But Mme Oreille, being in the temper that she was, said:
"It will cost at least eight francs to re-cover it. Eight and eighteen are twenty-six. Just fancy, twenty-six francs for an umbrella! It is utter madness!"
The friend, who was only a poor man of the middle classes, had an inspiration:
"Make your fire insurance pay for it. The companies pay for all articles that are burned, as long as the damage has been done in your own house."
On hearing this advice the little woman calmed down immediately, and then, after a moment's reflection, she said to her husband:
"To-morrow, before going to your office, you will go to the Maternelle Insurance Company, show them the state your umbrella is in, and make them pay for the damage."
M. Oreille fairly jumped, he was so startled at the proposal.
"I would not do it for my life! It is eighteen francs lost, that is all. It will not ruin us."
The next morning he took a walking-stick when he went out, for, luckily, it was a fine day.
Left at home alone, Mme Oreille could not get over the loss of her eighteen francs by any means. She had put the umbrella on the dining-room table, and she looked at it without being able to come to any determination.