the most illustrious soldiers of the Republic; married a second time, when quite young, but could never entertain any feeling stronger than respect for M. de Serizy, her second husband, by whom, however, she had a son, an officer, who was killed during the reign of Louis Philippe. A Start in Life. Worldly and brilliant, and a worthy rival of Mesdames de Beauseant, de Langeais, de Maufrigneuse, de Carigliano, and d’Espard, Leontine de Serizy had several lovers, among them being Auguste de Maulincour, Victor d’Aiglemont and Lucien de Rubempre. The Thirteen. Ursule Mirouet. A Woman of Thirty. This last liaison was a very stormy one. Lucien acquired considerable influence over Madame de Serizy, and made use of it to reach the Marquise d’Espard, by effecting an annulment of the decree which she had obtained against her husband, the Marquis d’Espard, placing him under guardianship. And so it was that, during Rubempre’s imprisonment and after his suicide, she suffered the bitterest anguish. Leontine de Serizy almost broke the bars of the Conciergerie, insulted Camusot, the examining magistrate, and seemed to be beside herself. The intervention of Jacques Collin saved her and cured her, when three famous physicians, Messieurs Bianchon, Desplein, and Sinard declared themselves powerless to relieve her. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. During the winter the Comtesse de Serizy lived on the Chaussee-d’Antin; during the summer at Serizy, her favorite residence, or still more at Presles, and sometimes near Nemours in Le Rouvre, the seat of the family of that name. Being a neighbor, in Paris, of Felicite des Touches, she was a frequent visitor of that emulator of George Sand, and was at her house when Marsay related the story of his first love-affair, taking part herself in the conversation. Another Study of Woman. Being a maternal aunt of Clementine du Rouvre, Madame de Serizy gave her a handsome dowry when she married Laginski; with her brother Ronquerolles, at his home on the rue de la Pepiniere, she met Thaddee Paz, the Pole’s comrade. The Imaginary Mistress.
SERIZY (Vicomte de), only son of the preceding couple, graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1825, and entered the cavalry regiment of the Garde Royale, by favor, as sub-lieutenant, under command of the Duc de Maufrigneuse; at this time Oscar Husson, nephew of Cardot, entered the same regiment as a private. A Start in Life. In October, 1829, Serizy, being an officer in the company of the guar
ds stationed at Havre, was instructed to inform M. de Verneuil, proprietor of some well-stocked Norman “preserves,” that Madame could not participate in the chase that he had organized. Having become enamored of Diane de Maufrigneuse, the viscount found her at Verneuil’s house; she received his attentions, as a means of avenging herself on Leontine de Serizy, then mistress of Lucien de Rubempre. Modeste Mignon. Being advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of a cavalry regiment, he was severely wounded at the disastrous battle of Macta, in Africa (June 26, 1835), and died at Toulon as a result of his wounds. The Imaginary Mistress. A Start in Life.
SERVAIS, the only good gilder in Paris, according to Elie Magus, whose advice he heeded; he had the good sense to use English gold, which is far better than the French. Like the book-binder, Thouvenin, he was in love with his own work. Cousin Pons.
SERVIEN (Prudence), born, in 1806, at Valenciennes, daughter of very poor weavers, was employed, from the age of seven years, in a spinning-mill; corrupted early by her life in the work-room, she was a mother at the age of thirteen; having had to testify in the Court of Assizes against Jean-Francois Durut, she made of him a formidable enemy, and fell into the power of Jacques Collin, who promised to shelter her from the resentment of the convict. She was at one time a ballet-girl, and afterwards served as Esther van Gobseck’s chamber-maid, under the names of Eugenie and Europe; was the mistress of Paccard, whom she very probably married afterwards; aided Vautrin in fooling Nucingen and getting money from him. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SERVIN, born about 1775, a distinguished painter, made a love-match with the daughter of a penniless general; in 1815 was manager of a studio in Paris, which was frequented by Mademoiselle Laure, and Mesdemoiselles Mathilde-Melanie Roguin, Amelie Thirion and Ginevra di Piombo, the last three of whom were afterwards, respectively, Mesdames Tiphaine, Camusot de Marville, and Porta. Servin at that time was concealing an exile who was sought by the police, namely Luigi Porta, who married the master’s favorite pupil, Mademoiselle Ginevra di Piombo. The Vendetta.
