MACQUART, a poacher and smuggler who lived at Plassans in a hovel adjoining the Fouque property. His reputation was of the worst, and “although no crimes had actually been brought home to him, the first suspicions always fell upon him whenever a theft or murder had been perpetrated in the country.” He frequently disappeared for long periods, but during his short sojourns in the town he drank to great excess. He became the lover of Adelaide Fouque in 1789, less than a year after the death of her husband, and had two children by her, Antoine and Ursule Macquart. A man of violent and unrestrained passions, and of incorrigibly lazy habits, he retained complete influence over Adelaide, and they lived in the same relationship for over twenty years. About 1810, Macquart was killed on the frontier by a custom-house officer while he was endeavouring to smuggle a cargo of Geneva watches into France. Adelaide was sole legatee, the estate consisting of the hovel at Plassans and the carbine of the deceased, which a smuggler loyally brought back to her. La Fortune des Rougon.

MACQUART (ANTOINE), born 1789, son of Macquart the smuggler and Adelaide Fouque; was drawn in the conscription in 1809. On his return to Plassans, he found that his half-brother Pierre had sold the family property and had appropriated the proceeds. Being a confirmed drunkard, he was averse from work of any kind, but in order to support himself he learned the trade of basket-making. In 1826 he married Josephine Gavaudan, a market-woman, whom he afterwards allowed to support him. They had three children, Lisa, Gervaise, and Jean. His wife died in 1850, and soon after his daughter Gervaise and his son Jean, who had assisted to keep him in idleness, ran off. He had a bitter ill-will towards his brother Pierre Rougon, and, chiefly with a view to his annoyance, expressed strong Republican principles. For the same reason he took every opportunity of teaching these principles to his young nephew Silvere Mouret. After the Coup d’Etat he took an active share in the agitation which resulted in a Republican rising. When the Insurgents left Plassans, he remained with a few men to overawe the inhabitants. He and his whole band were, however, taken prisoners by the citizens under the leadership of Pierre Rougon. He was assisted to escape by Madame Felicite Rougon, who promised him a sum of money on condition that he would bring about an attack on the Town Hall by the Republicans. He did so the same night, and an ambush having been prepared by the Rougons, a number of lives were sacrificed. He thereafter left the country. La Fortune des Rougon.

Some time afterwards he returned to France, and bought a small house at Les Tulettes, about three leagues from Plassans. He fitted up his establishment by degrees, and even became possessed of a horse and trap. Where the money came from no one knew, but it was believed that his brother Pierre Rougon was keeping him. Notwithstanding this, he had great ill-will towards the Rougons, and lost no opportunity of annoying them. Partly with this object, and partly at the instigation of Abbe Fenil, who wished to be revenged on Abbe Faujas, he contrived the escape of Francois Mouret from the asylum at Les Tulettes; as result, Mouret returned to Plassans, and setting fire to his house, caused the death of Abbe Faujas, himself perishing in the flames. La Conquete de Plassans.

Macquart lived to an old age at Les Tulettes, though he increasingly gave way to drunkenness. His relations with the Rougons were friendly, but he was hated by Felicite on account of his knowledge of the origin of the family fortune. At eighty-four years of age he was still healthy, but his flesh was so saturated with alcohol that it seemed to be preserved by it. One day, as he was sitting helpless with drink and smoking his pipe, he set fire to his clothes, and his body, soaked as it was with ardent spirits, was burned to the last bone. Felicite Rougon chanced to enter the house just as the conflagration began, but she did nothing to stop it, and went silently away. The combustion was so complete that there was nothing left to bury, and the family had to content itself with having masses said for the repose of the dead. When Macquart’s will was opened, it was found that he had left all his money for the erection of a magnificent tomb for himself, with weeping angels at the head and foot. Le Docteur Pascal.

MACQUART (MADAME ANTOINE), wife of the preceding. See Josephine Gavaudan.

MACQUART (GERVAISE), born 1828, was a daughter of Antoine Macquart, and was slightly lame from birth. She was apprenticed to a laundress, but at an early age had two children to a journeyman tanner named Lantier.[*]

Soon after the death of her mother, in 1850, she ran off to Paris with Lantier and her children, Claude, a boy of eight, and Etienne, aged four. La Fortune des Rougon.

The party had only been in the city a few weeks when Lantier ran off with a girl named Adele, leaving Gervaise and the children unprovided for. She got work in the laundry of Madame Fauconnier, and not long after received an offer of marriage from Coupeau, a respectable zinc-worker, which after some hesitation she accepted. The marriage took place, and for a considerable time things prospered, one child, a daughter named Nana being born. An accident to Coupeau, who fell from a roof and was seriously injured, led to a gradual change; formerly temperate and industrious, he became unwilling to work, and began to spend his time in public-houses. Gervaise had meantime taken a shop with money borrowed from the Goujets, and had started a laundry in it. She was at first successful, but in time grew lazy and fond of good living, while Coupeau continued idle and became increasingly intemperate. Business began to go, and Gervaise became more careless, even taking more drink occasionally than she had been wont to do. About this time Lantier, her former lover, appeared again, and made friends with Coupeau, who agreed to take him into the house as a lodger. After that, the descent of Gervaise was rapid. Lantier never paid anything for his support, Coupeau drank more heavily than ever, and Gervaise, who was gradually drifting into intemperance, resumed her old connection with her lover. All the time work was being neglected, and debts were accumulating with alarming rapidity. Eventually Madame Virginie Poisson took over the shop, and with it Lantier, who transferred his affections along with the lease, and the Coupeaus removed into a small house high up in the same building. Coupeau suffered from repeated attacks of delirium tremens, and eventually died in an asylum. Gervaise continued to sink still lower, until no work was too menial or too repulsive for her to undertake for the price of drink, and one day in the winter of 1869 she was found dead in a garret of that great tenement house where she had passed so much of her life. L’Assommoir.

