ALBINE, niece of Jeanbernat, keeper of the Paradou, a neglected demesne in Provence.  Her father had ruined himself and committed suicide when she was nine years old, and she then came to live with her uncle.  She grew up in that vast garden of flowers, herself its fairest, almost in ignorance of the world outside, and when Abbe Mouret came to the Paradou forgetful of his past, she loved him unconsciously from the first.  As she nursed him towards health, and his mind began again to grow from that fresh starting-point to which it had been thrown back, there developed an idyll as beautiful and as innocent as that which had its place in another and an earlier garden.  The awakening of Abbe Mouret to the recollections of his priesthood ended the romance, for the call of his training was too strong for his love.  One effort Albine made to bring him back, and it was successful in so much that one day he returned to the Paradou.  Again there followed the struggle between the flesh and the Church, and again the Church prevailed.  Broken-hearted, Albine passed for the last time through her loved garden, gathering as she went vast heaps of flowers.  More and more she gathered, till her room was nearly full; then, closing the door and windows, she lay down amongst the flowers, and allowed herself to be suffocated by their overpowering perfume.  La Faute de l’Abbe Mouret.

ALEXANDRE, a porter at the Halles Centrales, where he became a friend of Claude Lantier.  He was involved along with Florent and Gavard in the revolutionary meetings at Lebigre’s wine-shop, and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.  Le Ventre de Paris.

ALEXANDRE, one of the warders at the asylum of Les Tulettes.  He was a friend of Antoine Macquart, and at his request allowed Francois Mouret to escape from the asylum, with disastrous results to Abbe Faujas and his relations.  La Conquete de Plassans.

ALEXANDRE, a boy employed in the shop known as Au Bonheur des Dames.  Pot-Bouille.

AMADIEU, a speculator on the Paris Bourse who made a fortune by a rash purchase of mining stock.  He went into the affair without calculation or knowledge, but his success made him revered by the entire Bourse.  He placed no more orders, however, but seemed to be satisfied with his single victory.  L’Argent.

AMANDA, one of the singers at a cafe concert in Boulevard Rochechouart.  L’Assommoir.

AMELIE, a demi-mondaine who lodged at the Hotel Vanneau, which was kept by Madame Correur.  Son Excellence Eugene Rougon.

AMELIE, wife of a journeyman carpenter who occupied a little room at the top of Vabre’s tenement-house in Rue Choiseul.  Pot-Bouille.

ANDRE (LE PERE), an old countryman at Chavanoz, the village where Miette spent her childhood.  La Fortune des Rougon.

ANGELE (SISTER), a nun attached to the infirmary of the college of Plassans.  Her Madonna-like face turned the heads of all the older pupils, and one morning she disappeared with Hermeline, a student of rhetoric.  L’Oeuvre.