VINEUIL (COMMANDANT DE), father of Gilberte. Retired from active service on account of his wounds, he was appointed Director of Customs at Charleville. His wife died of consumption, and he sent his daughter, about whose health he was alarmed, to reside for a time at a farm near Chene-Populeux. He died soon after Gilberte’s marriage to Maginot, the Inspector of State Forests. La Debacle.
VINEUIL (COLONEL DE), brother of the preceding. In 1870 he commanded the 106th Regiment of the line, which formed part of the Seventh Army corps. He was a man of fine appearance and character, and bore his part bravely through the disastrous campaign, until he was severely wounded on the battlefield of Sedan. Notwithstanding his wound, he remained on his horse till the end, when he was removed to the house of Delaherche, the husband of his niece Gilberte. By December his wound was cured, but crushed by his country’s defeats, his mental depression was so great that he remained in a darkened room, refusing to hear news from the outer world, and associating only with his old friend Madame Delaherche, the mother of his niece’s husband. At the end of December he died suddenly, horror-struck by an account of the surrender of Metz, which he chanced to read in an old newspaper. La Debacle.
VINEUIL (GILBERTE DE), daughter of Commandant de Vineuil. She was first married to Maginot, and afterwards to Jules Delaherche. When she was nine years old, her father, alarmed at a cough she had, sent her to live at a farm, where she came to know Henriette Levasseur. Even at that age she was a coquette, and when at twenty she married Maginot, the Inspector of the State Forests at Mezieres, her character had not changed. Mezieres she found dull, but her husband allowed her full liberty, and she found all the gaiety she desired at Charleville. There she lived solely for pleasure, and Captain Beaudoin became her lover. In 1869 she became a widow, and in spite of the stories told about her she found a second husband, Jules Delaherche. On the eve of the battle of Sedan she resumed for the nonce her former relations with Beaudoin. Gay and irresponsible by nature, she flirted with Captain von Gartlauben, a Prussian officer, who was quartered on her husband after the capitulation of Sedan, while at the same time she carried on a liaison with Edmond Lagarde, a young soldier who had been wounded, and whom she had assisted to nurse. La Debacle.
VIOLAINE (LOUISE), an actress at the Theatre des Varietes. She took the part in the Blonde Venus originally played by Nana, and secured a great success. Nana.
VIRGINIE, sister of Adele, for whose sake Auguste Lantier deserted Gervaise Macquart. Gervaise, meeting Virginie in a public washing-house, was taunted by her on the subject of her lover, and a terrible fight between the two women followed, Virginie being severely beaten. Gervaise did not see her again for some years, by which time she had married M. Poisson, an ex-soldier, who later became a policeman. She professed to have overlooked the fight with Gervaise, but appears to have been not without hope that an opportunity of repaying her injuries might eventually arise. When the Coupeaus gave way to drink, Lantier, who had again established friendly relations, suggested that Virginie should take the Coupeaus’ shop and buy a stock of groceries and sweetmeats with a legacy she had received from an aunt. Partly moved by a desire for revenge on Gervaise, she did so, and Lantier retained with the Poissons the place as a lodger he formerly occupied with the Coupeaus. Soon after, he became Virginie’s lover, and, by paying nothing for his support, while he gradually ate the contents of the shop, he accomplished the downfall of the Poissons in much the same manner as he had already ruined the Coupeaus. L’Assommoir.
VISCARDI (SIGNOR), a Venetian political refugee, and a friend of Comtesse Balbi. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
VOINCOURT (COMTESSE DE), mother of Claire de Voincourt. She occupied at Beaumont a house adjoining the bishop’s palace. Le Reve.
VOINCOURT (CLAIRE DE), the daughter of an old family of great wealth who lived at Beaumont. Monseigneur d’Hautecoeur wished to arrange a marriage between her and Felicien, his son; his plans were assisted by the belief of Felicien that Angelique, with whom he had fallen in love, no longer cared for him. This belief having proved false, the proposed marriage between Felicien and Claire de Voincourt did not take place. Le Reve.
VORIAU, a large black dog which belonged to Bambousse, the Mayor of Artaud. La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.
VUILLAUME (M. and MADAME), the parents of Madame Pichon, whom they visited every Sunday afternoon. They were, later, much annoyed with the Pichons, whose family became, they considered, too large for their means. Pot-Bouille.