Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — ZCerfberr, Anatole
General
Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z
Cerfberr, Anatole
Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850. Comédie humaine
MONTRIVEAU (Comte de), paternal uncle of Armand de Montriveau.
Corpulent, and fond of oysters. Unlike his brother he emigrated, and
in his exile met with a cordial reception by the Dulmen branch of the
Rivaudoults of Arschoot, a family with which he had some relationship.
He died at St. Petersburg. [The Thirteen.]
MONTRIVEAU (General Marquis Armand de), nephew of the preceding and
only son of General de Montriveau. As a penniless orphan he was
entered by Bonaparte in the school of Chalons. He went into the
artillery service, and took part in the last campaigns of the Empire,
among others that in Russia. At the battle of Waterloo he received
many serious wounds, being then a colonel in the Guard. Montriveau
passed the first three years of the Restoration far away from Europe.
He wished to explore the upper sections of Egypt and Central Africa.
After being made a slave by savages he escaped from their hands by a
bold ruse and returned to Paris, where he lived on rue de Seine near
the Chamber of Peers. Despite his poverty and lack of ambition and
influential friends, he was soon promoted to a general's position. His
association with The Thirteen, a powerful and secret band of men, who
counted among their members Ronquerolles, Marsay and Bourignard,
probably brought him this unsolicited favor. This same freemasonry
aided Montriveau in his desire to have revenge on Antoinette de
Langeais for her delicate flirtation; also later, when still feeling
for her the same passion, he seized her body from the Spanish
Carmelites. About the same time the general met, at Madame de
Beauseant's, Rastignac, just come to Paris, and told him about
Anastasie de Restaud. Towards the end of 1821, the general met
Mesdames d'Espard and de Bargeton, who were spending the evening at
the Opera. Montriveau was the living picture of Kleber, and in a kind
of tragic way became a widower by Antoinette de Langeais. Having
become celebrated for a long journey fraught with adventures, he was
the social lion at the time he ran across a companion of his Egyptian
travels, Sixte du Chatelet. Before a select audience of artists and
noblemen, gathered during the first years of the reign of Louis
Philippe at the home of Mademoiselle des Touches, he told how he had
unwittingly been responsible for the vengeance taken by the husband of
a certain Rosina, during the time of the Imperial wars. Montriveau,
now admitted to the peerage, was in command of a department. At this
time, having become unfaithful to the memory of Antoinette de
Langeais, he became enamored of Madame Rogron, born Bathilde de
Chargeboeuf, who hoped soon to bring about their marriage. In 1839, in
company with M. de Ronquerolles, he beame second to the Duc de
Rhetore, elder brother of Louise de Chaulieu, in his duel with
Dorlange-Sallenauve, brought about because of Marie Gaston. [The
Thirteen. Father Goriot. Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at
Paris. Another Study of Woman. Pierrette. The Member for Arcis.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account