SEPHERD (Carl), name assumed by Charles Grandet in the Indies, the United States, Africa, etc., while he was in the slave-trading business. [Eugenie Grandet.]
SERIZY, or Serisy (Comte Hugret de), born in 1765, descended in direct line from the famous President Hugret, ennobled under Francois I. The motto of this family was "I, semper melius eris," so that the final /s/ of /melius/, the word /eris/, and the /I/ of the beginning, represented the name (Serizy) of the estate that had been made a county. A son of a first president of Parliament (who died in 1794), Serizy was himself, as early as 1787, a member of the Grand Council; he did not emigrate during the Revolution, but remained in his estate of Serizy, near Arpajon; became a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and afterwards of the Council of State. The Empire made him a count and a senator. Hugret de Serizy was married, in 1806, to Leontine de Ronquerolles, the widow of General Gaubert. This union made him the brother-in-law of the Marquis de Ronquerolles, and the Marquis du Rouvre. Every honor was alloted to him in course; chamberlain under the Empire, he afterwards became vice-president of the Council of State, peer of France, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and member of the Privy Council. The glorious career of Serizy, who was an unusually industrious person, did not offer compensation for his domestic misfortunes. Hard work and protracted vigils soon aged the high functionary, who was ever unable to win his wife's heart; but he loved her and sheltered her none the less constantly. It was chiefly to avenge her for the indiscretion of the volatile young Oscar Husson, Moreau's godson, that he discharged the not overhonest steward of Presles. [A Start in Life.] The system of government that succeeded the Empire increased Serizy's influence and renown; he was an intimate friend of the Bauvans and the Grandvilles. [A Bachelor's Establishment. Honorine. Modeste Mignon.] His weakness in matters concerning his wife was such that he assisted her in person, when, in May, 1830, she hastened to the Conciergerie in the hope of saving her lover, Lucien de Rubempre, and entered the cell where the young man had just committed suicide. Serizy even consented to be executor of the poet's will. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
SERIZY (Comtesse de), wife of the preceding, born Leontine de Ronquerolles about 1784, sister of the Marquis du Ronquerolles; married, as her first husband, General Gaubert, one of the most illustrious soldiers of the Republic; married a second time, when quite young, but could never entertain any feeling stronger than respect for M. de Serizy, her second husband, by whom, however, she had a son, an officer, who was killed during the reign of Louis Philippe. [A Start in Life.] Worldly and brilliant, and a worthy rival of Mesdames de Beauseant, de Langeais, de Maufrigneuse, de Carigliano, and d'Espard, Leontine de Serizy had several lovers, among them being Auguste de Maulincour, Victor d'Aiglemont and Lucien de Rubempre. [The Thirteen. Ursule Mirouet. A Woman of Thirty.] This last liaison was a very stormy one. Lucien acquired considerable influence over Madame de Serizy, and made use of it to reach the Marquise d'Espard, by effecting an annulment of the decree which she had obtained against her husband, the Marquis d'Espard, placing him under guardianship. And so it was that, during Rubempre's imprisonment and after his suicide, she suffered the bitterest anguish. Leontine de Serizy almost broke the bars of the Conciergerie, insulted Camusot, the examining magistrate, and seemed to be beside herself. The intervention of Jacques Collin saved her and cured her, when three famous physicians, Messieurs Bianchon, Desplein, and Sinard declared themselves powerless to relieve her. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] During the winter the Comtesse de Serizy lived on the Chaussee-d'Antin; during the summer at Serizy, her favorite residence, or still more at Presles, and sometimes near Nemours in Le Rouvre, the seat of the family of that name. Being a neighbor, in Paris, of Felicite des Touches, she was a frequent visitor of that emulator of George Sand, and was at her house when Marsay related the story of his first love-affair, taking part herself in the conversation. [Another Study of Woman.] Being a maternal aunt of Clementine du Rouvre, Madame de Serizy gave her a handsome dowry when she married Laginski; with her brother Ronquerolles, at his home on the rue de la Pepiniere, she met Thaddee Paz, the Pole's comrade. [The Imaginary Mistress.]
SERIZY (Vicomte de), only son of the preceding couple, graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1825, and entered the cavalry regiment of the Garde Royale, by favor, as sub-lieutenant, under command of the Duc de Maufrigneuse; at this time Oscar Husson, nephew of Cardot, entered the same regiment as a private. [A Start in Life.] In October, 1829, Serizy, being an officer in the company of the guards stationed at Havre, was instructed to inform M. de Verneuil, proprietor of some well-stocked Norman "preserves," that Madame could not participate in the chase that he had organized. Having become enamored of Diane de Maufrigneuse, the viscount found her at Verneuil's house; she received his attentions, as a means of avenging herself on Leontine de Serizy, then mistress of Lucien de Rubempre. [Modeste Mignon.] Being advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of a cavalry regiment, he was severely wounded at the disastrous battle of Macta, in Africa (June 26, 1835), and died at Toulon as a result of his wounds. [The Imaginary Mistress. A Start in Life.]
SERVAIS, the only good gilder in Paris, according to Elie Magus, whose advice he heeded; he had the good sense to use English gold, which is far better than the French. Like the book-binder, Thouvenin, he was in love with his own work. [Cousin Pons.]
