“It seems to me a very well-conducted one.”
“It may have occurred to you that a factory at Roubaix might have been a better investment, but I had not the capital to begin with.”
Tantaine nodded. “It is not half a bad trade,” said he.
“I agree with you. In the Rue St. Marguerite you will find more than one similar establishment; but I never cared for the situation of the Faubourg St. Antoine. My little angels find this spot more salubrious.”
“Yes, yes,” answered Tantaine amicably, “and if they howl too much when they are corrected, there are not too many neighbors to hear them.”
Perpignan thought it best to take no notice of this observation. “The papers are always pitching into us,” continued he. “They had much better stick to politics. The fact is, that the profits of our business are tremendously exaggerated.”
“Well, you manage to make a living out of it?”
“I don’t lose, I confess, but I have six little cherubs in hospital, besides the one in the kitchen, and these, of course, are a dead loss to me.”
“That is a sad thing for you,” answered Tantaine gravely.
Perpignan began to be amazed at his visitor’s coolness.