“Ah! the heartless thing! she stops in a place where they don’t give you enough to eat! On my word, it’s that which exasperates me against her! You’re such a fool, you should send ’em to blazes!”
Adèle’s eyes filled with tear’s.
“You can only talk nonsense,” stammered she. “It’s not my fault if I don’t get enough to eat.”
And the voices swelled, unpleasant words commenced to be exchanged between Lisa and the new servant, Françoise, who stuck up for Adèle, when the latter, forgetting the abuse heaped upon her, and yielding to party instinct, called out: “Look out! here’s madame!”
The silence of the tomb ensued. They all immediately plunged back into their kitchens; and from the dark chasm of the narrow courtyard all that ascended was the stench of the dirty sinks, like the exhalation of the hidden abominations of the families, stirred up there by the spite of the hirelings. It was the sewer of the house, the shames of which it carried off, whilst the masters were still lounging in their slippers, and the grand staircase unfolded the solemnity of its flights, in the silent suffocation of the hot air stove. Octave recalled the blast of uproar he received full in the face, when entering the Campardons’ kitchen, the day of his arrival.
“They are very nice,” said he simply.
And, leaning out in his turn, he looked at the walls, as though annoyed at not having at once read through them, behind the imitation marble and the mouldings bright with gilding.
“Where the devil has she stowed them away?” repeated Trublot who had searched everywhere for his white kid gloves.
At length, he discovered them at the bottom of the bed itself, flattened out and quite warm. He gave a last glance in the glass, went and hid the key in the place agreed upon, right at the end of the passage, underneath an old sideboard left behind by some lodger, and led the way downstairs, accompanied by Octave. After passing the Josserands’ door, on the grand staircase, he recovered all his assurance, with his overcoat buttoned up to the neck to hide his dress clothes and white tie.
“Good-bye, my dear fellow,” said he raising his voice. “I felt anxious, so I just looked in to hear how the ladies were. They passed a very good night. Good-bye.”