“Did I do it all right?” asked she.
“Hush!” answered he, pushing her quickly into her lodge, the door of which stood open. “Hush! are you mad or drunk, to talk like this, when you do not know who is listening?”
“I hope you were pleased with my success,” continued the woman, aghast at his sudden anger.
“You did well—very well; you piled up the evidence perfectly. I shall have an excellent report to make of you to M. Mascarin.”
“I am so glad; and now my husband and I are quite safe?”
The old man shook his head with an air of doubt.
“Well, I can hardly say that yet; the master’s arm is long and strong; but you have numerous enemies. All the servants in the house hate you, and would be glad to see you come to grief.”
“Is that really so, sir? How can that be, for both I and my husband have been very kind to all of them?”
“Yes, perhaps you have been lately, but how about the times before? You and your husband both acted very foolishly. Article 386 cannot be got now, and two women can swear that they saw you and your husband, with a bunch of keys in your hand, on the second floor.”
The fat woman’s face turned a sickly yellow, she clasped her hands, and whined in tones of piteous entreaty,—