Soon after he married Felicite Peuch, a
woman of great shrewdness and keen intelligence, by whom he had three
sons (Eugene, Aristide, and Pascal) and two daughters (Marthe and
Sidonie). Pierre Rougon was not particularly prosperous, but his eldest
son, Eugene, went to Paris and became mixed up in the Bonapartist plots
which led to the _Coup d'Etat_ of 1851. He was consequently able to give
his parents early information as to the probable course of events, and
the result of their action was to lay the foundations of the family
fortune.
The scene of the book is the Provencal town of Plassans, and the tragic
events attending the rising of the populace against the _Coup d'Etat_
are told with accuracy and knowledge. There is a charming love idyll
between Silvere Mouret, a son of Ursule Macquart, and a young girl named
Miette, both of whom fall as victims in the rising which followed the
_Coup d'Etat_.
Mr. E. A. Vizetelly, in his introduction to the English translation of
_The Conquest of Plassans_ (London: Chatto & Windus), points out that
almost every incident in _The Fortune of the Rougons_ is based upon
historical fact.
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