“Nothing doing here,” I replied with a laugh.
“Aw, come on an’ oblige the young lady, won’t ya?” he pleaded.
I wished then that I had left when this intercourse began, but it was too late now. “No,” I repeated. “I don’t want to go, Ben. Can’t spare the money now anyway.”
“Aw, maybe they won’t want anything but a coupla drinks o’ vin rouge,” he argued. Then he turned to her. “Combien?”
“Oo ... vingt-cinq francs ... fine, yes?”
Ben exploded. “Twenty-five francs! Fine, hell! Say, do ya think we look like generals?”
I thought this was my way out, so I joined in the protest. “We haven’t seen that many francs for a month. You’re too high-priced for us, mam’selle.”
But the mademoiselle had allowed for a possible reduction and immediately disclosed that fact when she faced me to say, “Well, for you may-be, I make special price. Ten francs?”
“No—no—and again no!” I told her. “It’s not worth that much to me. I wouldn’t give ten francs for the best woman in the world!” I thought this was a pretty convincing bit of hard-boiledness.
“No?” she expressed her disbelief, and looked almost hungrily into my eyes. “Ah, but you do not know!... It ees worth plenty more than that!... You see ... you do not like, I geeve you ten francs, yes?”