Her sister, Lisa Quenu, the pork-butcher, did not come to her assistance. Lisa did not like people who were unfortunate, and she was ashamed that Gervaise should have married a workman. Le Ventre de Paris.

Her son Etienne sent her small sums of money from time to time while he was in a situation at Lille. Germinal.

MACQUART (JEAN), born 1811, son of Antoine Macquart, was apprenticed to a carpenter. A quiet, industrious lad, Jean’s father took advantage of his simple nature and made him give up his whole earnings to assist in keeping him in idleness. Like his sister Gervaise, he ran off soon after the death of his mother. La Fortune des Rougon.

He entered the army, and, after seven years of soldiering was discharged in 1859. When he had left the ranks he turned up at Bazoches-le-Doyen with a comrade, a joiner like himself; and he resumed his occupation with the latter’s father, a master carpenter in the village. But his heart was no longer in his work, and having been sent to La Borderie to make some repairs, he stayed on to assist at the harvest, and eventually became a regular farm servant. He was not popular, however, with the peasants, who resented his having had a trade before he came back to the soil. He became acquainted at Rognes with Mouche and his daughters, Lise and Francoise, and eventually married the latter, in spite of the determined opposition of her brother-in-law, Buteau. Notwithstanding his marriage, he remained a stranger, and, after the death of his wife, went away, leaving everything in the hands of her relatives. The war with Germany had just broken out, and Jean, disgusted with his life, again enlisted in the service of his country. La Terre.

He was made corporal in the 106th Regiment of the line, commanded by Colonel Vineuil. An excellent soldier, and invaluable by reason of his former experience, his want of education prevented him being promoted to higher rank. Maurice Levasseur was in his company, and between the two men there was at first deep antagonism, caused by difference of class and education, but little by little Jean was able to gain over the other, till the two men became close friends. In the fierce fighting at Sedan, each in turn saved the other’s life. After the battle, they were made prisoners, but escaped, Jean receiving a severe wound during their flight. They took refuge at Remilly in the house of Fouchard, and Jean was nursed by Henriette Weiss, Levasseur’s sister. Under her care, the wounded man came to dream of the possibility of a life of happiness with this woman, so tender, so sweet, and so active, whose fate had been so sad. But the chances of war were too hard; Maxime returned to Paris, and after the conclusion of the war took part in the Communist rising, which Jean assisted to quell. By an extraordinary chance, the two men, loving one another as brothers, came to be fighting on opposite sides, and it was the hand of Jean that was fated to inflict the fatal wound upon his friend. He had killed the brother of the woman he loved, and henceforth there could be nothing between them, so he passed from her life, returning to assist in that cultivation of the soil which was needed to rejuvenate his country. La Debacle.

He settled at Valqueyras, near Plassans, where he married Melanie Vial, the only daughter of a peasant farmer in easy circumstances, whose land he cultivated. Calm and sensible, always at his plough, his wife simple and strong, he raised a large and healthy family to assist in replenishing the soil exhausted by the horrors of war. Le Docteur Pascal.

MACQUART (MADAME JEAN), first wife of the preceding. See Francoise Mouche. La Terre.

MACQUART (MADAME JEAN), second wife of Jean Macquart. See Melanie Vial. Le Docteur Pascal.

MACQUART (LISA), born 1827, daughter of Antoine Macquart. When a child of seven she was taken as maid-servant by the wife of the postmaster at Plassans, whom she accompanied to Paris on her removal there in 1839. La Fortune des Rougon.

The old lady became very much attached to the girl, and when she died left her all her savings, amounting to ten thousand francs. Gradelle, a pork-butcher, who had become acquainted with Lisa by seeing her in the shop with her mistress, offered her a situation. She accepted, and soon the whole place seemed to belong to her; she enslaved Gradelle, his nephew Quenu, and even the smallest kitchen-boy. She became a beautiful woman, with a love of ease and the determination to secure it by steady application to duty. After the sudden death of Gradelle, she married Quenu, who had succeeded to the business, and they had one daughter, Pauline. Soon their affairs became so prosperous that Lisa induced her husband to remove to a larger shop. On Florent’s return from exile, she received him kindly, and at once proposed to hand over to him his share of the money and property left by Gradelle, his uncle, which, however, he refused to accept. After a time she became tired of always seeing her brother-in-law about the house doing nothing, and was the means of making him accept the situation as Inspector at the Fish Market. When she heard of the Revolutionary meetings in Lebigre’s wine-shop and of the leading part taken by Florent, she became greatly alarmed, more especially as Quenu had begun to accompany his brother occasionally. She succeeded in frightening her husband into giving up the meetings, and made it clear to Florent that he was no longer welcome in her house. Alarmed by the gossip of Mlle. Saget and others as to the progress of the conspiracy, she determined, after consultation with Abbe Roustan, to secure the safety of her husband and herself by informing the police of the plot. On going to the prefect, however, she learned that he had all along known of Florent’s presence in Paris, and of the meetings, and was only waiting a favourable opportunity of arresting the plotters. She concealed the impending arrest from her husband and from Florent. Notwithstanding her action in this matter, Lisa was not an ill-natured or callous woman. She was only determined that nothing should come between her and a life of ease. In her there was much of her father’s nature, though she did not know it. She was merely a steady, sensible Macquart with a logical desire for comfort, and to procuring this she gave all her time and thought. Le Ventre de Paris.

