"By nothing whatever! What do you suppose he proposed to me? Oh! it's enough to make one die of laughter!"
"To mend his linen?"
"To marry him—to become Madame Chamoureau!"
"Well! you want a position in society."
"A pretty position that would be! My gentleman makes four thousand francs with his office; and as I have ten thousand francs a year, I should be the one to enrich him. Fancy me making Monsieur Chamoureau's fortune!"
"But in that case the fellow isn't as stupid as he looks."
"Oh! he has no selfish designs. He is really very much in love with me—according to what he says, at least.—Madame Chamoureau! what an absurd name!"
"Well, I am not so particular as you are; if he wants to marry me, I'll take him. I am not such a bad writer, I'll be a clerk in his office."
"I had an idea that you weren't very strong in spelling. One day you wrote me, being short of money: 'Are you in funds? can I go to your cash-box?' And you spelt cash with a q."
"Well! what difference does it make whether it's a c or a q so long as the pronunciation's the same? Besides, I've heard it said that nowadays people write as they choose, and that it's much more comme il faut not to bother about spelling, because in old times the great nobles didn't know anything about it."