Part 19

MOUCHE (LISE), elder daughter of Pere Mouche, and sister of the preceding. She had a son to her cousin Buteau, who, however, did not marry her for three years afterwards, when the death of her father made her heiress to some land. She was at first an amiable woman, but grew hardened under the influence of her husband, and ultimately her whole desire was to avoid the necessity of a division of her father’s estate between her sister and herself. Moved by these feelings, her love for Francoise became transformed into a hatred so intense that she did not hesitate to assist her husband in attempting to bring about the girl’s ruin. In the end, having assisted Buteau in a shameful assault on Francoise, she afterwards threw her upon a scythe which was lying on the ground near by, inflicting injuries which proved fatal. Pere Fouan, having been a witness of the assault, was subsequently murdered by Lise and her husband, to ensure his silence and their own safety. La Terre.

MOULIN, an assistant station-master at Havre along with Roubaud. La Bete Humaine.

MOULIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a little woman, timid and weak, who was seldom seen. She had a large family of young children. La Bete Humaine.

MOUNIER, a tenor singer at the Opera, who gave the cue to Madame Daigremont at a performance in her house. L’Argent.

MOUQUE, father of Mouquet and of Mouquette. He had charge of the horses in the Voreux pit, and also acted as caretaker at a ruined mine known as the Requillart, where the company had given him two rooms to live in. Almost every evening he received a visit from his old comrade Bonnemort. Germinal.

MOUQUET, son of the preceding, was an inseparable companion of Zacharie Maheu, along with whom he worked at the Voreux pit. During the strike he went out of curiosity to see the attack by the strikers on the soldiers who were guarding the mines, and was killed by a stray ball which struck him in the mouth.

MOUQUETTE, daughter of Mouque. She was a putter in the Voreux pit, and lived with her father at the ruined mine of Requillart, where he was caretaker. She was present at the attack by the strikers on the soldiers guarding the Voreux, and when the fatal volley was fired she was killed, in an instinctive attempt to save Catherine Maheu, before whom she placed herself. Germinal.

MOURET, a hatter of Plassans who married Ursule Macquart in 1810 and went to live at Marseilles. He was devoted to his wife, and a year after her death in 1839, he hanged himself in a cupboard where her dresses were still suspended. He left three children, Helene, Francois, and Silvere. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOURET (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Ursule Macquart. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOURET (DESIREE), born 1844, daughter of Francois Mouret, and sister of Octave and Serge. La Fortune des Rougon.

She was of feeble intellect, and when a girl of sixteen was still mentally like a child of eight. When her mother fell under the influence of Abbe Faujas, and began entirely to neglect her family, Francois Mouret removed Desiree to the home of her old nurse, in whose custody she remained. La Conquete de Plassans.

When her brother Serge was appointed priest of Les Artaud, she accompanied him there. By that time she had grown to be a tall, handsome girl, but her mind had never developed, and she was still like a young child. Her love of animals had become a passion, and at her brother’s home she was able to indulge it to the fullest extent, and to her complete happiness. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

She accompanied her brother to Saint Eutrope, where he became cure, and she continued innocent and healthy, like a happy young animal. Le Docteur Pascal.

MOURET (FRANCOIS), born in 1817, son of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his wife. He got a situation in the business of his uncle, Pierre Rougon, whose daughter Marthe he married in 1840. They had three children, Octave, Serge, and Desiree. On the retirement of his uncle, Mouret returned to Marseilles and established himself in business there. La Fortune de Rougon.