She died in 1863 from decomposition of the blood. La Joie de Vivre.

MACQUART (URSULE), born 1791, daughter of Macquart and Adelaide Fouque; married in 1810 a hatter named Mouret and went to live at Marseilles. She died of consumption in 1840, leaving three children. La Fortune des Rougon.

MACQUERON, a grocer and tavern-keeper at Rognes. He was a municipal councillor, and deputy Mayor. He made some money by speculating in wines, and had since become incorrigibly lazy, spending his time in fishing and shooting. Had his wife listened to him, they would have shut up the shop, but she was so fiercely set on money-making that she would not do so. There was a rivalry of long standing between the Macquerons and the Lengaignes, which frequently broke out in open quarrels. Having succeeded in undermining Hourdequin’s position as Mayor, Macqueron succeeded him, but his triumph was of short duration, for some official scandal having arisen, he was obliged to resign. La Terre.

MACQUERON (MADAME COELINA), wife of the preceding, had a true passion for money-making. She was continually quarrelling with her neighbour, Madame Lengaigne. La Terre.

MACQUERON (BERTHE), daughter of the preceding, was educated at a boarding-school at Cloyes, and had learned to play the piano. She tolerated the attentions of Lequeu, the schoolmaster, whom she heartily disliked, as she felt flattered by the notice of the only man of education whom she knew. She had a fancy for the son of a neighbouring wheelwright, whom her parents would not allow her to see, and she ultimately compromised herself so seriously with him that they had to consent to her marriage. La Terre.

MADELEINE, a little girl of ten years of age who was an inmate of the institute founded by Princess d’Orviedo. Her mother was unable to look after her properly, and placed her there in the hope that she would be well cared for. L’Argent.

MADELINE (ABBE), was sent to Rognes, when that commune decided to have a cure to itself. He came from a mountainous district, and disheartened by the flatness of the vast plain of La Beauce, and especially by the religious indifference of his parishioners, he soon fell into ill-health, on one occasion fainting while he was saying Mass. At the end of two years and a half he left Rognes in a dying state, and returned to his native mountains. La Terre.

MADINIER (M.) carried on business as a cardboard manufacturer in part of the tenement occupied by the Coupeaus and the Lorilleux. The business was not prosperous, as he spent all his earnings on drink. He was one of Coupeau’s witnesses on the occasion of his marriage to Gervaise Macquart, and was present at the wedding dinner. L’Assommoir.

MAFFRE (M.), a magistrate of Plassans and honorary Canon of Saint-Saturnin’s church. Politically he was a Legitimist, and he was a friend of M. Rastoil, at whose house the party was in the habit of meeting. La Conquete de Plassans.

MAFFRE (ALPHONSE), second son of the magistrate at Plassans, aged eighteen years. Restrained too much by their father, the two brothers Maffre were especially intimate with Guillaume Porquier, who frequently led them into mischief. La Conquete de Plassans.

MAFFRE (AMBROISE), elder son of the magistrate at Plassans, aged twenty. La Conquete de Plassans.

MAGINOT, inspector of woods at Mezieres. He married Gilberte de Vineuil, but died a few years afterwards. La Debacle.

MAGINOT (MADAME), see Gilberte de Vineuil.

MAHEU (ALZIRE), the fourth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged nine years. She was deformed and delicate, but of precocious intelligence, and was able to assist her mother in many ways, sacrificing herself always for others. She died of cold and hunger during the strike at Montsou. Germinal.

MAHEU (CATHERINE), second child of Toussaint Maheu, worked as a putter in the Voreux pit along with the other members of her family. She liked Etienne Lantier, but became the mistress of Chaval, who treated her so abominably that she eventually returned home. As a result of the terrible catastrophe brought about by Souvarine, she was imprisoned at the bottom of the pit along with Chaval and Etienne. A struggle between the two men ensued, and Chaval was killed. Days elapsed before rescue arrived, but before then Catherine had died in the arms of Etienne, whom she had really loved all along. Germinal.

MAHEU (ESTELLE), seventh child of Toussaint Maheu, aged three months. Her constant crying disturbed the household. Germinal.

MAHEU (GUILLAUME), great-grandfather of Toussaint Maheu. When a boy of fifteen, he found rich coal at Requillart, the Montsou Company’s first pit, and the seam he discovered was named after him. He died of old age at sixty. Germinal.

MAHEU (HENRI), sixth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged four years. Germinal.

MAHEU (JEANLIN), third child of Toussaint Maheu, aged eleven years. He was employed at the Voreux pit, and earned twenty sous a day. His nature was vicious, and he forced his companions Bebert Levaque and Lydie Pierron to commit petty thefts, with the proceeds of which he concealed himself in a disused mine. His criminal tendencies increased until he was unable to resist the inclination to kill one of the soldiers who guarded the Voreux pit during the strike. He accordingly waited till night, and leaping on the shoulders of Jules, a little soldier from Brittany, thrust a knife into his throat and killed him. Germinal.

MAHEU (LENORE), fifth child of Toussaint Maheu, aged six years. She was always fighting with her brother Henri, who was very like her in appearance, both having large heads with light yellow hair. Germinal.

MAHEU (NICOLAS), grandfather of Toussaint Maheu. He was killed by a landslip in the pit, when he was barely forty years old. Germinal.

