Louis D'Aboville's life proved to be miserable from the start. Louis was born the illegitimate son of Albert Fabrice D'Aboville and Lorraine Guillot on February 3rd, 1804. Albert D'Aboville was the grandson of the great Joseph D'Aboville, who amassed a fortune selling Chinese pottery to the Western world (it is still debated whether the porcelain sold was genuine). Albert D'Aboville was married to Vivien D'Aboville Brian at the time of his affair with his maid, Lorraine Guillot, which spanned from 1800 up to Louis' birth. On the night of Louis' birth, Vivien writes that Albert 'came to the door with a swaddled baby, still covered in blood... I asked him where the baby came from, and he did naught but shove the baby towards me and demand that I clean and care for it.'
Vivien cared for young Louis as if he were her own. In fact, Vivien herself was expecting, and she found that raising Louis was valuable practice for when she had her own child. It is believed that Vivien was unaware of Albert's infidelities until several months elapsed, and she found Lorraine— who, at this point, was still working for the D'Aboville's— nursing the child. She had been desperately trying to convince herself that Louis was simply an orphan, and not the bastard son of her beloved husband. It had been of her opinion that Lorraine was just a maid, and not a well-known one at that, and seeing that Lorraine's child was in her house, Vivien came to the conclusion that Albert was involved with the servant in ways she was unaware of.
When he was confronted, Albert admitted that Louis was his son and that he had been having an affair with Lorraine. Vivien was aptly horrified, but hesitant to ruin her husband's— and in turn her— reputation, she stayed quiet. This did significantly change her feelings towards the infant Louis. Vivien was a gentle woman and would never consider throwing out a child, but the knowledge that he was the offspring of her husband and another woman lessened her love for him. With new repugnance, she fed him, cleaned him, played with him, and put him to bed. She even allowed Lorraine to remain under her employment until Louis was a year and half and no longer had to be nursed. In the meantime, though, Vivien kept a close eye on her husband and his whereabouts. Lorraine Guillot was dismissed once Louis was weened, and it would be many years until she saw her son again.
To the public, Louis was presented as the biological and very legitimate son of Albert and Vivien. They would have liked to preserve the myth that Louis was an orphan they graciously took in except that he bore a striking resemblance to his father. Since his sister Camille was born only seven months after he was on September 19th, 1804, the D'Aboville family hid her existence from the public eye for the first two months of her life. Her official birthday was known as December 19th, even to her.
Louis would later write that he felt emotionally neglected in his household. Though he was given everything he wanted, he was never given the love of his parents. It is certainly true that Albert tried to distance himself and much as possible for the boy, but it seemed that Vivien tried her hardest to love him. She showed support for his early writing and tended to during his many bouts of illness. This did not mean she wasn't extremely distant at times. Louis's sister, Camille noted that 'Mother seems to talk less, smile less, and laugh less when Louis is in the room. It makes one think that he had hurt her in some way and she can't quite forgive him.' Of course, Vivien's anger was mainly towards her unfaithful husband and Louis acted as a reminder of his treachery. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't separate the two in her mind.
Louis did not know this, so from a young he too wondered why Vivien's smiles were forced when directed at him, but easy and natural when it beamed upon his younger sisters. Louis developed an inferiority complex from this, feeling that nothing her could do would make his mother proud. This was quite possibly his first obsession with recognition, which would later spread to wanting to make the whole world aware of him.
Albert did not make half as much effort to raise his son as did Vivien. He avoided his son, and when he couldn't, he would create such an insidious environment that Louis would have no choice but to avoid him. Albert was brutally honest with Louis, comparing his work as a young boy to that of professionals. If Louis, at the age of six, presented his father with a drawing, Albert would berate him on the proportions and line work. Louis sought to please him too, but it never became the crusade as it did with his mother. In a sense, Louis was treated akin to his siblings when it came to their father. The existence of Louis had driven a wedge between Albert and Vivien, which forever drove them apart from each other. Albert had no interest in domestic affairs, his children, or his wife. Rarely did he eat dinner with his family because he was usually out drinking. When the D'Abovilles were invited to parties, Albert acted like a saint to maintain image, but in truth, his family regarded him as a stranger. One of Albert's chief irritants was his lack of a legitimate male heir. Though he had a male heir, Albert was troubles with thinking that his family fortune would be wasted on a good-for-nothing bastard. Albert regarded Louis as a mistake but was unable to take responsibility for him. His next to children were female, which came as a sore disappointment for him.
Louis' only good family relations were with his younger sisters. He got on especially well with Camille by nature of being near in age and having the same interests. His youngest sister, Evelyn (born in 1808), was more analytical than her siblings, and though she cared deeply for them, she often found that their conversations lacked substance and intrigue.