During fifteen years of close application on the part of Mouret and his wife, he made a fortune out of wines, oil, and almonds, and then retired to Plassans, where he lived on his means, making an occasional deal in wine or oil when a chance occurred. He was not on good terms with his wife’s relations, and placed himself politically in opposition to them by supporting the Legitimist candidate, the Marquis de Lagrifoul. In 1858, having two vacant rooms in his house, he was induced by the Abbe Bourrette to let them to Abbe Faujas, a priest who had been sent to Plassans by the Government to undermine the existing clerical influence there, which had been exercised in support of the Marquis de Lagrifoul. Mouret was a man of narrow and restricted intellect, and his peculiarities became more and more marked as the Abbe Faujas gradually came to dominate the household and induce Madame Mouret to neglect her husband and family for the service of the Church. By degrees Mouret came to be regarded as insane, and his wife having had several epileptic attacks, he was accused of having caused the injuries she had really inflicted on herself. His wrongful removal to the asylum at Les Tulettes followed, and confinement soon confirmed the insanity which before had only threatened. In 1864, his uncle, Antoine Macquart, in order to annoy the Rougons contrived his escape from the asylum, and he returned by night to his home at Plassans. Finding it in the occupancy of Abbe Faujas and his relatives, he was overcome by the fury of madness, and set fire to the house in several places. So thoroughly did he do his work that all the inmates, including himself, perished in the flames. La Conquete de Plassans.

MOURET (MADAME MARTHE), wife of the preceding. See Marthe Rougon.

MOURET (HELENE), born 1824, daughter of Mouret and Ursule Macquart, his wife. La Fortune des Rougon.

When seventeen years old she married M. Grandjean, the son of a sugar-refiner of Marseilles, whose family were bitterly opposed to the match on account of her poverty. The wedding was a secret one, and the young couple had difficulty making ends meet until an uncle died, leaving them ten thousand francs a year. “It was then that Grandjean, within whom an intense hatred of Marseilles was growing, had decided on coming to Paris, to live there for good.” The day after their arrival Grandjean was seized with illness, and after eight days he died, leaving his wife with one daughter, a young girl of ten. Helene, who was a woman of singular beauty, had no friends in Paris except Abbe Jouve and his half-brother M. Rambaud, but from them she received much kindness. Her daughter Jeanne was far from strong, having inherited much of the hereditary neurosis of her mother’s family, along with a consumptive tendency from that of her father. A sudden illness of the girl led to an acquaintance with Doctor Deberle, and this ripened into love between him and Helene, though considerations of duty kept them apart. Meantime, Helene had discovered the beginnings of an intrigue between Madame Deberle and M. Malignon, and in order to break it off was herself placed in such a compromising position towards Doctor Deberle that he became her lover. The discovery of the fact by Jeanne, whose jealous love of her mother amounted to a mania, led to the child’s illness and death, and to her mother’s bitter repentance. Two years later Helene married M. Rambaud, and went to live at Marseilles. Une Page d’Amour.

She lived for many years, very happy, and idolized by her husband, in a house which he owned near Marseilles, close to the seashore. She had no children by her second marriage. Le Docteur Pascal.

MOURET (OCTAVE), born 1840, son of Francois Mouret. La Fortune des Rougon.

A young man of high spirits and somewhat idle habits, he made little progress at college, and failed to pass the examinations for a degree. His father was much annoyed at this, and sent him off to Marseilles to enter a commercial business. The reports regarding him were, however, unsatisfactory, as it appeared that he showed no inclination to settle to hard work and was living a dissolute life.[*] La Conquete de Plassans.

After the death of his parents, Serge Mouret, who was about to take Holy Orders, renounced his share of his father’s fortune in favour of his brother Octave. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

He was appointed a member of the family council which nominally had charge of Pauline Quenu’s fortune. La Joie de Vivre.

After three years at Marseilles he came to Paris, where he secured an appointment as assistant at “The Ladies’ Paradise” through the influence of the Campardons, who were old friends of his mother. He formed the project of advancing his prospects by making love to Madame Hedouin, wife of his employer, but she gave him no encouragement. He resigned his situation, and went as salesman to Auguste Vabre, a neighbouring silk merchant. Vabre’s wife (nee Berthe Josserand) was not on good terms with her husband, and a liaison was formed between her and Octave Mouret, which subsisted for some time before it was discovered by Vabre, who received information from Rachael, his maid-servant. Mouret returned to his former employment at “The Ladies’ Paradise,” and M. Hedouin having died in the interval, he married the widow a few months afterwards. He had developed keen business ability, with large ideas, and under his management the shop became one of the most important in the district. Pot-Bouille.

