"Be careful, monsieur; you're rolling over on me. Show me the respect due to my sex!"
"Oh! we're going over!" the stout man would reply, rubbing his eyes.
After attending to our own comfort, we generally end by turning our attention to other people. The party with the sidelong glance had already complimented Sister Anne on the beauty of her son, and had thereby earned a sweet smile from the dumb girl; one is certain to please a mother by praising her child.
The lady in the old hat also scrutinized Sister Anne, and said:
"She's very good-looking, that little woman—a very interesting face. That's just the costume I wore in Annette et Lubin, in 1792; how becoming it was to me! I must play that part at the Funambules."
The two tradesmen glanced at Sister Anne; but as little Frédéric had a lump of sugar in his hand, that naturally brought them back to the recent fluctuations in the price of that staple.
"It's a pretty child," said the actress; "he has a lot of expression already. If he was mine, I'd put him on the stage. In a year he could play Little Joas in Athalie, and in two he could manage the antics of Polichinello as a vampire. Ah! that's the way children are brought up now! It's superb! All who stand it are Foriosos at twelve years of age!"
Sister Anne had no idea what Forioso was, or Little Joas, but she saw that her companions were noticing her child, and her heart throbbed with the pleasure and pride so natural in a mother. Soon, however, they began to question her.
"Are you going to Paris to have him vaccinated?" said the actress. "Has he been vaccinated at home? What are you going to do in Paris? Has your husband gone ahead of you?"
As she received no reply to any of these questions, the lady began to lose patience and to consider the young woman's conduct exceedingly impertinent.