"I put it in the window to-day for the first time," the huge woman answered. "Oh, it is a choice bit. It was painted by a wicked one."
"Who brought it here?"
"Some one who wished to sell it. A passer-by. If it would interest you to know his name"—
— "Yes, certainly, it would interest me to know it," Bernardet replied.
The shop woman looked at Bernardet defiantly and asked this question:
"Do you know the man whose portrait that is?"
"No. I do not know him. But this resembles one of my relatives. It pleases me. How much is it?"
"A hundred francs," said the big woman.
Bernardet suppressed at the same time a sudden start and a smile.
"A hundred francs! Diable! how fast you go. It is worth sous rather than francs."