In Mouret’s hands the business of “The Ladies’ Paradise” continued to grow, and repeated extensions of the building became necessary. While one of these was in progress, Madame Mouret, who was inspecting the work, fell into a hole, and as a result of her injuries died three days afterwards. Mouret remained a widower, and devoted himself to the extension of his business, though it was believed that a liaison with Madame Desforges was not the only entanglement of its kind. On the introduction of Madame Desforges he came to know Baron Hartmann, director of the Credit Immobilier, who became interested in him, and eventually found the money necessary to carry out the vast schemes of extension which he had long had in mind. By this time Denise Baudu had come to “The Ladies’ Paradise” as a saleswoman, and from the first Mouret had taken an interest in her. This was probably increased by the fact that she resisted all his advances, and refused all his offers. Ultimately he became so infatuated by her that he asked her to marry him, which she agreed to do. By this time the success of “The Ladies’ Paradise” had become triumphant, and the smaller traders of the district were being crushed out of existence, and driven one by one into bankruptcy. Au Bonheur des Dames.

He assisted at the burial of his cousin, Claude Lantier the artist. By this time he had become very rich, was decorated with the Legion of Honour, and was desirous of giving the impression of an enlightened taste for art. L’Oeuvre.

Octave Mouret, whose immense fortune continued to increase, had towards the end of 1872 a second child by his wife Denise Baudu, whom he adored, though he again began to lead a somewhat irregular life. Their little girl was puny, but the younger child, a boy, took after his mother, and grew magnificently. Le Docteur Pascal.

[*] It is interesting to note that by a curious oversight M. Zola in _Pot-Bouille_ refers to Octave Mouret as having passed the examination for his bachelor’s degree before leaving Plassans, and states that at Marseilles the lad showed a passion for business life, being able during his three years’ stay there to make a sum of five thousand francs (two hundred pounds), which he took with him to Paris.

MOURET (MADAME CAROLINE), first wife of the preceding. See Madame Caroline Hedouin.

MOURET (MADAME DENISE), second wife of Octave Mouret. See Denise Baudu.

MOURET (SERGE), born 1841, son of Francois Mouret. La Fortune des Rougon.

He was a young man of nervous temperament and of somewhat delicate health. Educated at Plassans, he took his degree at the college there, and it was intended that he should go to Paris to study for the bar. The state of his health caused his departure to be delayed, and meantime he, like his mother, fell under the influence of Abbe Faujas. Ultimately he decided to abandon the study of the law in order to become a priest, and against the wishes of his father he entered the Seminary at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.

After being ordained to the priesthood he was appointed cure of Les Artaud, a small village in Provence, to whose degenerate inhabitants he ministered with small success. From his parents he had inherited the family taint of the Rougon-Macquarts, which in him took the form of morbid religious enthusiasm bordering on hysteria. Brain fever resulted, and bodily recovery left the priest without a mental past. Dr. Pascal Rougon, his uncle, in the hope of saving his reason, removed him to Paradou, the neglected demesne of a ruined mansion, where he left him in the care of Albine, the keeper’s niece. Here Serge slowly recovered his health, though the memory of his past was gone, and his mental development was that of a boy. In that enchanted garden, lush with foliage and with the scent of flowers, the drama of life unfolded, and Serge, loving Albine, and oblivious of his vows unwittingly broke them. A chance meeting with Brother Archangais, and a glimpse of the world outside the Paradou, recalled to Serge the recollection of his priesthood, and, filled with horror, he tore himself from Albine and returned to his cure of souls. A fierce struggle between love and duty followed, but in the end the Church conquered, and Albine was left to die, while Serge threw himself even more feverishly than before into the observances of his faith. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

Sent later to Saint-Eutrope, at the bottom of a marshy gorge, he was cloistered there with his sister Desiree. He showed a fine humility, refusing all preferment from his bishop, waiting for death like a holy man, averse to remedies, although he was already in the early stage of phthisis. Le Docteur Pascal.

