In January of 1862, Estelle married Joseph Davis Balfour, the nephew of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Feigenbaum 279). As an officer in the Confederate army, Balfour was killed in the battle of Corinth in October of that year, leaving Estelle with child. The newly widowed Estelle then met Rene Degas, her cousin, while she was in exile in Paris. Against his father’s wishes, Rene returned to New Orleans with the Mussons; they married in a against their parents’ advice and without the blessings of the Catholic Church, which forbade cousins from marrying.
They appeared to have had a normal marriage until their move to Esplanade in 1869. In Esplanade, Rene became acquainted with the married America Olivier, who read to Estelle newspapers, novels, and prayer books because Estelle’s vision was severely impaired. In 1878, Rene eloped with America, leaving Estelle to deal with five children; they obtained “Utah Divorce papers” and married bigamously in Ohio. according to letters kept in Tulane University’s archive, Michel and Desiree Musson implored Degas to send them the whereabouts of Degas, but to no avail.
Could Degas have known about Rene's affair even before he left Estelle? His painting The Rehearsal of a Song surely indicates he did. In it, Degas portrays two women in a play with an indiscriminant man sitting at the piano. Some critics suggest that these three characters are actually Estelle, America and Rene (from left), and Benfey argues that this is a painting “signifying the plight of his brother, René, caught between the two women of his life and cowering behind Mme. Olivier and the piano that linked her with him” (qtd. Feigenbaum 240). Thus, Estelle's misfortunes are only worsened by the fact that some of her family members knew of them before she did.
Images:
Degas, Edgar. The Rehearsal of a Song. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington DC., 1872-73.