MAHEU (TOUSSAINT), son of old Bonnemort, and husband of La Maheude. He was considered one of the best workmen in the Voreux pit, did not drink, and was liked and respected by all his companions. He had been for a considerable time under the influence of the doctrines taught by Etienne Lantier when he was selected by his comrades to place their views before the officials of the company. In the great strike which followed he took part, and in the attack on the troops sent to guard the pit he was driven on by his wife to join the aggressors. He fell, shot through the heart, after the fatal volley fired by the soldiers. Germinal.

MAHEU (VINCENT). See Bonnemort.

MAHEU (ZACHARIE), eldest child of Toussaint Maheu. He worked in the Voreux pit along with his father, but was lazy and seized any opportunity of pleasure. He was married to Philomene Levaque, by whom he already had two children. The strike interested him very little, and he spent most of his time playing crosse with Mouquet. But when his sister Catherine was entombed in the pit he was one of the first to come forward to the rescue, and he worked day and night with frantic energy. The ninth day, in his haste, he was imprudent enough to open his lamp, and a sudden explosion of gas reduced him to a calcined, unrecognizable mass. Germinal.

MAHEUDE (LA), wife of Toussaint Maheu. She was at first against the miners’ strike, but moved by the hardship of her lot and the poverty in which she was forced to bring up her family, she ultimately urged her husband to take an active part. Even after she had seen him killed by the bullets of the soldiers, she was furious with those who talked of submitting. But further tragedies broke her spirit; her son Zacharie was killed in an attempt to rescue his sister, entombed at the bottom of the Voreux pit. Out of charity the company allowed the afflicted woman to go underground again, though she was past the usual age, and found employment for her in the manipulation of a small ventilator. Germinal.

MAHOUDEAU, a sculptor. The son of a stonemason at Plassans, he attained great success at the local art competitions, and came to Paris as the laureat of his town, with an allowance of eight hundred francs per annum for four years. In the capital, however, he found his level, failing in his competitions at the School of Arts, and merely spending his allowance to no purpose; so that in order to live he was obliged at the end of his term to enter the employment of a manufacturer of church statues. Later, however, he met with Claude Lantier and other companions from Plassans, and under their influence his ambitions revived. He installed himself in a studio in Rue du Cherche-Midi, and there set about the production of a colossal work entitled La Vendangeuse (the Vintage Girl), for which Madame Mathilde Jabouille served as model. For a time Chaine, who also came from Plassans, lived with Mahoudeau, but they quarrelled over Mathilde, and ultimately separated. After this Mahoudeau lived alone, in considerable poverty, until he got employment from a manufacturer of artistic bronzes. He then began to produce work which suited the popular taste, and his productions began to be seen on middle-class chimney-pieces. L’Oeuvre.

MAIGRAT, the principal shop-keeper in Montsou. He was originally an overseer at the Voreux pit, but, assisted by the company, started a business which grew to such proportions that he ultimately crushed out most of the other retail traders. He was a greedy, rapacious man, and during the strike made the women furious by refusing credit. For other reasons also they hated him, and his shop was one of the first places attacked by the maddened strikers. In terror Maigrat took refuge on the roof, but his foot slipped, and he was dashed to the ground, being killed on the spot. Even this did not satisfy his assailants, for the frenzied women, led by La Brule, rushed forward and mutilated the still quivering body. Germinal.

MAIGRAT (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a pitiful creature who passed all her days over a ledger without even daring to lift her head. On the day of the attack by the strikers she was a witness of the death of her husband and of the terrible events which followed. Up at the window she stood motionless; but beneath the last gleams of the setting sun the confused faults of the window-panes deformed her white face, which looked as though it were laughing. Germinal.

MALGRAS (LE PERE), a picture-dealer with whom Claude Lantier had frequent dealings. He was a thick-set old man, with close-cropped white hair, and wore a dirty old coat that made him look like an untidy cabman. Beneath this disguise was concealed a keen knowledge of art, combined with a ferocious skill in bargaining. As a superb liar, moreover, he was without an equal. He was satisfied with a small profit, but never purchased in the morning without knowing where to dispose of his purchase at night. He viewed with disdain the modern methods of picture-dealing introduced by Naudet, and like a cautious man he retired with a modest fortune to a little house at Bois-Colombes. L’Oeuvre.

MALIGNON (M.), a young stockbroker who was supposed to have a large fortune and accordingly was received everywhere in society. He posed as a critic of art, literature, and the drama, and pretended to be bored with everything. Madame Deberle, being carried away by his attentions, was foolish enough to promise to meet him at a flat which he had taken, but Madame Helene Grandjean having warned her that Dr. Deberle had got wind of the affair, the intended liaison came to nothing. Une Page d’Amour.

MALIVERNE (ROSE). See Madame Rose Fouan.

MALIVOIRE, a coach-hirer at Arromanches. He was the owner of the omnibus which ran between Arromanches and Bayeux. La Joie de Vivre.

MALOIR (MADAME), a respectable-looking elderly woman, was Nana’s friend, chaperone, and companion, writing for her such letters as she required. She was always ready to receive the secrets of others, but never told anything about herself. It was said that she lived upon a mysterious pension, but she never appeared to carry any money with her. She had a mania for doing up all her hats afresh. Nana.

MAMAN NINI, the pet name given by Angelique to Francois Hamelin. Le Reve.

MANGUELIN (MADAME), a young, retiring woman, who was to some extent dependent on the bounty of Madame Deberle. Une Page d’Amour.

MANOURY, a salesman at the Central Markets in Paris. He was the employer of Logre and Clemence. Le Ventre de Paris.

MARCEL, a vegetable-dealer at the Paris Halles Centrales. Le Ventre de Paris.

