DELAHERCHE (MADAME), mother of Jules Delaherche. Her husband’s gay life rendered her unhappy, and after she became a widow she trembled lest her son should take to the same courses as his father; so, after marrying him to a woman who was devout and of simple tastes, she sought to keep him in a dependent state as though he were a mere youth. At fifty years of age, his wife having died, Delaherche determined to marry a young widow about whom there had been much gossip, and did so in spite of all the remonstrances of his mother. After that she only lived on in silent remonstrance, spending most of her time shut up in her own room. The miseries of war told severely on the old woman, and to these were added domestic troubles, for she became aware of her daughter-in-law’s relations with Captain Baudoin and Edmond Lagarde. After the occupation of Sedan by the Prussians she devoted herself to nursing her old friend Colonel Vineuil, who had been brought to the house severely wounded. She remained with him till his death, shut up from the world, and refusing to hear of the defeats daily accumulating against their unhappy country. La Debacle.
DELAHERCHE (JULES), one of the principal cloth manufacturers of Sedan. He owned a large factory in Rue Maqua, which had been the property of the family for a hundred and sixty years; in the rear of the building was a palatial courtyard shaded with old trees, gigantic elms dating from the foundation of the establishment. Jules, married to a woman dull and plain-looking, had been kept by his mother in the dependent position of a mere boy, but at fifty years of age, his wife being dead, he became enamoured of Gilberte Maginot, a pretty young widow of Charleville, and married her in spite of the determined opposition of his mother. An ardent Bonapartist, he was much excited by a chance meeting with Napoleon III, but after the repeated defeats of the army in the war with Prussia his loyalty cooled, and he ultimately charged the Emperor with all the miseries which ensued. After the battle of Sedan an ambulance was established in the courtyard of his factory, and the wounded Colonel Vineuil was removed to his house. La Debacle.
DELAHERCHE (MADAME JULES). See Gilberte Vineuil. La Debacle.
DELANGRE (M.), mayor of Plassans. He was the son of a bricklayer, and when he passed as a lawyer had to be content with petty suits that no one else would take up. It was said that he became the lover of Madame Rastoil, and it was certainly through her influence that he won his first cases. He was shrewd enough to show no particular political proclivities; so after the Coup d’Etat of 1851, when they were looking out for a mayor, his name was at once thought of. He was elected, and from that time everything prospered with him. As a result of much scheming by Abbe Faujas, Delangre was adopted as candidate for the representation of Plassans, and was elected by a triumphant majority over Maurin, the Republican candidate. After his election, he voted steadily with the Government, thus accomplishing the object for which Faujas was sent to the town. La Conquete de Plassans.
DELANGRE (MADAME), wife of the preceding. “She was a tame little woman of a servant-like meekness, whose dissoluteness had remained a matter of legend in Plassans.” She was consulted by Madame Mouret regarding the Home for Girls proposed by Abbe Faujas, and agreed to act on the Committee. La Conquete de Plassans.
DELANGRE (LUCIEN), son of M. Delangre, mayor of Plassans. He was a young barrister of four-and-twenty, short and sharp-eyed, with a crafty brain, and pleaded with all the coolness of an old practitioner. On the suggestion of Abbe Faujas he took a leading part in starting the Club for Young Men at Plassans. La Conquete de Plassans.
DELAROCQUE, a stockbroker who was married to the sister of Jacoby. L’Argent.
DELCAMBRE, Public Prosecutor, afterwards Minister of Justice. Having been for some time the lover of Baroness Sandorff, he was much annoyed at her subsequent intimacy with Saccard, and after the failure of the Universal Bank he instigated the proceedings which led to the conviction of its officials. L’Argent.
DELESTANG (M.), son of a wine merchant at Bercy, was himself a retired attorney and owner of a model farm. He was a man of great wealth, but of foolish and shallow character. Having got into political trouble at the time of the Coup d’Etat of 1851, he was helped out of an awkward position by Eugene Rougon. Acting on the suggestion of Rougon, he married Clorinde Balbi, and soon after was appointed Minister of Commerce and Agriculture. After Rougon’s second retirement from office Delestang was appointed to succeed him as Minister of the Interior. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.
DELESTANG (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Clorinde Balbi.