,
and Denizet, the examining magistrate, endeavoured to fasten the crime
on Cabuche. For political reasons it was not considered desirable that
Grandmorin's character should be publicly discussed, and the inquiry
regarding the murder was dropped. Roubaud was aware, however, that
Jacques Lantier had strong suspicions, and tried to secure his silence
by making him a friend; a friendship which soon developed into a
liaison between Lantier and Severine. With the murder of Grandmorin,
the disintegration of Roubaud's character began; he gradually became a
confirmed gambler, and having lost all his own money began to use that
which he had taken from the body of his victim in order to establish
a false motive for the crime. The relations between him and his wife
became more and more strained, until they reached such a pitch that
Lantier and she planned his murder. The homicidal frenzy of Lantier, to
which Severine fell a victim, ended the plot, but Roubaud and Cabuche,
who arrived on the scene immediately after the murder, were arrested
under what appeared to be suspicious circumstances, and, after trial,
were sentenced to penal servitude for a crime which they did not commit.
La Bete Humaine.

ROUBAUD (MADAME), wife of the preceding. See Severine Aubry. La Bete
Humaine.

ROUDIER, a regular attender at the political meetings held in the
Rougons' yellow drawing-room. La Fortune des Rougon.

ROUGE D'AUNEAU (LE), lieutenant of Beau-Francois, leader of the band of
brigands. He wrote a complaint while in prison. La Terre.

ROUGETTE, a cow bought by the sisters Mouche at the market of Cloyes. La
Terre.

ROUGON, a young gardener who worked for the Fouque family, and
afterwards married Adelaide. Fifteen months afterwards he died from
sunstroke, leaving a son named Pierre. La Fortune des Rougon.

ROUGON, alias SACCARD (ARISTIDE), born 1815, youngest son of Pierre
Rougon, was educated, like his brothers, at Plassans and Paris, but
failed to pass his examinations. His character was a combination of
covetousness and slyness: his greatest desire was the acquisition of
rapid fortune, gained without work. In 1836 he married Angele Sicardot,
who brought him a dowry of ten thousand francs. As Aristide did no work,
and lived extravagantly, the money was soon consumed, and he and his
wife were in such poverty that he was at last compelled to seek a
situation. He procured a place at the Sub-Prefecture, where he remained
nearly ten years, a