"Excuse me," La Grande suddenly interposed, "but this by no means suits Françoise. My brother must be intentionally shutting his eyes if he can't see that the girl's being defrauded."
"I! what? eh?" stammered Fouan. "I haven't taken a copper of hers, so help me God!"
"I say that Françoise, since her sister's marriage, now nearly five years ago, has been employed as her servant, and that she is entitled to wages."
Buteau sprang up from his seat at this unexpected demand, and Lise almost choked with anger.
"Wages!" she cried; "wages to a sister! That is too ridiculous!"
Monsieur Baillehache hushed them, and declared that the girl was perfectly entitled to claim wages if she chose to do so.
"Yes, I do claim them," said Françoise; "I wish to have everything that is my due."
"But then you must take all her food into account!" cried Buteau, wild with excitement. "She makes short work with bread and meat! Just you feel her, and say if you think that she's got as fat as that on air!"
"And then there's her linen and dresses!" Lise added furiously; "and her washing! Why, she used to sweat so much that she'd soil a chemise in a couple of days."
"If I sweated like that," replied Françoise, with annoyance, "it was because I worked so hard."