VALLAGNOSC (MADAME PAUL DE), wife of the preceding.  See Blanche de Boves.

VALQUEYRAS (COMTE DE), a relation of Marquis de Carnavant, who lived in his house.  La Fortune des Rougon.

He was a supporter of the Marquis de Lagrifoul, the Legitimist Deputy for Plassans, who visited him for a fortnight before the election which was dominated by Abbe Faujas.  La Conquete de Plassans.

VALQUEYRAS (MARQUISE DE), in 1873, she was the only representative of a very old family.  She was a widow with a little daughter of six, very rich, and equally parsimonious.  When Doctor Pascal Rougon called on her to ask payment of his fees, he allowed himself to be put off, and even gave advice regarding the health of the child.  Le Docteur Pascal.

VANDERGHAGEN, the medical man employed by the Mining Company of Montsou.  He was so much overworked that it was said he gave his consultations while he was running from place to place.  Germinal.

VANDEUVRES (COMTE XAVIER DE), the last member of a noble family, had gone through a large fortune in Paris.  His racing-stable was famous, as were his losses at the Imperial Club, while his ruin was completed by the vast sums which he spent on Nana.  His final hope was centred on the race for the Grand Prix de Paris in which he was running two horses, Lusignan and a filly named Nana.  Lusignan was the favourite, but Vandeuvres, having arranged his betting, caused the horse to be pulled, so that the filly might win.  The ruse was successful, and Vandeuvres gained a large sum, but suspicions having been aroused, he was warned off the turf and expelled from the Imperial Club.  Driven to madness, the Comte shut himself up in his stable, and, having set it on fire, perished among his horses.  Nana.

VANDORPE, the head stationmaster of the Western Railway Company at Paris.  La Bete Humaine.

VANPOUILLE BROTHERS, a firm of furriers in Rue Neuve-des-Petits Champs, who were practically ruined when Octave Mouret added a fur department to “The Ladies’ Paradise.”  Au Bonheur des Dames.

VANSKA (COMTESSE), a well-known and rich mondaine of the Second Empire.  La Curee.

VANZADE (MADAME), the widow of a general.  She was an old lady, rich, nearly blind, and practically helpless.  At Passy she lived, in a silent old house, a life so retired and regular that it might have been actuated by clockwork.  As she required a companion, her old friend, La Mere des Saints-Anges, recommended Christine Hallegrain to her; but the girl, stifling in that dwelling of rigid piety, ended by running off with her lover, Claude Lantier.  Madame Vanzade died four years later, and the bulk of her fortune went to charities.  L’Oeuvre.

VAQUEZ (JUDITH), an artist’s model who lived in Rue du Rocher.  She was a Jewess, fresh enough in colouring but too thin.  L’Oeuvre.

VAUCOGNE (HECTOR), husband of Estelle Badeuil.  At the time of his marriage, Vaucogne was a junior officer of customs, but when his wife’s parents retired he took over their maison publique.  He left everything to the care of his wife, and after her death the establishment ceased to be prosperous.  In the end he was turned out by his father-in-law, and the business was given to his daughter Elodie, who showed all the family capacity for management.  La Terre.