MARDIENNE FRERES, manufacturers of church ornaments in Rue Saint-Sulpice. Mademoiselle Menu worked in their establishment. Pot-Bouille.

MARECHAL, a bookmaker who had formerly been coachman to Comte de Vandeuvres. As the result of a racing swindle by Vandeuvres, Marechal lost a large sum over a filly named Nana, and, his suspicions having been aroused, he caused such a scandal that the Comte was disqualified by the racing committee. Nana.

MARESCOT (M.), a cutler in the Rue de la Paix, who had once turned a grindstone in the streets and was now said to be worth several millions. He was a man of fifty-five, large, bony, with the huge hands of an old workman; one of his delights was to carry off the knives and scissors of his tenants, which he sharpened himself for his own amusement. He owned the large tenement-house on the Rue Goutte d’Or, in which resided the Coupeaus, Lorilleux, and others, and though a fair landlord, would brook no delay in payment of rent, turning out defaulters without mercy. L’Assommoir.

MAREUIL (M. DE), a retired sugar-refiner of Havre whose real name was Bonnet. After amassing a large fortune, he married a young girl of good birth, whose name he assumed. He was ambitious and hoped to become a member of the Corps Legislatif through the influence of his friend Saccard, whose brother Eugene Rougon was a Minister of State. To secure this he agreed to a marriage between his daughter and Maxime Saccard. He was a man of solemn and imposing appearance, but was absolutely without brains. La Curee.

MAREUIL (MADAME HELENE DE), wife of the preceding. She came of a noble and wealthy family, but lived such a fast life that she died young, worn out by pleasure. La Curee.

MAREUIL (LOUISE DE), daughter of a retired sugar-refiner of Havre. Slightly deformed and plain-looking, but with fascinating manners, she married Maxime Saccard, to whom she brought a large dowry. Six months afterwards she died of consumption in Italy. La Curee.

MAREUIL (COMTESSE), employed Clara Prunaire in her house to attend to the mending of linen. Au Bonheur des Dames.

MARGAILLAN, a great building contractor, many times a millionaire, who made his fortune out of the great public works of Paris, running up whole boulevards on his own account. He was a man of remarkable activity, with a great gift of administration, and an instinctive knowledge of the streets to construct and the buildings to buy. Moved by the success of Dubuche at the School of Art, and by the recommendations of his masters there, Margaillan took the young architect into partnership, and agreed to his marriage with his daughter Regine. Unfortunately, Dubuche showed deplorable incapacity in carrying into practice the theories which he had learned at the School of Art, and Margaillan, after losing considerable sums, returned to his original methods of construction, thrusting his son-in-law to one side. He possessed a magnificent estate named La Richaudiere, near Bennecourt. L’Oeuvre.

MARGAILLAN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She was a girl of the middle-classes, whose family history was a bad one, and after suffering for years from anemia, she ultimately died of phthisis. L’Oeuvre.

MARGAILLAN (REGINE), daughter of the preceding, and wife of Louis Dubuche. She was very delicate, and suffered from a phthisical tendency derived from her mother, which in turn she handed to her two children, Gaston and Alice. It was frequently necessary for her to leave home for the benefit of her health, and during her absences the children were left at La Richaudiere in charge of their father. L’Oeuvre.

MARIA, an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. Nana.

MARJOLIN, a boy who was found in a heap of cabbages at the Paris market. It was never known who his parents were, and he became the adopted child of the place, always finding a lodging with one or other of the market-women. Later on he lived with Madame Chantemesse, who had adopted Cadine, another foundling, and the two children grew up together, becoming inseparable. Marjolin was always of slow intellect, and as the result of an injury to his head he became practically an idiot. Gavard gave him employment in the poultry market. Le Ventre de Paris.

MARSOULLIER, proprietor of the Hotel Boncoeur, where Gervaise Macquart and Lantier put up when they came to Paris. L’Assommoir.

MARTIN, coachman to Dr. Cazenove. He was an old man who formerly served in the navy, and had his leg amputated by Cazenove. La Joie de Vivre.

MARTINE, the old servant of Dr. Pascal, with whom she had been for thirty years. She brought up Clotilde Rougon, whose affection for the doctor excited her jealousy later on. Martine, who was devoted to her master, desired to force him to be reconciled with the Church, but Clotilde, at first her accomplice, escaped from religious influences and gave herself entirely to Pascal, leaving Martine with no other resource but prayer. She was extremely avaricious, but when the doctor was ruined, her devotion was such that she used some of her own money to purchase the necessaries of life for him. Distracted at the sudden death of her master, and in the hope of saving him from damnation, she assisted Madame Felicite Rougon to destroy his great work on heredity, which in her narrow-minded bigotry she believed was intended to subvert true religion. The work of destruction completed, she went away to live by herself at Sainte-Marthe, as she refused to serve any other master than the one she had been with so many years. Le Docteur Pascal.

MARTINEAU (M.), a notary of Coulonges, and brother of Madame Correur. He ignored his sister for many years, but his principles would not allow him to disinherit her, and he made a will under which his property would be divided between her and his wife. Soon thereafter, Madame Correur, knowing him to be in bad health, denounced him as a dangerous Republican to Rougon, then Minister of the Interior, and his arrest followed. The shock, together with the unnecessary harshnesses displayed by Gilquin, the commissary of police, caused Martineau’s death, and the subsequent popular outcry had much to do with Rougon’s second resignation of office. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

MARTINEAU (MADAME), wife of the preceding. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

MARSY (COMTE DE), Minister of the Interior before Eugene Rougon, who succeeded him on his appointment as President of the Corps Legislatif. Marsy, who was said to be the son of a queen, was brilliant, immoral, and unscrupulous. He was the chief political opponent of Eugene Rougon and had great influence at the Court of Napoleon III. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

MARTY (M.), a master at the Lycee Bonaparte, who was being ruined by the extravagance of his wife, and was obliged to double his salary by giving private lessons, in order to meet the constantly growing household expenses. Au Bonheur des Dames.

