The Guermantes Way: III p 252-63

Turkish Merchant Smoking in His Shop 

p 252-3 | Dreyfus Case; brief history of Jews in France (wiki is here)

p 253 | Molière's Mascarille

p 253 | Alexandre Decamp  >>>

p 254 | Garments of Assyrian scribes on a frieze from Susa

p 255-56 | Louis XVIII et le duc Decazes, 1815-1820 by Ernest Daudet;

Louis Élie Decazes (1780-1860), favorite of Louis XVIII. Murder will gradually lead to the fall of Decazes and his political career. Indeed, 13 February 1820, the Duc de Berry was assassinated by a worker saddler, Louvel. Press unleashed against Decazes then accused of being responsible for the assassination of the Duc de Berry. For the Bourbon dynasty, the event is even more serious for the Duc de Berry was the only one able to provide offspring to the dynasty. In addition, the emergency laws proposed by Decazes are rejected by the House. Decazes has no choice and is forced to resign. These events mark the end of the political career of a man whose principal merit has been to understand the duration of a regime depends on an understanding of the various forces of the nation. (Google translation of Wiki from the French)

Decazes

p 255 | M. de Castries would have been Charles de La Croix de Castries.

p 255 | The Duc de Berry, who was assassinated.

p 255 | The Duchesse de Berry, who Mme de Villeparisis's father wanted to dance with.

Molé

p 256 | Count Louis-Mathieu Molé, French politician & Academician (1781-1855).

p 258-9 | Queen of Sweden in 1894 (Sophia of Nassau)

p 259 | Henri d'Orleans, Duc d'Aumale (French general & historian, 4th son of Louis-Philippe, 1822-97).

p 259  | Achille Charles Léon Victor, Duc de Broglie (French statesman, 1785-1870)

p 259 | Adolphe Thiers (French historian, President of the Republic 1797-1877)

p 259 | Monseigneur Félix Dupanloup (French theologian, 1802-78)

p 259 | Charles Forbes (1810-70), was a French publicist, historian and Count of Montalembert.

p 259 | The Eastern Question

p 263 | Messalinas... Valeria Messalina (c. 17/20–48) was a Roman empress as the 3rd wife of Emperor Claudius. Also related to Emperor Nero, Emperor Caligula, Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation for promiscuity, she conspired against her husband and was executed when the plot was discovered.

p 263 | Parcae:  In ancient Roman religion and myth, the Parcae were the female personifications of destiny, often called the Fates: Nona, Decima, and Morta.