"Oh, no, dear nurse, because Monsieur Touquet came in just at the moment when—mercy! I don't know what we were doing at that moment—oh, yes, I believe he was kissing me."
"Holy Virgin! it was a goblin disguised as a girl."
"No, dear nurse, he's called Urbain, he's an orphan like me; but his family was very respectable, and he's going to marry me."
"To marry you?"
"Yes, certainly. You won't oppose it when my protector has given his consent, will you?"
"What, M. Touquet has consented to it?"
"Yes, yes, I tell you. It's finished. Everything is arranged."
The good old woman hardly believed that her ears did not deceive her, but the arrival of her master put an end to her doubts.
The barber looked very stern as he approached Marguerite, and the old woman trembled, for she felt that she was in fault.
"Marguerite," he said, "I could punish you for having betrayed my confidence, for having, despite my orders, introduced someone into the house. You will tell me, like Blanche, that you have been deceived—and I would wish to think so, besides, as I have forgiven it, it is needless to dwell on what is past. The young man will be Blanche's husband; he will make her happy. You will go with them when they leave this house. I have but one command to lay upon you, and that is to keep this incident from all your gossips in this neighborhood. If you commit the least indiscretion, I'll send you away and you will prevent this marriage from taking place."