SERVIN (Madame), wife of the preceding, remembering that the romance of Porta and Ginevra’s love had been the cause of all his pupils’ leaving her husband’s studio, refused to shelter Mademoiselle de Piombo when driven from her father’s home. The Vendetta.
SEVERAC (De), born in 1764, a country gentleman, mayor of a village in the canton of Angouleme, and the author of an article on silkworms, was received at Madame de Bargeton’s in 1821. A widower, without children, and doubtless very rich, but not knowing the ways of the world, one evening on the rue du Minage, he found as ready listeners only the poor but aristocratic Madame du Brossard and her daughter Camille, a young woman of twenty-seven years. Lost Illusions.
SIBILET, clerk of the court at Ville-aux-Fayes (Bourgogne), distant cousin of Francois Gaubertin, married a Mademoiselle Gaubertin-Vallat, and had by that marriage six children. The Peasantry.
SIBILET (Adolphe), eldest of the six children of the preceding, born about 1793; was, at first, clerk to a notary, then an unimportant employe in the land-registry office; and then, in the latter part of the year 1817, succeeded his cousin, Francois Gaubertin, in the administration of Aigues, General de Montcornet’s estate, in Bourgogne. Sibilet had married Mademoiselle Adeline Sarcus (of the poor branch), who bore him two children in three years; his selfish interest and his personal obligations led him to gratify the ill-feeling of his predecessor, by being disloyal to Montcornet. The Peasantry.
SIBILET (Madame Adolphe), wife of the preceding, born Adeline Sarcus, only daughter of a justice of the peace, rich with beauty as her sole fortune, she was reared by her mother, in the little village of Soulanges (Bourgogne), with all possible care. Not having been able to marry Amaury Lupin (son of Lupin the notary), with whom she was in love, in despair she allowed herself, three years after her mother’s death, to be married, by her father, to the disagreeable and repulsive Adolphe Sibilet. The Peasantry.
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, and police commissioner at Ville-aux Fayes. The Peasantry.
SIBILET (Mademoiselle), daughter of the court clerk, afterwards Madame Herve. The Peasantry.
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, first clerk of Maitre Corbinet, notary at Ville-aux-Fayes, to whom he was the appointed successor. The Peasantry.
SIBILET, son of the court clerk, and clerk in the Department of Public Lands, presumptive successor of the registrar of documents at Ville-aux-Fayes. The Peasantry.
SIBILET (Mademoiselle), daughter of the court clerk, born about 1807, postmistress at Ville-aux Fayes; betrothed to Captain Corbinet, brother of the notary. The Peasantry.
SIBUELLE, a wealthy contractor of somewhat tarnished reputation during the Directory and the Consulate, gave his daughter in marriage to Malin de Gondreville, and through the credit of his son-in-law became, with Marion, co-receiver-general of the department of Aube. The Gondreville Mystery.
SIBUELLE (Mademoiselle), only daughter of the preceding, became Madame Malin de Gondreville. The Gondreville Mystery.
SEYES (Emmanuel-Joseph), born in 1748 at Frejus, died in Paris in 1836, was successively vicar-general of Chartres, deputy to the States-General and the Convention, member of the Committee of Public Safety, member of the Five Hundred, member of the Directory, consul, and senator; famous also as a publicist. In June, 1800, he might have been found in the Office of Foreign Relations, in the rue du Bac, where he took part with Talleyrand and Fouche, in a secret council, in which the subject of overthrowing Bonaparte, then First Consul, was discussed. The Gondreville Mystery.
SIGNOL (Henriette), a beautiful girl; of a good family of farmers, in the employ of Basine Clerget, a laundress at Angouleme; was the mistress of Cerizet, whom she loved and trusted; served as a tool against David Sechard, the printer. Lost Illusions.
