BLAMONT-CHAUVRY (Princesse de), mother of Mme. d’Espard; aunt of the Duchesse de Langeais; great aunt of Mme. de Mortsauf; a veritable d’Hozier in petticoats.  Her drawing-room set the fashion in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the sayings of this feminine Talleyrand were listened to as oracles.  Very aged at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVIII., she was one of the most poetic relics of the reign of Louis XV., the “Well-Beloved;” and to this nick-name—­as the records had it—­she had contributed her full share. [The Thirteen.] Mme. Firmiani was received by the princess on account of the Cadignans, to whom she was related on her mother’s side. [Madame Firmiani.] Felix de Vandenesse was admitted to her “At Homes,” on the recommendation of Mme. de Mortsauf; nevertheless he found in this old lady a friend whose affection had a quality almost maternal.  The princess was in the family conclave which met to consider an amorous escapade of the Duchesse Antoinette de Langeais. [The Lily of the Valley.  The Thirteen.]

BLANDUREAUS (The), wealthy linen merchants at Alencon, time of the Restoration.  They had an only daughter, to whom the President du Ronceret wished to marry his son.  She, however, married Joseph Blondet, the oldest son of Judge Blondet.  This marriage caused secret hostility between the two fathers, one being the other’s superior in office. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]

BLONDET, judge at Alencon in 1824; born in 1758; father of Joseph and Emile Blondet.  At the time of the Revolution he was a public prosecutor.  A botanist of note, he had a remarkable conservatory where he cultivated geraniums only.  This conservatory was visited by the Empress Marie-Louise, who spoke of it to the Emperor and obtained for the judge the decoration of the Legion of Honor.  Following the Victurien d’Esgrignon episode, about 1825, Judge Blondet was made an officer in the Order and chosen councillor at the Royal Court.  Here he remained in office no longer than absolutely necessary, retreating to his dear Alencon home.  He married in 1798, at the age of forty, a young girl of eighteen, who in consequence of this disparity was unfaithful to him.  He knew that his second son, Emile, was not his own; he therefore cared only for the elder and sent the younger elsewhere as soon as possible. [Jealousies of a Country Town.] About 1838 Fabien du Ronceret obtained credit in an agricultural convention for a flower which old Blondet had given him, but which he exhibited as a product of his own green-house. [Beatrix.]

BLONDET (Madame), wife of the preceding; born in 1780; married in 1798.  She was intimate with a prefect of Orne, who was the natural father of Emile Blondet.  Distant ties bound her to the Troisville family, and it was to them that she sent Emile, her favored son.  Before her death, in 1818, she commended him to her old-time lover and also to the future Madame de Montcornet, with whom he had been reared. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]