"And they spoke to her?"
"They exchanged two words."
"Two words! Besides, there is a perfume of the aristocrat here."
"It is the scent of carnations."
"Carnations! what carnations?"
"Why, the citizen had a bunch of them, which perfumed the whole place."
"What citizen?"
"The one who saw the queen pass."
"Oh, the thing is clear; you say the queen! Ma'am Tison; this consorting with aristocrats will be your ruin! Ah, what is this I am treading upon?" continued Simon, stooping down.
"Ah!" said the woman Tison, "it is a flower, a carnation; it must have fallen from the hand of the Citizeness Dixmer, when Marie Antoinette took one from her bouquet."