Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  TERNNICK (De), Duc de Casa-Real, which name see.

  TERRASSE AND DUCLOS, keepers of records at the Palais, in 1822; consulted at that time with success by Godeschal. A Start in Life.

  THELUSSON, a banker, one of whose clerks was Lemprun before he entered the Banque de France as messenger. The Middle Classs.

  THERESE, lady’s-maid to Madame de Nucingen during the Restoration and the reign of Louis Philippe. Father Goriot. A Daughter of Eve.

  THERESE, lady’s-maid to Madame Xavier Rabourdin, on the rue Duphot, Paris, in 1824. The Government Clerks.

  THERESE, lady’s-maid to Madame de Rochefide in the latter part of Charles X.’s reign, and during the reign of Louis Philippe. Beatrix.

  THERESE (Sister), the name under which Antoinette de Langeais died, after she had taken the veil, and retired to the convent of bare-footed Carmelites on an island belonging to Spain, probably the island of Leon. The Thirteen.

  THIBON (Baron), chief of the Comptoir d’Escompte, in 1818, had been a colleague of Cesar Birotteau, the perfumer. Cesar Birotteau.

  THIRION, usher to the closet of King Louis XVIII., was on terms of intimacy with the Ragons, and was invited to Cesar Birotteau’s famous ball on December 17, 1818, together with his wife and his daughter Amelie, one of Servin’s pupils who married Camusot de Marville. The Vendetta. Cesar Birotteau. The emoluments of his position, obtained by the patronage that his zeal deservedly acquired, enabled him to lay by a considerable sum, which the Camusot de Marvilles inherited. Jealousies of a Country Town.

  THOMAS was owner of a large house in Bretagne, that Marie de Verneuil (Madame Alphonse de Montauran) bought for Francine de Cottin, her lady’s maid, and a niece of Thomas. The Chouans.

  THOMAS (Madame) was a milliner in Paris towards the latter part of the reign of Charles X.; it was to her establishment that Frederic de Nucingen, after being driven to the famous pastry shop of Madame Domas, an error arising from his Alsatian pronunciation, betook himself in quest of a black satin cape, lined with pink, for Esther van Gobseck. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.

  THOMIRE contributed to the material splendors of the famous entertainment given by Frederic Taillefer, about 1831, at his mansion on the rue Joubert, Paris. The Magic Skin.

  THOREC, an anagram of Hector, and one of the names successively assumed by Baron Hector Hulot d’Ervy, after deserting his conjugal roof. Cousin Betty.

  THOREIN, a carpenter, was employed in making changes in Cesar Birotteau’s apartments some days before the famous ball given by the perfumer on December 17, 1818. Cesar Birotteau.

  THOUL, anagram of the word Hulot, and one of the names successively assumed by Baron Hector Hulot d’Ervy, after his desertion of the conjugal roof. Cousin Betty.

  THOUVENIN, famous in his work, but an unreliable tradesman, was employed, in 1818, by Madame Anselme Popinot (then Mademoiselle Birotteau) to rebind for her father, the perfumer, the works of various authors. Cesar Birotteau. Thouvenin, as an artist, was in love with his own works — like Servais, the favorite gilder of Elie Magus. Cousin Pons.

  THUILLIER was first door-keeper of the minister of finance in the second half of the eighteenth century; by furnishing meals to the clerks he realized from his position a regular annual income of almost four thousand francs; being married and the father of two children, Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte and Louis-Jerome, he retired from active duties about 1806, and, losing his wife in 1810, he himself died in 1814. He was commonly called “Stout Father Thuillier.” The Government Clerks. The Middle Classes.

  THUILLIER (Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte), daughter of the preceding, born in 1787, of independent disposition and of obstinate will, chose the single state to become, as it were, the ambitious mother of Louis-Jerome, a brother younger than herself by four years. She began life by making coin-bags at the Bank of France, then engaged in money-lending; took every advantage of her debtors, among others Fleury, her father’s colleague at the Treasury. Being now rich, she met the Lempruns and the Galards; took upon herself the management of the small fortune of their heir, Celeste Lemprum, whom she had selected specially to be the wife of her brother; after their marriage she lived with her brother’s family; was also one of Mademoiselle Colleville’s god-mothers. On the rue Saint-Dominique-d’Enfer, and on the Place de la Madeleine, she showed herself many times to be the friend of Theodose de la Peyrade, who vainly sought the hand of the future Madame Phellion. The Government Clerks. The Middle Classes.

