FLEURIOT, grenadier of the Imperial Guard, of colossal size, to whom Philippe de Sucy entrusted Stephanie de Vandieres, during the passage of the Beresina in 1812. Unfortunately separated from Stephanie, the grenadier did not find her again until 1816. She had taken refuge in an inn of Strasbourg after escaping from an insane asylum. Both were then sheltered by Dr. Fanjat and taken to Auvergne, where Fleuriot soon died. [Farewell.]
FLEURY, retired infantry captain, comptroller of the Cirque-Olympique, and employed during the Restoration in Rabourdin's bureau, of the minister of finance. He was attached to his chief, who had saved him from destitution. A subscriber, but a poor payer, to "Victories and Conquests." A zealous Bonapartist and Liberal. His three great men were Napoleon, Bolivar and Beranger, all of whose ballads he knew by heart, and sang in a sweet, sonorous voice. He was swamped with debt. His skill at fencing and small-arms kept him from Bixiou's jests. He was likewise much feared by Dutocq who flattered him basely. Fleury was discharged after the nomination of Baudoyer as chief of division in December, 1824. He did not take it to heart, saying that he had at his disposal a managing editorship in a journal. [The Government Clerks.] In 1840, still working for the above theatre, Fleury became manager of "L'Echo de la Bievre," the paper owned by Thuillier. [The Middle Classes.]
FLICOTEAUX, rival of Rousseau the Aquatic. Historic, legendary and strictly honest restaurant-keeper in the Latin quarter between rue de la Harpe and rue des Gres—Cujas—enjoying the custom, in 1821-22, of Daniel d'Arthez, Etienne Lousteau and Lucien Chardon de Rubempre. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.]
FLORENT, partner of Chanor; they were manufacturers and dealers in bronze, rue des Tournelles, Paris, time of Louis Philippe. [Cousin Betty. Cousin Pons.]
FLORENTNE. (See Cabirolle, Agathe-Florentine.)
FLORIMOND (Madame), dealer in linens, rue Vielle-du-Temple, Paris, 1844-45. Maintained by an "old fellow" who made her his heir, thanks to Fraisier, the man of business, whom she perhaps would have married through gratitude, had it not been for his physical condition. [Cousin Pons.]
FLORINE. (See Nathan, Mme. Raoul.)
FLORVILLE (La), actress at the Panorama-Dramatique in 1821. Among her contemporaries were Coralie, Florine, and Bouffe, or Vignol. On the first night performance of "The Alcade," she played in a curtain-raiser, "Bertram." For a few days she was the mistress of a Russian prince who took her to Saint-Mande, paying her manager a good sum for her absence from the theatre. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.]
FOEDORA (Comtesse), born about 1805. Of Russian lower class origin and wonderfully beautiful. Espoused perhaps morganatically by a great lord of the land. Left a widow she reigned over Paris in 1827. Supposed to have an income of eighty thousand francs. She received in her drawing-rooms all the notables of the period, and there "appeared all the works of fiction that were not published anywhere else." Raphael de Valentin was presented to the countess by Rastignac and fell desperately in love with her. But he left her house one day never to return, being definitely persuaded that she was "a woman without a heart." Her memory was cruel, and her address enough to drive a diplomat to despair. Although the Russian ambassador did not receive her, she had entry into the set of Mme. de Serizy; visited with Mme. de Nucingen and Mme. de Restaud; received the Duchesse de Carigliano, the haughtiest of the Bonapartist clique. She had listened to many young dandies, and to the son of a peer of France, who had offered her their names in exchange for her fortune. [The Magic Skin.]
FONTAINE (Madame), fortune teller, Paris, rue Vielle-du-Temple, time of Louis Philippe. At one time a cook. Born in 1767. Earned a considerable amount of money, but previously had lost heavily in a lottery. After the suppression of this game of chance she saved up for the benefit of a nephew. In her divinations Mme. Fontaine made use of a giant toad named Astaroth, and of a black hen with bristling feathers, called Cleopatra or Bilouche. These two animals caught Gazonal's eye in 1845, when in company with De Lora and Bixiou he visited the fortune-teller's. The Southerner, however, asked only a five-franc divination, while in the same year Mme. Cibot, who came to consult her on an important matter, had to pay a hundred francs. According to Bixiou, "a third of the lorettes, a fourth of the statesmen and a half of the artists" consulted Mme. Fontaine. She was the Egeria of a minister, and also looked for "a tidy fortune," which Bilouche had promised her. [The Unconscious Humorists. Cousin Pons.]