第104章 L(6)

Edouard. He had in his veins the mixed blood of the condottiere and the gentleman. Under Louis Philippe, idle and fast going to ruin, with his Louis XIII. cast of countenance, his evil-minded wit, his lofty independent manners, insolent yet winning, he was a type of the brilliant Bohemian of the Boulevard de Gand; so much so, that Madame de la Baudraye, basing her information on points furnished her by Nathan, one day drew a picture of him, writing a description in which artificiality and artlessness were combined. In this were many interesting touches: La Palferine's contempt shown at all times for the bourgeois class and forms of government; the request for the return of his toothbrush, then in the possession of a deserted mistress, Antonia Chocardelle; his relations with Madame du Bruel, whom he laid siege to, won, and neglected--a yielding puppet, of whom, strange to say, he broke the heart and made the fortune. He lived at that time in the Roule addition, in a plain garret, where he was in the habit of receiving Zephirin Marcas. The wretchedness of his quarters did not keep La Palferine out of the best society, and he was the guest of Josepha Mirah at the first entertainment given in her house on rue de la Ville-l'Eveque. By a strange order of events, Comte Rusticoli became Beatrix de Rochefide's lover, a few years after the events just narrated, at a time when the Debats published a novel by him which was spoken of far and wide. Nathan laid the foundation for this affair. Trailles, Charles-Edouard's master, carried on the negotiations and brought the intrigue to a consummation, being urged on by the Abbe Brossette's assent and the Duchesse de Grandlieu's request. La Palferine's liaison with Madame de Rochefide effected a reconciliation between Calyste du Guenic and his wife. In the course of time, however, Comte Rusticoli deserted Beatrix and sent her back to her husband, Arthur de Rochefide. During the winter of 1842 La Palferine was attracted to Madame de Laginska, had some meetings with her, but failed in this affair through the intervention of Thaddee Paz. [A Prince of Bohemia. A Man of Business. Cousin Betty. Beatrix.

The Imaginary Mistress.]

LA PEYRADE (Charles-Marie-Theodose de), born near Avignon in 1813, one of eleven children of the police-agent Peyrade's youngest brother, who lived in poverty on a small estate called Canquoelle; a bold Southerner of fair skin; given to reflection; ambitious, tactful and astute. In 1829 he left the department of Vaucluse and went to Paris on foot in search of Peyrade who, he had reason to believe, was wealthy, but of whose business he was ignorant. Theodose departed through the Barriere d'Enfer, which has been destroyed since 1860, at the moment when Jacques Collin murdered his uncle. At that time he entered a house of ill-fame, where he had unwittingly for mistress Lydie Peyrade, his full-blooded cousin. Theodose then lived for three years on a hundred louis which Corentin had secretly given to him. On giving him the money, the national chief of police quietly advised him to become an attorney. Journalism, however, at first, seemed a tempting career to M. de la Peyrade, and he went into politics, finally becoming editor of a paper managed by Cerizet. The failure of this journal left Theodose once more very poor. Nevertheless, through Corentin, who secretly paid the expenses of his studies, he was able to begin and continue a course in law. Once licensed, M. de la Peyrade became a barrister and professing to be entirely converted to Socialism, he freely pleaded the cause of the poor before the magistrate of the eleventh or twelfth district. He occupied the third story of the Thuillier house on rue Saint-Dominique-d'Enfer. He fell into the hands of Dutocq and Cerizet and suffered under the pressure of these grasping creditors. Theodose now decided that he would marry M. Thuillier's natural daughter, Mademoiselle Celeste Colleville, but, with Felix Phellion's love to contend with, despite the combined support, gained with difficulty, of Madame Colleville and of M. and Mademoiselle Thuillier, he failed through Corentin's circumvention.

His marriage with Lydie Peyrade repaired the wrong which he had formerly done unwittingly. As successor to Corentin he became national chief-of-police in 1840. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. The Middle Classes.]

LA PEYRADE (Madame de), first cousin and wife of the preceding, born Lydie Peyrade in 1810, natural daughter of the police officer Peyrade and of Mademoiselle Beaumesnil; passed her childhood successively in Holland and in Paris, on rue des Moineaux, whence, Jacques Collin, thirsting for revenge, abducted her during the Restoration. Being somewhat in love, at that time, with Lucien de Rubempre she was taken to a house of ill-fame, Peyrade being at the time very ill. Upon her departure she was insane. Her own cousin, Theodose de la Peyrade, had been her lover there, fortuitously and without dreaming that they were blood relatives. Corentin adopted this insane girl, who was a talented musician and singer, and at his home on rue Honore-Chevalier, in 1840, he arranged for both the cure and the marriage of his ward. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. The Middle Classes.]

LA POURAILLE, usual surname of Dannepont.

LARAVINIERE, tavern-keeper in Western France, lodged "brigands" who had armed themselves as Royalists under the first Empire. He was condemned, either by Bourlac or Mergi, to five years in prison. [The Seamy Side of History.]

LARDOT (Madame), born in 1771, lived in Alencon in 1816 on rue du Cours--a street still bearing the same name. She was a laundress, and took as boarders a relative named Grevin and the Chevalier de Valois.

She had among her employes Cesarine and Suzanne, afterwards Madame Theodore Gaillard. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]