“’Twas Firmin, eh?” interrupted Mathieu.
“Wait a moment. Don’t be in such a rush. At first I felt too frightened to go to see who it was, but——”
“I believe you,” cried Andoche, rudely interrupting him. “Well, go on.”
“Well, soon I heard my name called.”
“That reassured you.”
“A little, but not much. It was my wife Charlotte——”
“Ah! We all know she isn’t afraid of any man.”
“No, not she. She said, ‘Go and see who it is, goose, or I will get up and go myself.’”
“Then you decided to open the door, of course.”
“Not quite yet; but Charlotte was just about getting up, so——”