MARTY (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was a woman of about thirty-five years of age, whose face, never beautiful, was now much marked by small-pox. She had a perfect mania for spending money on clothes, and never visited “The Ladies’ Paradise” without buying innumerable articles for which she had no need. As a result of her extravagance, her husband was nearly ruined, and was forced to increase his earnings by giving private lessons. Au Bonheur des Dames.

MARTY (VALENTINE), daughter of the preceding, a young girl of fourteen years of age, who was used by her mother as an excuse for some of her extravagance, as she dressed her like herself, with all the fashionable novelties of which she submitted to the irresistible seduction. Au Bonheur des Dames.

MASCART (PERE), a blind paralytic to whom Angelique showed much kindness. Le Reve.

MASSACRE, one of the dogs of old Soulas, the shepherd. It shared the hatred of its master of La Cognette. La Terre.

MASSIAS, a frequenter of the Paris Bourse, where he gained a living by bringing business to stockbrokers, from whom he received a commission on each transaction. He was employed by Saccard after the foundation of the Universal Bank, and by speculating in the shares he made a considerable fortune. With the downfall of the institution, he lost everything, and found himself in debt for a large sum. By borrowing from friends, and pledging his entire life, he paid his debts and started afresh. L’Argent.

MASSICOT, a tradesman of Plassans who was enrolled and armed by Pierre Rougon to deliver the Town Hall from the Republicans who had occupied it. He was so excited that when he got into the building he fired in the air without knowing he had done so. La Fortune des Rougon.

MASSON (COLONEL), commander of the troops which crushed the Republican rising in 1851. La Fortune des Rougon.

MATHIAS, an old hunchback who worked on the farm of La Borderie. La Terre.

MATHIEU, a large dog which belonged to the Chanteaus at Bonneville and was a great favourite of the family. The death of this animal greatly accelerated the unreasoning fear of inevitable mortality with which the mind of Lazare Chanteau was becoming obsessed. La Joie de Vivre.

MATHILDE, an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. Nana.

MATIGNON, a draper in Paris, whose shop was near that of Baudu. Au Bonheur des Dames.

MAUDIT (ABBE), Vicar of Saint-Roch, Paris, he counted among his parishioners the Josserands and the Duveyriers. Though well aware of the immorality that went on in his parish, he recognized the impossibility of stopping it, and did what he could to hide it under the cloak of religion. When the scandal arose about Madame Auguste Vabre, he was approached by her relations, and at their request acted as intermediary between the husband and wife. Pot-Bouille.

MAUGENDRE (M.), father of Madame Jordan; was a retired awning manufacturer who had made a considerable fortune from his business. He disapproved of his daughter’s marriage, and refused to give her any dowry, on the pretext that she would have his fortune intact when he was dead and gone. He was a careful man, averse from speculation, but having on one occasion made a small venture, he gradually became imbued with the craze. The phenomenal success of the Universal Bank induced him to purchase its shares more and more wildly, until, when the crash came, he was so deeply committed as to be ruined. Jordan, who by this time had met with some success in literature, came to his assistance. L’Argent.

MAUGENDRE (MADAME), wife of the preceding, was at first bitterly opposed to the small speculations entered into by her husband. She soon got infected with the craze, and became even more reckless than he, urging him to involve himself more and more deeply in the fortunes of the Universal Bank. L’Argent.

MAUGENDRE (MARCELLE). See Madame Marcelle Jordan.

MAURIAC (BARON DE), starter at the racecourse of Longchamp. Nana.

MAURIN, a hatter of Plassans, who was selected by the Republicans of that town as their candidate. At the election he only received about fifteen hundred votes against the rival candidate. M. Delangre. La Conquete de Plassans.

MAURIN, a notary at Tulettes, who was also Mayor of the Commune. It was he who drew up the certificate of death of Antoine Macquart from spontaneous combustion.

MAZAUD, a broker on the Paris Bourse, who succeeded on the death of his uncle to one of the largest businesses in the city. He was young and pleasant-looking, with such remarkable activity and intuition that he soon came into the first rank. He was also assisted by the fact that he did business with all the great bankers, and was reputed to have a second cousin employed at the Havas News Agency. After the foundation of the Universal Bank, he became the official broker of that institution, and the great gamble in its shares resolved itself into a duel between him and Jacoby, the one buying for Saccard and the other selling for Gundermann. Mazaud did not speculate on his own account, but the failure of the bank led to so many of his clients being unable to meet their differences that he was ruined. After putting his affairs in order so far as possible, he committed suicide. L’Argent.

MAZAUD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. She married for love, and brought to her husband a considerable fortune. She had two children, a girl and a boy. The suicide of her husband completely overwhelmed her with grief. L’Argent.

MAZEL, a famous master at the School of Arts, and the last rampart of elegant conventionality. The first year that the Hanging Committee of the Salon was elected by the artists themselves, Mazel was chosen president. In the selection of pictures he was susceptible to influence, and was guided more by the name of the artist than by the quality of the work. L’Oeuvre.

MECHAIN, proprietor of a racing-stable. Hazard, one of his horses, ran in the Grand Prix de Paris. Nana.