MOURET (SILVERE), born 1834, son of Mouret, the hatter, and Ursule Macquart, his wife. After the death of his father, Silvere went to live with his grandmother Adelaide Fouque. Though poorly educated, he was fond of reading, and his lonely life with this old half-imbecile woman increased his own tendency to visionary dreamings. “He was predisposed to Utopian ideas by certain hereditary influences; his grandmother’s nervous disorders became in him a chronic enthusiasm, striving after everything that was grandiose and impossible.” His Uncle Antoine Macquart, who hoped through him to annoy the Rougons, encouraged him in his Republican views, and after the _Coup d’Etat_ he joined the insurrection which then arose. Miette Chantegreil, a young girl to whom he was tenderly devoted, accompanied him, but was shot in the attack by regular troops. He was taken prisoner, and having been brought back to Plassans, was executed there. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOUSSEAU (ABBE), a priest at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.

MOURGUE, a peasant of Poujols, who, armed with a fork, had taken part in the insurrectionary rising against the _Coup d’Etat_. He was made prisoner, and was led to Plassans, tied by the arm to Silvere Mouret, who had also been arrested. He was shot at the same time as Silvere by Rengade, the gendarme. La Fortune des Rougon.

MOUTON, a cat which belonged to the Quenus, and was a favourite of little Pauline. Le Ventre de Paris.

MUCHE, the name by which Louise Mehudin’s son was known in the market. He was befriended by Florent, who taught him to read and write. Le Ventre de Paris.

MUFFAT (MAMAN), wife of General Muffat de Beuville, who was created Comte by Napoleon I. She was an insufferable old woman, who was always hand-in-glove with the priests, and had an authoritative manner, which bent every one to her will. Her daughter-in-law, Comtesse Sabine, was entirely under her dominion, and was forced by her to lead an almost cloistered existence. Nana.

MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (COMTE), son of the preceding and of General Muffat de Beuville. Brought up in the strictest manner by his mother, his life was one of cold and severe propriety, and being regarded with favour at the Court, he was appointed Chamberlain to the Empress. He married Sabine de Chouard, by whom he had one daughter, Estelle. For seventeen years of married life his career was a pattern of all the virtues, until a chance meeting with Nana led to an infatuation amounting to mania. Everything was sacrificed to her, and no degradation to his self-respect seemed too high a price to pay for her favour. Disgusted for a time by her liaison with Fontan, he left her, and turned for amusement to Rose Mignon, but the infatuation for Nana reasserted itself, and he recovered her good graces by inducing Bordenave to give her a part which she greatly desired in _La Petite Duchesse_, a play by Fauchery. He spent vast sums upon Nana, giving her a magnificent house in the Avenue de Villiers. Her influence over him became complete, and he even accepted Daguenet, her former lover, as his son-in-law. He overlooked too his wife’s numerous liaisons, as he required her signature to enable him to raise still more money for Nana. Muffat’s means were coming to an end, however, and the scandal reached such a height that he was forced to resign his position at the Tuileries. It was only when he learned that Nana was carrying on a liaison with his own father-in-law, the aged Marquis de Chouard, that he finally broke with her, and coming once more under the influence of Venot, he sought forgetfulness of the past in an exaggerated devotion to the service of the Church. Nana.

MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (COMTESSE), wife of the preceding. See Sabine de Chouard. Nana.

MUFFAT DE BEUVILLE (ESTELLE), daughter of the preceding. At sixteen she was thin and insignificant, seldom speaking, but after her marriage to Daguenet, she exhibited a will of iron, and completely dominated her husband. Nana.

