“I don’t understand.”
“Why, in heaven’s name, when people ring at your door by mistake, don’t you send them to me? Why do you say that I’m not at home when I am? Why did you undertake to deliver this box, when I desired to speak to the person who brought it?”
“My dear neighbor, I am distressed—I was entirely ignorant——”
“I beg you, Monsieur Raymond, as a favor, not to meddle in my affairs any more, or we shall have a serious falling-out! You have quite enough other occupation in the house, listening to the gossip of the cooks, keeping an eye on the women, playing the spy on the girls, and mixing yourself up in family rows, without disturbing yourself concerning my conduct.”
“I assure you, neighbor, that someone has been slandering me to you. I am incapable—I love a jest, that’s the whole of it; but I never gossip. In the first place, I am not talkative. If I were, I might tell you that the lady on the first floor has two lovers; that her husband keeps a mistress; that Monsieur Gérard, on the second, is in a bad way in business, and that I’ve seen summonses for him in the concierge’s hands; that Madame Bertin gives evening parties in order to get husbands for her daughters; that her cook makes a handsome commission on her provisions; that the cook at the rear of the courtyard has a lover she carries soup to; that Gerville the government clerk is running into debt and doesn’t answer the bell when his creditors ring; and a thousand other things. But it’s none of my business; I have quite enough to do to attend to my own affairs, without bothering my head about other people’s. I took this box, thinking that I was doing you a favor, and because I wanted an opportunity to make myself useful to you. It made you angry, and I won’t do it again. After this, I’ll send away people who want to speak to you, even when you’re not in. I salute you, neighbor!”
“By the way, one other word, if you please. What sort of looking girl was it who brought the box?”
“Why, very good-looking—that is to say, attractive.”
“How tall?”
“Medium.”
“Dark hair?”