MECHAIN (MADAME), a woman in the employment of Busch, the money-lender and debt collector. She assisted him in tracing debtors, and in the purchase of securities of bankrupt companies. She was a cousin of Rosalie Chavaille, mother of Victor Saccard, on whose death she was left with the boy to bring up. On discovering the paternity of Victor some years later, she and Busch attempted to blackmail Saccard, but without success, though they had previously got a considerable sum from Caroline Hamelin, who wished to save Saccard from annoyance. L’Argent.

MEGOT (JUSTINE), a young maid-servant of Renee Saccard. She had a son to Maxime Rougon in 1857, and was sent to live in the country with the child on a small annuity. La Curee.

Three years later she married Anselme Thomas, a harness-maker at Plassans. They had two children, and would have lived happily but for the husband’s dislike to her eldest child, Charles Rougon. Her conduct after marriage was exemplary in every way. Le Docteur Pascal.

MEHUDIN (MADAME), originally came from Rouen to Paris, where she ever afterwards remained in the fish trade. As her two daughters, Louise and Claire, got on badly together, she ultimately divided her business between them, Louise going to the general fish-market, while Claire installed herself among the fresh-water fish. “From that time the old mother, although she pretended to have retired from business altogether, would flit from one stall to the other, still interfering in the selling of the fish, and causing her daughters continual annoyance by the foul insolence with which she at times spoke to customers.” Le Ventre de Paris.

MEHUDIN (CLAIRE), the second daughter of Madame Mehudin, was an idle, fair-complexioned girl, with a gentle manner. She had, however, a strong will, and was invariably at loggerheads with others. When Florent became Inspector at the Fish Market, Claire took his part against her mother and sister, but afterwards went to the opposite extreme when his relations with Louise had become friendly. It appeared that she had a real affection for him, however, as after his arrest she assaulted her sister in the belief that she had given information to the police. Le Ventre de Paris.

MEHUDIN (LOUISE), commonly called La Normande. She was a beautiful woman who had at one time been engaged to be married to a clerk in the corn-market. He was, however, accidentally killed, leaving Louise with a son, who was known in the market by the nickname of Muche. When Florent was first appointed Inspector in the Fish Market, Louise, who had quarrelled with his sister-in-law, Lisa, did everything she could to annoy him. Afterwards, partly gratified by his kindness to her son, and partly to annoy Madame Lisa Quenu, she became reconciled to him. Le Ventre de Paris.

MEINHOLD (MADAME DE), a lady well-known in the Society of the Second Empire. She was a friend of Madame de Lauwerens and of the Saccards. La Curee.

MELANIE, cook in the employment of the Gregoires, with whom she had been for thirty years. Germinal.

MELANIE, the servant of Denizet, the examining magistrate at Rouen. The latter was anxious for promotion, in order that his old servant might be better fed and consequently better tempered. La Bete Humane.

MELIE, niece of the Fancheurs. She was a girl from the village of Bennecourt, who waited on Claude Lantier and Christine in their cottage there, and greatly amused them by her stupidity. After the death of the Fancheurs, the inn came into the possession of Melie, but soon lost favour on account of its dirt and disorder. L’Oeuvre.

MENU (MADEMOISELLE), aunt of Fanny Menu, who lived with her. She had been an embroideress for thirty years, but her sight failed and she was obliged to give up work. Fortunately she received a small legacy from a relative, and on this, added to the earnings of her niece, she was able to live. Pot-Bouille.

MENU (FANNY), a young girl who was protected by Narcisse Bachelard. As he on one occasion found her with Gueulin, his nephew, under compromising circumstances, he insisted on their marriage, and gave her a handsome dowry. Pot-Bouille.

MERLE, usher at the Council of State. He was appointed by Eugene Rougon, through the influence of Madame Correur. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

MES BOTTES, the sobriquet of one of Coupeau’s companions. He was a heavy drinker and an enormous eater, and on account of the latter gift he was occasionally asked by his friends to join such parties of pleasure as paid by contract for their entertainment, in order that they might watch the landlord’s face lengthen at the rapid disappearance of food. Chiefly for this reason, he was asked to the Coupeaus’ wedding party. L’Assommoir.

MEYER, owner of a Viennese bakery in Faubourg Poissonniere. The Coupeaus bought their bread from him in order to please Lantier. L’Assommoir.

MICHELIN (M.), a surveyor of the Municipal Council. “His wife, a pretty woman, occasionally called to apologize to her husband’s chiefs for his absence, when he stayed away through ill-health. He was often ill, but he obtained promotion at each illness.” In order to secure Saccard’s influence, Michelin assisted him in getting exorbitant prices for land sold to the city. La Curee.

MICHELIN (MADAME), wife of the preceding. By means of her good looks and a determination to get on at any cost, she secured the influence of her husband’s superiors, and got rapid promotion for him in the office of the Municipal Council. La Curee.

MIETTE, the pet name of Marie Chantegreil. (q.v.).

MIETTE, one of the peasant girls of Les Artaud who assisted to decorate the church for the festival of the Virgin. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

MIGNON, a man who, beginning life as a bricklayer, had amassed a fortune by speculations in building land during the early days of the Second Empire. Along with Charrier, his partner, he had many business dealings with Aristide Saccard. La Curee.

MIGNON, husband of an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. When Rose married him he was leader of the orchestra at a cafe concert where she sang. They were the best of friends, and lived together on the earnings of the wife, who exploited her beauty not less than her talents. Mignon was always on the best of terms with his wife’s lovers, even assisting them occasionally to deceive her, with the view of bringing them back in penitence later on. Nana.