  THUILLIER (Louis-Jerome), younger brother of the preceding, born in 1791. Thanks to his father’s position, he entered the Department of Finance as clerk at an early age. Louis-Jerome Thuillier, being exempted from military service on account of weak eyes, married Celeste Lemprun, Galard’s wealthy granddaughter, about 1814. Ten years later he had reached the advancement of reporting clerk, in Xavier Rabourdin’s office, Flamet de la Billardiere’s division. His pleasing exterior gave him a series of successes in love affairs, that was continued after his marriage, but cut short by the Restoration, bringing back, as it did, with peace, the gallants escaped from the battlefield. Among his amorous conquests may be counted Madame Flavie Colleville, wife of his intimate friend and colleague at the Treasury; of their relations was born Celeste Colleville — Madame Felix Phellion. Having been deputy-chief for two years (since January 5, 1828), he left the Treasury at the outbreak of the Revolution of 1830. In him the office lost an expert in equivocal jests. Having left the department, Thuillier turned his energies in another direction. Marie-Jeanne-Brigette, his elder sister, turning him to the intricacies of real estate, made him leave their lodging-place on the rue d’Argenteuil, to purchase a house on the rue Saint-Dominique-d’Enfer, which had formerly belonged to President Lecamus and to Petitot, the artist. Thuillier’s conceit and vanity, now that he had become a well-known and important citizen, were greatly flattered when Theodose de la Peyrade hired apartments from him. M. Thuillier was manager of the “Echo de la Bievre,” signed a certain pamphlet on political economy, was candidate for the Chamber of Deputies, purchased a second house, in 1840, on the Place de la Madeleine, and was chosen to succeed J.-J. Popinot as member of the General Council of the Seine. The Government Clerks. The Middle Classes.

  THUILLIER (Madame), wife of the preceding; born Celeste Lemprun, in 1794; only daughter of the oldest messenger in the Bank of France, and, on her mother’s side, granddaughter od Galard, a well-to-do truck-gardener of Auteuil; a transparent blonde, slender, sweet-tempered, religious, and barren. In her married life, Madame Thuillier was swayed beneath the despotism of her sister-in-law, Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte, but derived some consolation from the affection of Celeste Colleville, and, about 1841, contributed as far as her influence permitted, to the marriage of this her god-daughter. The Middle Classes.

  TIENNETTE, born in 1769, a Breton who wore her native costume, was, in 1829, the devoted servant of Madame de Portenduere the elder, on the rue des Bourgeois (now Bezout), Nemours. Ursule Mirouet.

  TILLET (Ferdinand du), had legally a right only to the first part of his name, which was given him on the morning of Saint-Ferdinand’s day by the curate of the church of Tillet, a town near Andelys (Eure). Ferdinand was the son of an unknown great nobleman and a poor countrywoman of Normandie, who was delivered of her son one night in the curate’s garden, and then drowned herself. The priest took in the new born son of the betrayed mother and took care of him. His protector being dead, Ferdinand resolved to make his own way in the world, took the name of his village, was first commercial traveler, and, in 1814, he became head clerk in Birotteau’s perfumery establishment on the rue Saint-Honore, Paris. While there he tried, but without success, to win Constance Birotteau, his patron’s wife, and stole three thousand francs from the cash drawer. They discovered the theft and forgave the offender, but in such a way that Du Tillet himself was offended. He left the business and started a bank; being the lover of Madame Roguin, the notary’s wife, he became involved in the business scheme known as “the lands of the Madeleine,” the ori
ginal cause of Birotteau’s failure and of his own fortune (1818). Ferdinand du Tillet, now a lynx of almost equal prominence with Nucingen, with whom he was on very intimate terms, being loved by Mademoiselle Malvina d’Aldrigger, being looked up to by the Kellers also, and being further the patron of Tiphaine, the Provins Royalist, was able to crush Birotteau, and triumphed over him, even on December 17, 1818, the evening of the famous ball given by the perfumer; Jules Desmarets, Benjamin de la Billiardiere, and he were the only perfect types present of worldly propriety and distinction. Cesar Birotteau. The Firm of Nucingen. The Middle Classes. A Bachelor’s Establishment. Pierrette. Once started, M. du Tillet seldom left the Chaussee d’Antin, the financial quarter of Paris, during the Restoration and the reign of Louis Philippe. It was there that he received Birotteau, imploring aid, and gave him a letter of recommendation for Nucingen, the result of which was quite different from what the unfortunate merchant had anticipated. Indeed, it was agreed between the two business men, if the i’s in the letter in question were not dotted, to give a negative answer; by this intentional omission, Du Tillet ruined the unfortunate Birotteau. He had his bank on the rue Joubert when Rodolphe Castanier, the dishonest cashier, robbed Nucingen. Melmoth Reconciled. Ferdinand du Tillet was now a consequential personage, when Lucien de Rubempre was making his start in Paris (1821). A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Ten years later he married his last daughter to the Comte de Granville, a peer of France, and “one of the most illustrious names of the French magistracy.” He occupied one of the elegant mansions on the rue Neuve-des-Mathurins, now rue des Mathurins; for a long time he kept Madame Roguin as his mistress; was often seen, in the Faubourg Saint-Honore, with the Marquise d’Espard, being found there on the day that Diane de Cadignan was slandered in the presence of Daniel d’Arthez, who was very much in love with her. With Massol and Raoul Nathan he founded a prominent newspaper, which he used for his financial interests. He did not hesitate to get rid of Nathan, who was loaded down with debts; but he found Nathan before him once more, however, as candidate for the Chamber of Deputies, to succeed Nucingen, who had been made a peer of France; this time, also, he triumphed over his rival, and was elected. The Secrets of a Princess. A Daughter of Eve. M. du Tillet was no more sparing of Maxime de Trailles, but harassed him pitilessly, when the count was sent into Champagne as electoral agent of the government. The Member for Arcis. He was present at the fete given by Josepha Mirah, by way of a house-warming, in her mansion on the rue de la Ville-l’Eveque; Celestin Crevel and Valerie Marneffe invited him to their wedding. Cousin Betty. At the end of the monarchy of July, being a deputy, with his seat in the Left Centre, Ferdinand du Tillet kept in the most magnificent style Seraphine Sinet, the Opera girl, more familiarly called Carabine. The Unconscious Humorists. There is a biography of Ferdinand du Tillet, elaborated by the brilliant pen of Jules Claretie, in “Le Temps” of September 5, 1884, under title of “Life in Paris.”

