Custody case

1828 year. In Paris, friends Oras Bianchon and Eugene de Rastink discuss a 33-year-old Marquise d'Espard, nee Blamont-Chauvry, for the sake of which the latter is preparing to leave Baroness de Noussingen because of her nobility, beauty and 100 thousand livres of annual income. However, Bianchon warns a friend about her insensibility, hypocrisy, selfishness and existing debts. He also mentions her attempts through him to influence his uncle Jean-Jules Popino, who is playing a leading role in the upcoming trial of custody of her 50-year-old husband. Rastignac remains his own and friends part, Bianchon decides to fulfill the request of the Marquise without violating his own conscience.

The next morning, Horace goes to his uncle, the investigator of the court of first instance of the Senate Department , before that a former member of the supreme imperial court, a reserve and ordinary judge, as well as a member of the charity committee and a philanthropic society. In his house on Fuar Street, in secret from all, Popino provides assistance to the destitute, widows and orphans, which takes most of his income. During his life he was famous for his kindness, honesty and lack of ambition, and in his court decisions he took into account the letter of the law and the circumstances of the case itself, which he always preferred to fully understand. Bianchon invites his uncle to dinner at the Marquise, but he does not want to violate the judicial regulations and, together with his nephew, decides to study her petition. In the document, the Marquis d'Espard is accused of insanity and insanity on the basis of the following actions:

• income from his lands without any reason or explanation is transferred to Madame Genreno and her son, a member of the imperial guard, to whom the marquis obtained the position of squadron commander of the first cuirassier regiment of the royal guard and arranged a marriage with the daughter of banker Montgeno after granting the groom the title of baron by king Charles X. From 1814 to 1828, a million francs were spent on mother and son Genreno, who had previously lived in poverty, attorney Blamon-Chauvry Déroche hinted at the seduction of the Marquis by Mrs. Genre.
• Since 1815, the Marquis with his sons, 16-year-old Count Clement d'Espar and Viscount Camille d'Espar, moved to Montagnes-Saint-Genevieve Street in a house where he lives in poor conditions (the inventory of property carried out by the bailiff is mentioned).
• For ten years now, he is obsessed with the history of China , the customs and mores of this country, which is why he begins to get confused in current events. He is also involved in the publication of the magazine "Picturesque History of China", which is deeply unprofitable.
• Children are forced to learn according to the will of their father, they are allowed to see their mother only once a year.

Under the persuasion of his nephew, Popino agrees to visit the Marquise with him on the evening of the next day, thereby not violating the charter. In her mansion, they meet Rastignac and the Chevalier d'Espard, who is the brother of the Marquis. Blamon-Chovri tells the investigator that in 1816 her husband suggested she relocate to the estate near Briancon, and after refusing and reproaching him left with the children, leaving her his mansion and annual income of 26 thousand livres. The Marquise accuses Mrs. Genreño of misting the mind of her husband, who, before meeting with her, was distinguished by ambition and had every chance of achieving a high position and honorable posts. Popino manages to talk to a noblewoman, who ultimately estimates her own annual expenses of 60 thousand francs (like that of her husband who had ruined her genre) and admits the absence of any power of attorney from her husband to manage his possessions and visit her sons twice a year (for the new year) and her birthday). The investigator tells her that from the foregoing, the true reason for filing the application is revealed - the desire to cover the accumulated debts, after which she names their amount (50 thousand francs) and the name of the future guardian (Chevalier d'Espar). At the end of the conversation, she accuses Popino of doubts about her in displeasure and advises to question the Marquis d'Espard himself. On the way back, Jean-Jules tells Bianchon that the real debts of Blamon-Chauvry, the instrument in the hands of the Marquis’s brother, amount to 100 thousand francs.

The next day, Mrs. Genreno comes to Popino, who has a repulsive appearance due to experienced asthma and smallpox . The Marquis himself forbade her to tell anyone about the reasons for his generosity to her family, but having learned about the upcoming process, she is ready to return everything spent on them by this righteous man . The investigator believes in her honesty and decides to interrogate the Marquis the next day, but because of the common cold she puts off her visit for one day.

Further, the author describes the new residence of the Marquis and his sons on the street Montaigne-Saint-Genevieve. The nobleman, along with his servants, leads a secluded life, thereby setting other residents against himself. Due to the forgetfulness of d'Espard, they organized an inventory of the property due to non-payment of their monthly rent, the news of which was then distributed to his business partners. Popino comes to d'Esparov’s apartment and begins a conversation with the Marquis, according to which:

• after the wedding with Blamon-Chevry, she quickly made debts and forced her to take a loan, after which the Marquis had to take care of the family’s financial affairs on her own.
• while studying land documents of the Negreplis’s ancestral home and old letters, the Marquis learned about a shameful episode from the history of his ancestors: after the abolition of the Nantes Edict, his grandfather as a favorite received Negreplis’s possession of the Protestant family as a gift, and the former owner Genreño was executed thanks to a scam marquise and local governor. The current Marquis managed to find in Switzerland the only heirs to the murdered Protestant, and for the sake of restoring the honor of the family, he decides to pay them the value of the lost land. Genre agree, but in the calculations require the use of a lower price of land during their transfer to d'Espar from Louis XIV, equal to 1.1 million francs. This amount has recently been final paid.
• Blamon-Chevry refused her husband’s offer to go to the provinces and make payments to the Genreno family, considering his husband crazy. Seeing her true moral qualities, he pays his debts and breaks up with her, taking his children with him.
• the family’s apartment turns out to be quite decent, and the publication of “The Picturesque History of China” is a profitable business and is conducted in partnership with an experienced publisher. The d'Esparais young brothers will enter the high society and resume communication with their mother, who herself avoids them as evidence of her true age, and will also achieve a political career in an honest way after graduating and exploring the world.

Mrs. Genreno arrives in d'Esparov’s apartment to warn them of an impending trial. However, Popino reassures her and explains that the actions of the Marquis do not allow him to enter custody. Before leaving, he advises d'Espar to return to his former life and remove Blamont-Chevry from under the influence of others.

The next day, Popino comes to the Palace of Justice to the chairman of the court with a written opinion on this case. But he learned from the keeper of the press that Popino, while visiting the Marquise d'Espard, drank tea from her, and, for the sake of judicial discipline, the chairman asked him to submit a petition for his own withdrawal in exchange for receiving the long-deserved cross of the Legion of Honor . The successor to the investigator is the recently transferred from the province of Camuso, in which Popino immediately saw dishonesty and ambition .

The story “The Custody Case” was published in the Paris Chronicle newspaper from January 31 to February 18, 1836, and in the same year it was published in the volume of Philosophical Studies. In 1839, it was reprinted in the second volume of The Scenes of Parisian Life, remaining there in the 1844 edition. In the following editions of The Human Comedy, by the will of the author, she entered the Scenes of Private Life ^[1] .

Horace Bianchon, Eugene de Rastignac and the Marquise d'Espard appear in many works of The Human Comedy, the first two characters are the protagonists of The Depths of Atheist and Father Gorio . Camuso is the hero of the works “ Museum of Antiquities ”, “ Shine and Poverty of Courtesans ”, “ Cousin Pons ” and others. The fate and trial of the Marquis d'Espard is described in “Shine and Poverty of Courtesans”.

• TV film “The Custody Case”, directed by Jean-Daniel Verhack (1993)