Ah! I breathed again! The aunts were coming down in the world.
Madame Lumignon was a little hunchback with a bright eye and a shrill voice, like most hunchbacks. As soon as I mentioned her niece's name, she smiled.
"Ah! you want Rosette," she said; "for Madame Berlingot, I suppose? Yes, yes, I'm used to that; it's always the same song! If I was evil-minded, I might suspect something! But I wash my hands of her. In the first place, Rosette don't pay any attention to us; she's such a wilful creature! So much the worse for her! I've warned her!"
"But, madame, she is wanted to mend a cashmere shawl."
"I know! I know! A fine thing, that cashmere shawl is!"
"Well, madame, is mademoiselle your niece with you?"
"With me! oh, yes! of course! When she comes here, she don't stay long enough to mould."
"Where can I find her, then?"
"At her Aunt Chamouillet's, perhaps; but I won't swear to it."
"Madame Chamouillet's address, if you please?"