B (continued 2)

BROCHON, a half-pay soldier who, in 1822, tended the horses and did chores for Moreau, manager of Presles, the estate of the Comte de Serizy. [A Start in Life.]

BROSSARD (Madame), widow received at Mme. de Bargeton's at Angouleme in 1821. Poor but well-born, she sought to marry her daughter, and in the end, despite her precise dignity and "sour-sweetness," she got along fairly well with the other sex. [Lost Illusions.]

BROSSARD (Camille du), daughter of the preceding. born in 1794. Fleshy and imposing. Posed as a good pianist. Not yet married at twenty-seven. [Lost Illusions.]

BROSSETTE (Abbe), born about 1790; cure of Blangy, Burgundy, in 1823, at the time when General de Montcornet was struggling with the peasantry. The abbe himself was an object of their defiance and hatred. He was the fourth son of a good bourgeoisie family of Autun, a faithful prelate, an obstinate Royalist and a man of intelligence. [The Peasantry.] In 1840 he became a cure at Paris, in the faubourg Saint-Germain, and at the request of Mme. de Grandlieu, he interested himself in removing Calyste du Guenic from the clutches of Mme. de Rochefide and restoring him to his wife. [Beatrix.]

BROUET (Joseph), a Chouan who died of wounds received in the fight of La Pelerine or at the siege of Fougeres, in 1799. [The Chouans.]

BROUSSON (Doctor), attended the banker Jean-Frederic Taillefer, a short time before the financier's death. [The Red Inn.]

BRUCE (Gabriel), alias Gros-Jean, one of the fiercest Chouans of the Fontaine division. Implicated in the affair of the "Chauffeurs of Mortagne" in 1809. Condemned to death for contumacy. [The Seamy Side of History.]

BRUEL (Du), chief of division to the Ministers of the Interior, under the Empire. A friend of Bridau senior, retired on the advent of Restoration. He was on very friendly terms with the widow Bridau, coming each evening for a game of cards at her house, on rue Mazarine, with his old-time colleagues, Claparon and Desroches. These three old employes were called the "Three Sages of Greece" by Mmes. Bridau and Descoings. M. du Bruel was descended of a contractor ennobled at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. He died about 1821. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]

BRUEL (Madame du), wife of the preceding. She survived him. She was the mother of the dramatic author Jean-Francois du Bruel, christened Cursy on the Parisian bill-boards. Although a bourgeoisie of strict ideas, Mme. du Bruel welcomed the dancer Tullia, who became her daughter-in-law. [A Prince of Bohemia.]

BRUEL (Jean-Francois du), son of the preceding; born about 1797. In 1816 he obtained a place under the Minister of Finance, thanks to the favor of the Duc de Navarreins. [A Bachelor's Establishment.] He was sub-chief of Rabourdin's office when the latter, in 1824, contested with M. Baudoyer for a place of division chief. [The Government Clerks.] In November, 1825, Jean-Francois du Bruel assisted at a breakfast given at the "Rocher de Cancale" to the clerks of Desroches' office by Frederic Marest who was treating to celebrate his incoming. He was present also at the orgy which followed at Florentine's home. [A Start in Life.] M. du Bruel successively rose to be chief of bureau, director, councillor of state, deputy, peer of France and commander of the Legion of Honor; he received the title of count and entered one of the classes in the Institute. All this was accomplished through his wife, Claudine Chaffaroux, formerly the dancer, Tullia, whom he married in 1829. [A Prince of Bohemia. The Middle Classes.] For a long time he wrote vaudeville sketches over the name of Cursy. Nathan, the poet, found it necessary to unite with him. Du Bruel would make use of the author's ideas, condensing them into small, sprightly skits which always scored successes for the actors. Du Bruel and Nathan discovered the actress Florine. They were the authors of "L'Alcade dans l'embarras," an imbroglio in three acts, played at the Theatre du Panorama-Dramatique about 1822, when Florine made her debut, playing with Coralie and Bouffe, the latter under the name of Vignol. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Daughter of Eve.]

