"Yes, monsieur."
"Has M. Louis' family consented to the marriage?"
"M. Louis has no one to consult but his father, and we hope he will not refuse his consent."
"And what kind of a man is he?"
"The best of fathers—so M. Louis tells me—and a man who endures his poverty most courageously, although he once had a comfortable home. But M. Louis and his father are now as poor as godmother and myself; and this is why we expect no opposition to our marriage. No difficulty can arise between poor people."
"It seems to me that your godmother does not make life very happy for you, my child."
"What will you? it is so natural to be ill-humored when one suffers incessantly and life is but a continual round of misfortunes."
"Is she a cripple?"
"She has lost one hand, besides being afflicted with a lung disease which has kept her confined to her bed for more than a year."
"How did she lose that hand?"