MULLER (BLANCHE), a favourite actress at the Theatre des Varietes. La Curee.

MUSSY (M. DE) was an admirer of Renee Saccard, and aspired to be her lover. He received an appointment on the staff of the London embassy. La Curee.

N

NANA. See Anna Coupeau.

NANA, name of a filly in the racing stable of Vandeuvres. She had been beaten in several races, and when run for the Grand Prix de Paris was looked on as an outsider. The success of the filly by fraudulent means led to the disqualification of the owner. Nana.

NAPOLEON III, Emperor of the French. Referred to in _Son Excellence Eugene Rougon_ and in _La Debacle_.

NATHANSOHN, a stockbroker. He came from Besancon, where his father was a watchmaker. He was very fortunate in his speculations, and soon became a man of consequence. His Jewish caution prevented him from becoming involved with Saccard in the affairs of the Universal Bank, and when that institution collapsed he was in a position to snatch a fortune from its ruin. L’Argent.

NAUD, a shoemaker in Rue d’Antin who felt severely the competition of Octave Mouret’s great shop. Au Bonheur des Dames.

NAUDET, a cousin of the Quenus. He was a member of Pauline’s family council, and consented to her emancipation. La Joie de Vivre.

NAUDET, a picture-dealer who for some years had been revolutionizing the trade. He put aside the old cautious methods, the watching for pictures by beginners, bought for ten francs and sold for fifteen. To judge by his appearance he might have been a nobleman, and his habits were in keeping; he was, in fact, a pure speculator in pictures, caring nothing for art. But he unfailingly scented success; he guessed what artists ought to be taken up, not the ones likely to develop the genius of a great painter, but the one whose deceptive talent, set off by a pretended display of audacity, would command a premium in the market. He speculated, in fact, on the ignorance and vanity of amateurs. It was he who invented Fagerolles as a fashion, and made large sums out of his works. His success in forcing up the prices of pictures turned his head to some extent, and he even talked of crushing out all the other dealers. The exaggerated rise in the price of pictures came, as was inevitable, to an end, and in the fall which followed Naudet was practically ruined. L’Oeuvre.

NEGREL (MADAME), sister of M. Hennebeau, the manager of the Montsou mines. She was married to a captain, and after she became a widow lived at Avignon on a small income, contenting herself with little in order that she might properly educate her son Paul. Germinal.

NEGREL (PAUL), son of the preceding. He was an engineer at the Voreux pit, an appointment which he received from his uncle, M. Hennebeau, with whom he lived, being treated as one of the family. Madame Hennebeau, notwithstanding a liaison which subsisted between her and Negrel, planned for him a marriage with Cecile Gregoire, an arrangement which was only prevented by the murder of the girl by old Bonnemort. Negrel posed as taking no interest in the affairs of practical life, but in the terrible disaster at the Voreux pit he threw himself into the work of rescue with an ardour beyond praise. Germinal.

NOEMI, an actress at the Vaudeville. Madame Deberle admired the realistic manner in which she died in a piece she played. Une Page d’Amour.

NORINE, a vendor of salted provisions, who went around the neighbourhood of Cloyes. La Terre.

NORMANDE (LA), the sobriquet of Louise Mehudin. Le Ventre de Paris.

NOUGAREDE, an old senator who was on the point of asking the hand of Clorinde Balbi after having seen her at a ball in the character of Diana the huntress. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

O

OCTAVE, the favourite lover of Blanche de Sivry. Nana.

ORVIEDO (PRINCE D’), came to Paris from Spain with an immense fortune made on the Stock Exchange. There were strange stories told regarding the sources of his wealth; stories not more creditable than those told of the armed bandits of former days, for his robberies, though less open, were more dangerous. For twenty years he took his share of booty in all the great financial swindles. He ultimately died of apoplexy. L’Argent.