"Good morning, Papa Goursac," she said, slipping into a waiting seat. "Here's your cockade,—the best, as usual!"
"There, take your drink," he answered, showing her the glass. He roused himself from his attitude of whimsical inspection, turning to her a look that belied the stern voice. "Well, and what luck to-day?"
"The best," she said, showing him her lightly laden basket.
"Of course you did not notice the new lodger," said Goursac, scornfully. His bushy eyebrows and looming beak seemed so grim that Nicole with difficulty suppressed a laugh.
"Indeed," she said, pretending ignorance to plague him, "is there a new lodger?"
"Yes, but he's a doctor, old as I am, so he'll not interest you."
"What a bad humor you are in," she said, enjoying his wrath. "As though you did not interest me!"
"You know what I mean."
Aware of his suspicious scrutiny, she continued. "What a pity! Why couldn't he have been a young fellow? Ah, mon Dieu, what time is it?"