Young translator needs help

Hello,

I've got some problems with the beginning of the American short story I am translating.
First of all, I don't understand the meaning of "have up" in the following sentence: "She had up and bought the most notorious of the bad luck palaces on the Grand Canal"
Then there is this reference: the story deals with an old Venetian baronessa who's just bought a magnificent palace for a very low price, so that all aristocrats in town are jealous, although every one likes the old lady, "and for a time Venetian society busied itself regaling the shade of La Rochefoucauld."
Do you think it refers to one of his "Maxims" in particular? It doesn't really ring a bell to a French reader, but maybe is our national author more famous in the USA?

Thanks a lot for your help!!
Nelly

[Tdol]

To me, though I'm a British English speaker, it would have a meaning simiar to selling up, to get rid of one's old life and move to places new.