Repertory of the Comedie Humaine, part 2 | Page 4

father.
His father, on dying, also left him a large number of notes to which
were affixed the noble signatures of the emigrated aristocracy. His
avarice aroused, Polydore de la Baudraye occupied himself, at the time
of the Restoration, with collecting these notes; he made frequent trips
to Paris; negotiated with Clement Chardin des Lupeaulx at the Hotel de
Mayence; obtained, under a promise, afterwards executed, to sell them
profitably, some positions and titles, and became successively auditor

of the seals, baron, officer of the Legion of Honor and master of
petitions. The individual receivership of Sancerre, which became his
also, was bought by Gravier. M. de la Baudraye did not leave Sancerre;
he married towards 1823 Mademoiselle Dinah Piedefer, became a
person of large property following his acquisition to the castle and
estate of Anzy, settled this property with the title upon a natural son of
his wife; he so worked upon her feelings as to get from her the power
of attorney and signature, sailed for America, and became rich through
a large patrimony left him by Silas Piedefer--1836-42. At that time he
owned in Paris a stately mansion, on rue de l'Arcade, and upon winning
back his wife, who had left him, he placed her in it as mistress. He now
became count, commander of the Legion of Honor, and peer of France.
Frederic de Nucingen received him as such and served him as sponsor,
when, in the summer of 1842, the death of Ferdinand d'Orleans
necessitated the presence of M. de la Baudraye at Luxembourg. [The
Muse of the Department.]
[*] The motto on the Baudraye coat-of-arms was: "Deo patet sic fides
et hominibus."
LA BAUDRAYE (Madame Polydore Milaud de), wife of the preceding,
born Dinah Piedefer in 1807 or 1808 in Berry; daughter of the Calvinist,
Moise Piedefer; niece of Silas Piedefer, from whom she inherited a
fortune. She was brilliantly educated at Bourges, in the Chamarolles
boarding-school, with Anna de Fontaine, born Grosstete--1819. Five
years later, through personal ambition, she gave up Protestantism, that
she might gain the protection of the Cardinal-Archbishop of Bourges,
and a short time after her conversion she was married, about 1823. For
thirteen consecutive years, at least, Madame de la Baudraye reigned in
the city of Sancerre and in her country-house, Chateau d'Anzy, at
Saint-Satur near by. Her court was composed of a strange mixture of
people: the Abbe Duret and Messieurs Clagny, Gravier, Gatien
Boirouge. At first, only Clagny and Duret know of the literary attempts
of Jan Diaz, pseudonym of Madame de la Baudraye, who had just
bought the artistic furniture of the Rougets of Issoudun, and who
invited and received two "Parisiens de Sancerre," Horace Bianchon and
Etienne Lousteau, in September 1836. A liaison followed with Etienne
Lousteau, with whom Madame de la Baudraye lived on rue des Martyrs
in Paris from 1837 to 1839. As a result of this union she had two sons,

recognized later by M. de la Baudraye. Madame de la Baudraye now
putting into use the talent, neglected during her love affair, became a
writer. She wrote "A Prince of Bohemia," founded on an anecodote
related to her by Raoul Nathan, and probably published this novel. The
fear of endless scandal, the entreaties of husband and mother, and the
unworthiness of Lousteau, finally led Dinah de la Baudraye to rejoin
her husband, who owned an elegant mansion on rue de l'Arcade. This
return, which took place in May, 1842, surprised Madame d'Espard, a
woman who was not easily astonished. Paris of the reign of Louis
Philippe often quoted Dinah de la Baudraye and paid considerable
attention to her. During this same year, 1842, she assisted in the first
presentation of Leon Gozlan's drama, "The Right Hand and the Left
Hand," given at the Odeon. [The Muse of the Department. A Prince of
Bohemia. Cousin Betty.]
LA BERGE (De), confessor of Madame de Mortsauf at Clochegourde,
strict and virtuous. He died in 1817, mourned on account of his
"apostolic strength," by his patron, who appointed as his successor the
over- indulgent Francois Birotteau. [The Lily of the Valley.]
LA BERTELLIERE, father of Madame la Gaudiniere, grandfather of
Madame Felix Grandet, was lieutenant in the French Guards; he died in
1806, leaving a large fortune. He considered investments a "waste of
money." Nearly twenty years later his portrait was still hanging in the
hall of Felix Grandet's house at Saumur. [Eugenie Grandet.]
LA BILLARDIERE (Anthanase-Jean-Francoise-Michel, Baron Flamet
de), son of a counselor in the Parliament of Bretagne, took part in the
Vendean wars as a captain under the name of Nantais, and as negotiator
played a singular part at Quiberon. The Restoration rewarded the
services of this unintelligent member of the petty nobility, whose
Catholicism was more lukewarm than his love of monarchy. He
became