FOUCHARD (HONORE), only son of the preceding. At twenty years of age, in 1867, he drew a good number for the conscription, but on account of the opposition of his father to his marriage with Silvine Morange, he enlisted, and was sent to Africa, in the artillery. When he heard that Silvine had become the mistress of Goliath Steinberg he became so ill that he had to remain in hospital for three months. He afterwards received a letter from Silvine saying that she had never loved any one but him, and when passing through Remilly on his way to the front, he saw her and forgave everything. His battery was among those which on 1st September, 1870, defended the Calvary d’Illy, but was cut to pieces by the terrible fire of the Prussians. Honore was killed, and fell across his gun, firmly grasping the letter from Silvine, which in his death-struggle he had drawn from his bosom. La Debacle.

FOUGERAY (MADEMOISELLE DE), eldest daughter of the Baronne de Fougeray. She entered a convent, because it was said, a young man with whom she was in love had died. The event created much talk in all classes of society in Paris. Nana.

A Zola Dictionary — Part 91

FOUQUE (ADELAIDE), generally known as Aunt Dide, the common ancestress of the Rougon-Macquarts, born at Plassans in 1768, was the last representative of a family who had owned a market-garden there for several generations. “This girl, whose father died insane, was a long, lank, pale creature, with a scared look and strange gait.” In 1786, six months after the death of her father, she married one of her own workmen, named Rougon, “a rough-hewn peasant from the Basses Alpes.” Rougon died fifteen months after his marriage, leaving a son named Pierre. Scarcely a year had elapsed before the widow took as her lover a man named Macquart, who lived in a hovel adjoining her own property, and two children were born. The legitimate son, Pierre Rougon, was brought up along with his half brother and sister, Antoine and Ursule, with whom, however, he was not on good terms. From her eighteenth year Adelaide was subject to nervous fits, which brought on convulsions, and though she was not yet insane, these repeated shocks produced cerebral disorders. “She lived from day to day like a child; like a fawning animal yielding to its instincts.” These conditions continued for about twenty years, till the death of Macquart, and the children grew up as best they could. By this time Pierre realized the situation, and playing upon his mother’s mental weakness, he brought her completely under his sway. On the death of Macquart, Adelaide went to live in the hovel bequeathed to her by him, and Pierre sold the family property, appropriating the price. Living at first entirely alone, her intellect became more and more affected by the recurring convulsive fits. Subsequently her grandson Silvere Mouret lived with her, but after his execution, of which she was a witness, she became quite insane. La Fortune des Rougon.

A Zola Dictionary — Part 91