MIGNON (CHARLES), younger son of the preceding. Nana.

MIGNON (HENRI), elder son of Mignon. Along with his brother Charles he was educated at a boarding-school. Nana.

MIGNON (ROSE), wife of Mignon, was a star actress at the Theatre des Varietes, being a fine comedienne and an admirable singer. She was dark and thin with that charming ugliness which is peculiar to the gamins of Paris. It was she who, annoyed by the rivalry of Nana, one day made Comte de Muffat aware of the liaison between his wife and Fauchery. She was, however, a good-hearted woman, and when she learned that Nana had contracted small-pox she arranged for her removal to the Grand Hotel, and nursed her there till she died. Nana.

MIGNOT, one of the salesmen in the glove department at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” He entered into a conspiracy with Albert Lhomme to defraud his employer, and this was successful to a considerable extent before its discovery; his dismissal followed, but there was no prosecution, as the firm preferred not to bring its internal affairs before the public eye. He afterwards got a situation as a traveller, and had even the boldness to call at “The Ladies’ Paradise.” Au Bonheur des Dames.

MIMI-LA-MORT, a pupil at the College of Plassans, who was also nicknamed Le Squelette-Externe (The Skeleton Day-Boarder) on account of his extreme thinness. Against the regulations of the College, he used to bring in snuff to the other scholars. L’Oeuvre.

MINOUCHE, a white cat which belonged to the Chanteaus. La Joie de Vivre.

MISARD, signalman on the railway at Croix-de-Maufras, between Malaunay and Barentin. He was a little puny man, with thin, discoloured hair and beard, and a lean, hollow-cheeked face. His work was mechanical, and he seemed to carry it through without thought or intelligence. His wife, a cousin of Jacques Lantier, looked after the level-crossing which adjoined their house until failing health prevented her from leaving the house. For this little man, silently and without anger, was slowly poisoning his wife with a powder which he placed in the salt which she ate. This crime, patient and cunning, had for its cause a legacy of a thousand francs left to Aunt Phasie by her father, a legacy which she had hidden, and refused to hand over to Misard. But the old woman triumphed in the end, for though Misard searched day and night for the treasure, he was never able to find it; she died taking her secret with her. An old woman of the neighbourhood, La Ducloux, whom he had employed to attend to the level-crossing after the death of his wife, induced him to marry her by pretending that she had discovered the secret hoard. La Bete Humaine.

MISARD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Phasie (Aunt).

MORANGE (CHARLOT), son of Silvine Morange and of Goliath Steinberg. Physically he resembled his father’s race, whom, however, he was brought up to hate. Hidden behind his mother, he was at three years old a witness of the murder of his father by the francs-tireurs. La Debacle.

MORANGE (SILVINE), servant with Fouchard at Remilly. Her mother, who was a worker in a factory at Raucourt, died when she was quite young, and her godfather, Dr. Dalichamp, got her a situation with Fouchard. Honore Fouchard fell in love with her, and they became engaged, but the opposition of the old man was so great that Honore went away from home and enlisted in the army. During his absence Silvine fell a victim to the wiles of Goliath Steinberg, and a child, Charlot, was born, Steinberg having previously disappeared. She had all along loved Honore, and when he passed through Remilly on his way to fight the Prussians he forgave her, and promised to marry her on his return. When she heard that he had been killed in the battle of Sedan, she became nearly mad, and with Prosper Sambuc made a wild search of the battlefield for her lover’s body. They found it eventually, and brought it back in a cart for burial. Goliath Steinberg, who was a German spy, again made advances to her, and, to save herself and her friends, she betrayed him to the francs-tireurs, who killed him in her presence. La Debacle.

MORIZOT, a friend of Malignon, who took him to the children’s party at Deberle’s house. Une Page d’Amour.

MOSER, a speculator on the Paris Bourse. He was a short, yellow-skinned man, who suffered from liver complaint and was continually lamenting, in constant dread of some imminent catastrophe. In consequence of his views, he was known on the Bourse as “bear” Moser. Speculating heavily against the rise in the shares of the Universal Bank, he was at one time on the verge of ruin, but the collapse of that institution left him with an enormous fortune. L’Argent.

MOUCHE (LE PERE), the sobriquet of Michel Fouan, the third son of Joseph Casimir Fouan, and brother of La Grande, Pere Fouan, and Laure Badeuil. When his father’s estate was divided, he received the family dwelling-house and some land, but was dissatisfied with his share and continued to accuse his brother and sister, though forty years had elapsed, of having robbed him when the lots were drawn. He had been long a widower, and, a soured unlucky man, he lived alone with his two daughters, Lise and Francoise. At sixty years of age he died of an attack of apoplexy. La Terre.

MOUCHE (FRANCOISE), younger daughter of Michel Fouan, alias Mouche. Her mother died early, and she was brought up by her sister Lise, to whom she was devotedly attached. She had a passion for justice, and when she had said “that is mine and that is yours,” she would have been prepared to go to the stake in support of her rights. This execration of injustice gradually led to a change of feeling between the two sisters, for after the marriage of Lise to Buteau a division of the land should have been made. Buteau and his wife on various pretexts put off this division, and it was only on the marriage of Francoise to Jean Macquart that it was carried out. An entire estrangement between the two families followed, and constant quarrels took place. After a shameful assault by Buteau upon Francoise, his wife threw her upon a scythe which lay upon the ground near by, and the unfortunate girl received injuries from which she died a few hours later. A sense of loyalty to her family induced her to conceal the cause of these injuries, which were attributed to accident. La Terre.

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.

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.