GODARD (Manon), serving-woman of Mme. de la Chanterie; arrested in 1809, between Alencon and Mortagne, implicated in the Chauffeurs trial which ended in the capital punishment of Mme. des Tours-Minieres, daughter of Mme. de la Chanterie. Manon Godard was sentenced by default to twenty-two years imprisonment, and gave herself up in order not to abandon her mistress. A long time after the baroness was set free, time of Louis Philippe, Manon was still living with her, on rue Chanoinesse, in the house which sheltered Alain, Montauran and Godefroid. [The Seamy Side of History.]
GODDET, retired surgeon-major of the Third regiment of the line; the leading physician of Issoudun in 1823. His son was one of the "Knights of Idlesse." Goddet junior pretended to pay court to Mme. Fichet, in order to reach her daughter who had the best dowry in Issoudun. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
GODEFROID, known by his given name; born about 1806, probably at Paris; son of a wealthy merchant; educated at the Liautard Institution; naturally feeble, morally and physically; tried his hand at and made a failure of: law, governmental work, letters, pleasure, journalism, politics and marriage. At the close of 1836 he found himself poor and forsaken; thereupon he tried to pay his debts and live economically. He left Chaussee-d'Antin and took up his abode on rue Chanoinesse, where he became one of Mme. de la Chanteries' boarders, known as the "Brotherhood of the Consolation." The recommendation of the Monegods, bankers, led to his admission. Abbe de Veze, Montauran, Tresnes, Alain, and above all the baroness initiated him, coached him, and entrusted to him various charitable missions.
Among others, about the middle of the reign of Louis Philippe, he took charge of and relieved the frightful poverty of the Bourlacs and the Mergis, the head of which as an imperial judge in 1809 had sentenced Mme. de la Chanterie and her daughter. After he succeeded with this generous undertaking, Godefroid was admitted to the Brotherhood. [The Seamy Side of History.]
GODENARS (Abbe de), born about 1795; one of the vicars-general of the archbishop of Besancon between 1830 and 1840. From 1835 on he tried to get a bishopric. One evening he was present at the aristocratic salon of the Wattevilles, at the time of the sudden flight of Albert Savarus, caused by their young daughter. [Albert Savarus.]
GODESCHAL (Francois-Claude-Marie), born about 1804. In 1818, at Paris, he was third clerk in the law office of Derville, rue Vivienne, when the unfortunate Chabert appeared upon the scene. [Colonel Chabert.] In 1820, then an orphan and poor, he and his sister, the dancer Mariette, to whom he was devoted, lived on an eighth floor on rue Vielle-du-
Temple. He had already given evidence of a practical temperament, independent and self-seeking, but upright and capable of generous outbursts. [A Bachelor's Establishment.] In 1822, having risen to second clerk, he left Maitre Derville to become head-clerk in Desroches' office, who was greatly pleased with him. Godeschal even undertook to reform Oscar Husson. [A Start in Life.] Six years later, while still Desroches' head-clerk, he drew up a petition wherein Mme. d'Espard prayed a guardian for her husband. [The Commission in Lunacy.] Under Louis Philippe he became one of the advocates of Paris and paid half his fees--1840--proposing to pay the other half with the dowry of Celeste Colleville, whose hand was refused him, despite the recommendation of Cardot the notary. Was engaged for Peyrade, in the purchase of a house near the Madeleine. [The Middle Classes.] About 1845 Godeschal was still practicing, and numbered among his clients the Camusots de Marville. [Cousin Pons.]
GODESCHAL (Marie), born about 1804. She maintained, almost all her life, the nearest and most tender relations with her brother Godeschal the notary. Without relatives or means, she kept house with him in 1820, on the eighth floor of a house on rue Vielle-du-Temple, Paris.
Ambition and love for her brother caused her to become a dancer. She had studied her profession from her tenth year. The famous Vestris instructed her and predicted great things for her. Under the name of Mariette, she was engaged at the Porte-Saint-Martin and the Royal Academy of Music. Her success displeased the famous Begrand. In January, 1821, her angelic beauty, maintained despite her profession, opened to her the doors of the Opera. Then she had lovers. The aristocratic and elegant Maufrigneuse protected her for several years.
Mariette also favored Philippe Bridau and was the innocent cause of a theft committed by him in order to enable him to contend with Maufrigneuse. Four months later she went to London, where she won the rich members of the House of Lords, and returned as premiere to the Academy of Music. She was intimate with Florentine Cabirolle, who often received in the Marais. There it was that Mariette kept Oscar Husson out of serious trouble. Mariette attended many festivities. And at the close of the reign of Louis Philippe, she was still a leading figure in the Opera. [A Bachelor's Establishment. A Start in Life.
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. Cousin Pons.]
GODIN, under Louis Philippe, a Parisian bourgeois engaged in a lively dispute with a friend of La Palferine's. [A Prince of Bohemia.]
GODIN (La), peasant woman of Conches, Burgundy, about 1823, whose cow Vermichel threatened to seize for the Comte de Montcornet. [The Peasantry.]
GODIVET, recorder of registry of Arcis-sur-Aube in 1839. Through the scheming of Pigoult he was chosen as one of two agents for an electoral meeting called by Simon Giguet, one of the candidates, and presided over by Phileas Beauvisage. [The Member for Arcis.]