  TILLET (Madame Ferdinand du), wife of the preceding, born Marie-Eugenie de Granville in 1814, one of the four children of the Comte and Comtesse de Granville, and younger sister of Madame Felix de Vandenesse; a blonde like her mother; in her marriage, which took place in 1831, was a renewal of the griefs that had sobered the years of her youth. Eugenie du Tillet’s natural playfulness of spirit could find vent only with her eldest sister, Angelique-Marie, and their harmony teacher, W. Schmucke, in whose company the two sisters forgot their father’s neglect and the convent-like rigidness of a devotee’s home. Poor in the midst of wealth, deserted by her husband, and bent beneath an inflexible yoke, Madame du Tillet could lend but too little aid to her sister — then Madame de Vandenesse — in the trouble caused by a passion she had conceived for Raoul Nathan. However, she supplied her with two powerful allies — Delphine de Nucingen and W. Schmucke. As a result of her marriage Madame du Tillet had two children. A Daughter of Eve.

  TINTENIAC, known for his part in the Quiberon affair, had among his confederates Jacques Horeau, who was executed in 1809 with the Chauffeurs of Orne. The Seamy Side of History.

  TINTI (Clarina), born in Sicily about 1803; was maid in an inn, when her glorious voice came under the notice of a great nobleman, her fellow-countryman, the Duke Cataneo, who had her educated. At the age of sixteen, she made her debut with brilliant success at several Italian theatres. In 1820, she was “prima donna assoluta” of the Fenice theatre, Venice. Being loved by Genovese, the famous tenor, Tinti was usually engaged with him. Of a passionate nature, beautiful and capricious, Clarina became enamored of Prince Emilio du Varese, at that time the lover of the Duchesse Cataneo, and became, for a while, the mistress of that descendant of the Memmis: the ruined palace of Varese, which Cataneo hired for Tinti, was the scene of these ephemeral relations. Massimilla Doni. In the winter of 1823-1824, at the home of Prince Gandolphini, in Geneva, with Genovese, Princesse Gandolphini, and an exiled Italian prince, she sang the famous quartette, “Mi manca la voce.” Albert Savarus.

  TIPHAINE, of Provins, brother of Madame Guenee-Galardon, rich in his own right, and expecting something more by way of inheritance from his father, adopted the legal profession; married a granddaughter of Chevrel, a prominent banker of Paris; had children by his marriage; presided over the court of his native town in the latter part of Charles X.’s reign. At that time an ardent Royalist, and resting secure under the patronage of the well-known financiers, Ferdinand du Tillet and Frederic de Nucingen, M. Tiphaine contended against Gouraud, Vinet, and Rogron, the local representatives of the Liberal party, and for a considerable time upheld the cause of Mademoiselle Pierrette Lorrain, their victim. Tiphaine, however, suited himself to the circumstances, and came over to Louis Philippe, the “revolutionist,” under whose reign he became a member of the Chamber of Deputies; he was “one of the most esteemed orators of the Centre”; secured his appointment to the judgeship of the court of first instance of the Seine, and still later he was made president of the royal court. Pierrette.