SIMEUSE (Admiral de), father of Jean de Simeuse, was one of the most eminent French seamen of the eighteenth century. Beatrix. The Gondreville Mystery. Jealousies of a Country Town.
SIMEUSE (Marquis Jean de), whose name, “Cy meurs” or “Si meurs,” was the motto of the family crest, was descended from a noble family of Bourgogne, who were formerly owners of a Lorrain fief called Ximeuse, corrupted to Simeuse. M. de Simeuse counted a number of illustrious men among his ancestors; he married Berthe de Cinq-Cygne; he was father of twins, Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul. He was guillotined at Troyes during the Terror; Michu’s father-in-law presided over the Revolutionary tribunal that passed the death-sentence. The Gondreville Mystery.
SIMEUSE (Marquise de), wife of the preceding, born Berthe de Cinq-Cygne, was executed at Troyes at the same time with her husband. The Gondreville Mystery.
SIMEUSE (Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul), twin sons of the preceding couple, born in 1773; grandsons on the father’s side of the admiral who was as famous for his dissipation as for his valor; descended from the original owners of the famous Gondreville estate in Aube, and belonged to the noble Champagne family of the Chargeboeufs, the younger branch of which was represented by their mother, Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul were among the emigrants; they returned to France about 1803. Both being in love with their cousin, Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, an ardent Royalist, they cast lots to decide which should be her husband; fate favored Marie-Paul, the younger, but circumstances prevented the consummation of the marriage. The twins differed only in disposition, and there in only one point: Paul-Marie was melancholy, while Marie-Paul was of a bright disposition. Despite the advice of their elderly relative, M. de Chargeboeuf, Messieurs de Simeuse compromised themselves with the Hauteserres; being watched by Fouche, who sent Peyrade and Corentin to keep an eye on them, they were accused of the abduction of Malin, of which they were not guilty, and sentenced to twenty-four years of penal servitude; were pardoned by Napoleon, entered as sub-lieutenants the same cavalry regiment, and were killed together in the battle of Sommo-Sierra (near Madrid, November 30, 1808). The Gondreville Mystery.
SIMONIN let carriages on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, Cour des
Coches, Paris; about 1840, he let a berlin to Madame de Godollo, who, in accordance with the instructions of Corentin, the police-agent, was pretending to be taking a journey, but went no further than the Bois de Boulogne. The Middle Classes.
SIMONNIN, in the reign of Louis XVIII., was “errand-boy” to Maitre Derville on the rue Vivienne, Paris, when that advocate received Hyacinthe Chabert. Colonel Chabert.
SINARD, a Paris physician, was called, in May, 1830, together with Messieurs Desplein and Bianchon, to the bedside of Leontine de Serizy, who had lost her reason after the tragic end of her lover, Lucien de Rubempre. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
SINET (Seraphine), a celebrated lorette, born in 1820, known by the sobriquet of Carabine, was present at Josepha Mirah’s house-warming on the rue de la Ville-l’Eveque, in 1838. Five years later, being then mistress of the wealthy F. du Tillet, Mademoiselle Sinet supplanted the vivacious Marguerite Turquet as queen of the lorettes. Cousin Betty. A woman of splendid appearance, Seraphine was one of the marching chorus at the Opera, and occupied the fine apartment on the rue Saint-Georges, where before her Suzanne du Val-Noble, Esther van Gobseck, Florine, and Madame Schontz had reigned. Of ready wit, dashing manners, and impish brazenness, Carabine held many successful receptions. Every day her table was set in magnificent style for ten guests. Artists, men of letters, and society favorites were among her frequent visitors. S.-P. Gazonal was taken to see her, in 1845, by Leon de Lora and Bixiou, together with Jenny Cadine of the Theatre du Gymnase; and there he met Massol, Claude Vignon, Maxime de Trailles, Nucingen, F. du Bruel, Malaga, Monsieur and Madame Gaillard, and Vauvinet, with a multitude of others, to say nothing of F. du Tillet. The Unconscious Humorists.
Works of Honore De Balzac Page 1596