When he came inside he saw the bakery woman talking across the counter with a boy who carried a basket of vegetables.
“Tell your master that I say he is getting almost too fine for his old friends, judging by the cake he has ordered for next week!” the woman was saying, and the boy answered:
“It’s not for himself. It’s for the seed merchant where we stay when we come in with produce. Some of his friends are coming together next week for a dispute and supper!”
The bakery woman shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s all they do, waste good time chattering like a set of magpies. Well, they’ll have the cake, never fear! Now you can go to the back and take a cup of coffee and a croissant, if you’ve a mind to. Only do get that big basket out of the way, and quickly, too. You’re right in front of a customer.”
The boy went through the shop to the back where he found himself in the midst of general confusion.
Humphrey selected a good-sized sponge cake topped with almond icing. It was expensive and he counted out his coins ruefully. He did not have a great deal of money and he knew that he must save enough for bribes, if need be. He took the package of cake from the woman, who gave him only a passing look, and went out.
Raoul, the farmer’s boy, helped himself to a steaming cup of coffee from a tall, white jug on the table in the back room and selected a nicely browned croissant from the plate beside the jug. Then he shoved his basket over to one side and looked about for a place to rest and eat. He had been on his feet all day, and he was glad of the prospect of a bite to eat and, perhaps, a nap. Beyond the pantry room, at one side, were the kitchens, from which issued a savory odor of baking and the jangle of many voices; on the other side, at the back, was something that looked like a storeroom. On going into the storeroom, Raoul found that it was filled with old boxes, bundles of paper, a broken chair or two, and some tubs.
He sat down on a dingy settle without a back, in a dim corner of this junk room. At the other end of the room was a short stairway leading to a narrow gallery. The remains of an old bureau and some more boxes were heaped up on the little gallery. Raoul sipped his hot, sweet coffee and munched his croissant. The warmth from the baking kitchens and the quiet after his busy day made him drowsy, and soon he was fast asleep.
He woke suddenly and sat up. The bakery woman was climbing the stairway, carrying a tray. When she reached the gallery she put the tray down on the floor in front of a door which faced her. Taking some keys from her waist she unlocked the door and then picked up the tray. At that moment, through the half-open door, Raoul caught sight of a boy, who sat facing him on a window ledge in a corner of the room.