“’Tis an escape route in case of siege by an enemy,”

BLONDET (Madame Joseph), nee Claire Blandureau, wife of Joseph Blondet, whom she married when he was appointed judge at Alencon. She was the daughter of wealthy linen dealers in the city. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]

BLONDET (Emile), born at Alencon about 1800; legally the younger son of Judge Blondet, but really the son of a prefect of Orne. Tenderly loved by his mother, but hated by Judge Blondet, who sent him, in 1818, to study law in Paris. Emile Blondet knew the noble family of d'Esgrignon in Alencon, and for the youngest daughter of this illustrious house he felt an esteem that was really admiration. [Jealousies of a Country Town.] In 1821 Emile Blondet was a remarkably handsome young fellow. He made his first appearance in the "Debats" by a series of masterly articles which called forth from Lousteau the remark that he was "one of the princes of criticism." [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1824 he contributed to a review edited by Finot, where he collaborated with Lucien de Rubempre and where he was allowed full swing by his chief. Emile Blondet had the most desultory of habits; one day he would be a boon companion, without compunction, with those destined for slaughter on the day following. He was always "broke" financially. In 1829, 1830, Bixiou, Lousteau, Nathan and he were frequenters of Esther's house, rue Saint-Georges. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] A cynic was Blondet, with little regard for glory undefiled. He won a wager that he could upset the poet Canalis, though the latter was full of assurance. He did this by staring fixedly at the poet's curls, his boots, or his coat-tails, while he recited poetry or gesticulated with proper emphasis, fixed in a studied pose. [Modeste Mignon.] He was acquainted with Mlle. des Touches, being present at her home on one occasion, about 1830, when Henri de Marsay told the story of his first love affair. He took part in the conversation and depicted the "typical woman" to Comte Adam Laginski. [Another Study of Woman.] In 1832 he was a guest at Mme. d'Espard's, where he met his childish flame, Mme. de Montcornet, also the Princesse de Cadignan, Lady Dudley, d'Arthez, Nathan, Rastignac, the Marquis d'Ajuda-Pinto, Maxime de Trailles, the Marquis d'Esgrignon, the two Vandenesses, du Tillet, the Baron Nucingen and the Chevalier d'Espard, brother-in-law of the marquise. [The Secrets of a Princess.] About 1833 Blondet presented Nathan to Mme. de Montcornet, at whose home the young Countess Felix de Vandenesse made the acquaintance of the poet and was much smitten with him for some time. [A Daughter of Eve.] In 1836 he and Finot and Couture chimed in on the narrative of the rise of Nucingen, told with much zest by Bixiou in a private room of a famous restaurant. [The Firm of Nucingen.] Eight or ten years prior to February, 1848, Emile Blondet, on the brink of suicide, witnessed an entire transition in his affairs. He was chosen a prefect, and he married the wealthy widow of Comte de Montcornet, who offered him her hand when she became free. They had known and loved each other since childhood. [The Peasantry.]

BLONDET (Virginie), wife by second marriage of Emile Blondet; born in 1797; daughter of the Vicomte de Troisville; granddaughter of the Russian Princesse Scherbelloff. She was brought up at Alencon, with her future husband. In 1819 she married the General de Montcornet. Twenty years later, a widow, she married the friend of her youth, who this long time had been her lover. [Jealousies of a Country Town. The Secrets of a Princess. The Peasantry.] She and Mme. d'Espard tried to convert Lucien de Rubempre to the monarchical side in 1821. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] She was present at Mlle. des Touches', about 1830, when Marsay told about his first love, and she joined in the conversation. [Another Study of Woman.] She received a rather mixed set, from an aristocratic standpoint, but here might be found the stars of finance, art and literature. [The Member for Arcis.] Mme. Felix de Vandenesse saw Nathan the poet for the first time and noticed him particularly at Mme. de Montcornet's, in 1834, 1835. [A Daughter of Eve.] Mme. Emile Blondet, then Madame la Generale de Montcornet, passed the summer and autumn of 1823 in Burgundy, at her beautiful estate of Aigues, where she lived a burdened and troubled life among the many and varied types of peasantry. Remarried, and now the wife of a prefect, eight years or so before February, 1848, time of Louis Philippe, she visited her former properties. [The Peasantry.]

BLUTEAU (Pierre), assumed name of Genestas. [The Country Doctor.]

BOCQUILLON, an acquaintance of Mme. Etienne Gruget. In 1820, rue des Enfants-Rouges, Paris, she mistook for him the stock-broker, Jules Desmarets, who was entering her door. [The Thirteen.]

BOGSECK (Madame van), name bestowed by Jacques Collin on Esther van Gobseck when, in 1825, he gave her, transformed morally and intellectually, to Lucien de Rubempre, in an elegant flat on rue Taitbout. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]

BOIROUGE, president of the Sancerre Court at the time when the Baronne de la Baudraye held social sway over that city. Through his wife, he was related to the Popinot-Chandiers, to Judge Popinot of Paris, and to Anselme Popinot. He was hereditary owner of a house which he did not need, and which he very gladly leased to the baronne for the purpose of starting a literary society that, however, degenerated very soon into an ordinary clique. Actuated by jealousy, President Boirouge was one of the principals in the defeat of Procureur Clagny for deputy. He was reputed to be unchaste at repartee. [The Muse of the Department.]

BOIROUGE (Madame), nee Popinot-Chandier, wife of President Boirouge; stood well among the middle-class of Sancerre. After having been leader in the opposition to Mme. de la Baudraye for nine years, she induced her son Gatien to attend the Baudraye receptions, persuading herself that he would soon make his way. Profiting by the visit of Bianchon to Sancerre, Mme. Boirouge obtained of the famous physician, her relative, a gratuitous consultation by giving him full particulars regarding some pretended nervous trouble of the stomach, in which complaint he recognized a periodic dyspepsia. [The Muse of the Department.]