“Show yourself a moment,” continued Lisa, who was furious, “so that I may shy it back in your ugly face!”
Then Adèle went and leant out of her kitchen window.
“There’s a fuss about a bit of rag! To begin with, I only used it for washing up with yesterday. And then it fell out by accident.” They made peace together, and Lisa asked her what they had had for dinner at her place the day before. Another stew! What misers! She would have ordered chops for herself, if she had been in such a hole! She was forever inciting Adèle to sneak the sugar, the meat, the candles, just to show that she could do as she liked; as for herself, never being hungry, she left Victoire to rob the Campardons, without even taking her share.
“Oh!” said Adèle, who was gradually becoming corrupted, “the other night I hid some potatoes in my pocket. They quite burnt my leg. It was jolly, it was jolly! And, you know, I like vinegar, I do. I don’t care, I drink it out of the cruet now.”
Victoire came and leant out in her turn, as she finished drinking some cassis mixed with brandy, which Lisa treated her to now and then of a morning, to pay her for concealing her day and night escapades. And, as Louise thrust out her tongue at them from the depths of Madame Juzeur’s kitchen, Victoire was at once down upon her.
“Wait a bit! you street foundling; I’ll shove your tongue somewhere for you!”
“Come along, then, old swiller!” retorted the little one. “I saw you yesterday bringing it all up again in your plate.”
At this, the rush of foul words again rebounded from wall to wall of the pestiferous hole. Adèle herself, who was mastering the Paris gift of the gab, called Louise a filthy drab, whilst Lisa yelled out:
“I’ll make her shut up if she bothers us. Yes, yes, little strumpet, I’ll tell Clémence. She’ll settle you. But, hush! here’s the man. He’s a nice, dirty beast, he is!”
Hippolyte, just then appeared at the Duveyriers’ window, blacking his master’s boots. The other servants, in spite of everything, were polite to him, for he belonged to the aristocracy, and he despised Lisa, who, in her turn, despised Adèle, with more haughtiness than rich masters show to masters in difficulties. They asked him for news of Mademoiselle Clémence and Mademoiselle Julie. Well! really, they were almost bored to death there, but they were pretty well. Then, jumping to another subject, he asked: