Page:Repertory of the Comedie Humaine.djvu/164

 mother expired from the shock of having received instead of her son the conscript Julien Jussieu. (The Conscript)

DIARD (Pierre-Francois), born in the suburbs of Nice; the son of a merchant-provost; quartermaster of the Sixth regiment of the line, in 1808, then chief of battalion in the Imperial Guard; retired with this rank on account of a rather severe wound received in Germany; afterwards an administrator and business man; excessive gambler. Husband of Juana Mancini who had been the mistress of Captain Montefiore, Diard's most intimate friend. In 1823, at Bordeaux, Diard killed and robbed Montefiore, whom he met by accident. Upon his return home he confessed his crime to his wife who vainly besought him to commit suicide; and she herself finally blew out his brains with a pistol shot. (The Maranas)

DIARD (Maria-Juana-Pepita), daughter of La Marana, a Venetian courtesan, and a young Italian nobleman, Mancini, who acknowledged her. Wife of Pierre-Francois Diard whom she accepted on her mother's request, after having given herself to Montefiore who did not wish to marry her. Juana had been reared very strictly in the Spanish home of Perez de Lagounia, at Tarragone, and she bore her father's name. She was the descendant of a long line of courtesans, a feminine branch that had never made legal marriages. The blood of her ancestors was in her veins; she showed this involuntarily by the way in which she yielded to Montefiore. Although she did not love her husband, yet she remained entirely faithful to him, and she killed him for honor's sake. She had two children. (The Maranas)

DIARD (Juan), first child of Mme. Diard. Born seven months after his mother's marriage, and perhaps the son of Montefiore. He was the image of Juana, who secretly petted him extravagantly, although she pretended to like her younger son the better. By a "species of admirable flattery" Diard had made Juan his choice. (The Maranas)

DIARD (Francisque), second son of M. and Mme. Diard, born in Paris. A counterpart of his father, and the favorite&mdash;only outwardly&mdash;of his mother. (The Maranas)