  TIPHAINE (Madame), wife of the preceding, born Mathilde-Melanie Roguin, in the early part of the nineteenth century; the only daughter of a wealthy notary of Paris, noted for his fraudulent failure in 1819; on her mother’s side, granddaughter of Chevrel, the banker, and also distant cousin of the Guillaumes, and the families of Lebas and Sommervieux. Before her marriage she was a frequent visitor at the studio of Servin, the artist; she was there “the malicious oracle” of the Liberal party, and, with Laure, took sides with Ginevra di Piombo against Amelie Thirion, leader of the aristocratic group. The Vendetta. Clever, pretty, coquettish, correct, and a real Parisian, and protected by Madame Roguin’s lover, Ferdinand du Tillet, Mathilde-Melanie Tiphaine reigned supreme in Provins, in the midst of the Guenee family, represented by Mesdames Galardon, Lessourd, Martener, and Auffray; took in, or, rather, defended Pierrette Lorrain; and overwhelmed the Rogron salon with her spirit of raillery. Pierrette.

  TISSOT (Pierre-Francois), born March 10, 1768, at Versailles, died April 7, 1854; general secretary of the Maintenance Commission in 1793, successor to Jacques Delille in the chair of Latin poetry in the College de France; a member of the Academy in 1833, and the author of many literary and historical works; under the Restoration he was managing editor of the “Pilote,” a radical sheet that published a special edition of the daily news for the provinces, a few hours after the morning papers. Horace Bianchon, the house-surgeon, there learned of the death of Frederic-Michel Taillefer, who had been killed in a duel with Franchessini. Father Goriot. In the reign of Louis Philippe, when Charles-Edouard Rusticoli de la Palferine’s burning activity vainly sought an upward turn, Tissot, from the professor’s chair, pleaded the cause of the rights and aspirations of youth that had been ignored and despised by the power surrendered into the hands of superannuated mossbacks. A Prince of Bohemia.

  TITO, a young and handsome Italian, in 1823, brought “la liberta e denaro” to the Prince and Princess Gandolphini, who were at that time impoverished outlaws, living in concealment at Gersau (canton of L
ucerne) under the English name of Lovelace — ”L’Ambitieux par Amour.” Albert Savarus.

  TOBY, born in Ireland about 1807; also called Joby, and Paddy; during the Restoration, Beaudenord’s “tiger” on the Quai Malaquais, Paris; a wonder of precocity in vice; acquired a sort of celebrity in exercise of his duties, a celebrity that was even reflected on Madame d’Aldrigger’s future son-in-law. The Firm of Nucingen. During Louis Philippe’s reign, Toby was a servant in the household of the Duc Georges de Maufrigneuse on the rue Miromesnil. The Secrets of a Princess.

  TONNELET (Matire), a notary, and son-in-law of M. Gravier of Isere, whose intimate friend was Benassis, and who was one of the co-workers of that beneficent physician. Tonnelet was thin and pale, and of medium height; he generally dressed in black, and wore spectacles. The Country Doctor.

  TONSARD (Mere), a peasant woman of Bourgogne, born in 1745, was one of the most formidable enemies of Montcornet, the owner of Aigues, and of his head-keeper, Justine Michaud. She had killed the keeper’s favorite hound and she encroached upon the forest trees, so as to kill them and take the dead wood off. A reward of a thousand francs having been offered to the person who should discover the perpetrator of these wrongs, Mere Tonsard had herself denounced by her granddaughter, Marie Tonsard, in order to secure this sum of money to her family, and she was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, though she probably did not serve her term. Mere Bonnebault committed the same offences as Mere Tonsard; they had a quarrel, each wishing to profit by the advantages of a denunciation, and had ended by referring the matter to the casting of lots, which resulted in favor of Mere Tonsard. The Peasantry.

  TONSARD (Francois), son of the preceding, born about 1773, was a country laborer, skilled more or less in everything; he possessed a hereditary talent, attested, moreover, by his name, for trimming trees, and various kinds of hedges. Lazy and crafty, Francois Tonsard secured from Sophie Laguerre, Montcornet’s predecessor at Aigues, an acre of land, on which he built, in 1795, the wine-shop known as the Grand-I-Vert. He was saved from conscription by Francois Gaubertin, at that time steward of Aigues, at the urgent request of Mademoiselle Cochet, their common mistress. Being then married to Philippine Fourchon, and Gaubertin having become his wife’s lover, he could poach with freedom, and so it was that the Tonsard family made regular levies on the Aigues forest with impunity: they supplied themselves entirely from the wood of the forest, kept two cows at the expense of the landlord, and were represented at the harvest by seven gleaners. Being incommoded by the active watch kept over them by Justine Michaud, Gaubertin’s successor, Tonsard killed him, one night in 1823. Afterwards in the dismemberment of Montcornet’s estate, Tonsard got his share of the spoils. The Peasantry.