BRUEL (Claudine Chaffaroux, Madame du), born at Nanterre in 1799. One of the premiere danseuses of the Opera from 1817 to 1827. For several years she was the mistress of the Duc de Rhetore [A Bachelor's Establishment.], and afterwards of Jean-Francois du Bruel, who was much in love with her in 1823, and married her in 1829. She had then left the stage. About 1834 she met Charles Edouard de la Palferine and formed a violent attachment for him. In order to please him and pose in his eyes as a great lady, she urged her husband to the constant pursuit of honors, and finally achieved the title of countess. Nevertheless she continued to play the lady of propriety and found entrance into bourgeoisie society. [A Prince of Bhoemia. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Letters of Two Brides.] In 1840, to please Mme. Colleville, her friend, she tried to obtain a decoration for Thuillier. [The Middle Classes.] Mme. du Bruel bore the name of Tullia on the stage and in the "gallant" circle. She lived then in rue Chauchat, in a house afterwards occupied by Mmes. Mirah and Brisetout, when Claudine moved after her marriage to rue de la Victoire.

BRUNET, bailiff at Blagny, Burgundy, in 1823. He was also councillor of the Canton during the Terror, having for practitioners Michel Vert alias Vermichel and Fourchon the elder. [The Peasantry.]

BRUNNER (Gedeon), father of Frederic Brunner. At the time of the French Restoration and of Louis Philippe he owned the great Holland House at Frankford-on-the-Main. One of the early railway projectors. He died about 1844, leaving four millions. Calvinist. Twice married. [Cousin Pons.]

BRUNNER (Madame), first wife of Gedeon Brunner, and mother of Frederic Brunner. A relative of the Virlaz family, well-to-do Jewish furriers of Leipsic. A converted Jew. Her dowry was the basis of her husband's fortune. She died young, leaving a son aged but twelve. [Cousin Pons.]

BRUNNER (Madame), second wife of Gedeon Brunner. The only daughter of a German inn-keeper. She had been very badly spoiled by her parents. Sterile, dissipated and prodigal, she made her husband very unhappy, thus avenging the first Mme. Brunner. She was a step-mother of the most abominable sort, launching her stepson into an unbridled life, hoping that debauchery would devour both the child and the Jewish fortune. After ten years of wedded life she died before her parents, having made great inroads upon Gedeon Brunner's property. [Cousin Pons.]

BRUNNER (Frederic), only son of Gedeon Brunner, born within the first four years of the century. He ran through his maternal inheritance by silly dissipations, and then helped his friend Wilhelm Schwab to make away with the hundred thousand francs his parents had left him. Without resources and cast adrift by his father he went to Paris in 1835, where, upon the recommendation of Graff, the inn-keeper, he obtained a position with Keller at six hundred francs per annum. In 1843 he was only two thousand francs ahead; but Gedeon Brunner having died, he became a multi-millionaire. Then for friendship's sake he founded, with his chum Wilhelm, the banking house of "Brunner, Schwab & Co.," on rue Richelieu, between rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs and rue Villedo, in a magnificent building belonging to the tailor, Wolfgang Graff. Frederic Brunner had been presented by Sylvain Pons to the Camusots de Marville; he would have married their daughter had she not been the only child. The breaking off of this match involved also, the relations of Pons with the De Marville family and resulted in the death of the musician. [Cousin Pons.]

BRUNO, valet de chambre of Corentin at Passy, on rue des Vignes, in 1830. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] About 1840 he was again in the service of Corentin, who was now known as M. du Portail and lived on rue Honore-Chevalier, at Paris. [The Middle Classes.] This name is sometimes spelled Bruneau.

BRUTUS, proprietor of the Hotel des Trois-Maures in the Grand-Rue, Alencon, in 1799, where Alphonse de Montauran met Mlle. de Verneuil for the first time. [The Chouans.]

BUNEAUD (Madame), ran a bourgeoisie boarding-house in opposition to Mme. Vauquer on the heights of Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, in 1819. [Father Goriot.]

BUTIFER, noted hunter, poacher and smuggler, living in the village hard by Grenoble, where Dr. Benassis located, during the Restoration. When the doctor arrived in the country, Butifer drew a bead on him, in a corner of the forest. Later, however, he became entirely devoted to him. He was charged by Genestas with the physical education of this officer's adopted son. It may be that Butifer enlisted in Genestas' regiment, after the death of Dr. Benassis. [The Country Doctor.]

BUTSCHA (Jean), head-clerk of Maitre Latournelle, a notary at Havre in 1829. Born about 1804. The natural son of a Swedish sailor and a Demoiselle Jacmin of Honfleur. A hunchback. A type of intelligence and devotion. Entirely subservient to Modeste Mignon, whom he loved without hope; he aided, by many adroit methods, to bring about her marriage with Ernest de la Briere. Butscha decided that this union would make the young lady happy. [Modeste Mignon.]