# Césaire Houlbrèque — Short Fiction character guide

> Césaire Houlbrèque in Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Césaire, Houlbrèque

**First appearance:** 0003-short-fiction

## Snapshot

A sailor who returns from the sea to find his household rearranged, his affections tested, and his old life quietly gone.

## Who they are

Césaire Houlbrèque is a seafaring man whose long absences have left his home in the hands of others. He comes back expecting warmth and familiarity, but finds that time, habit, and other people's needs have reshaped the life he left behind. His bewilderment and slow reckoning with change give the story its melancholy, salt-tinged weight.

## In the story

### [The Wooden Shoes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-wooden-shoes)

Referred to as Maître Césaire Omont, a stout, jovial widower who hires Adélaïde as a servant and later marries her.

### [Saint Anthony](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/saint-anthony)

A neighbor to whom Saint Anthony jokingly offers to sell his 'pig' for thirty francs.

### [The String](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-string)

The man from Manneville to whom the lost pocketbook is returned by Marius Paumelle.

### [A Sale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-sale)

Defendant Brument, a pig breeder, who drunkenly conspires to sell his wife by the cubic meter.

### [For Sale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/for-sale)

The servant who answers the door and tells the story of her master and the missing woman.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii)

Referred to as Césaire Paumelle, a quiet friend who visits Toine daily to play dominoes.

### [Mister Belhomme's Beast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/mister-belhomme-s-beast)

The driver of the stagecoach, nicknamed 'Foxy,' a corpulent, agile man who helps remove the flea and later argues with Belhomme over the fare.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/i)

Determined to marry Céleste Lévesque despite his father's opposition; seeks the priest's help and is relieved when the priest succeeds.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii)

Dies after a prolonged illness, leaving his wife Céleste a widow.

### [Hautot and His Son](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/hautot-and-his-son)

The son of Hautot, who inherits his father's wealth and is tasked with visiting and supporting his father's mistress, leading to an unexpected attraction.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii)

César Hautot, the son, who carries out his father's last request and meets his half-brother.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/cesaire_houlbreque
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters