The landlady gave him a contemptuous glance.
"At least thirty sous."
"Will you sell them to me for five francs?" the man continued.
"Pardieu!" a carrier who was listening exclaimed, with a coarse laugh, "I should think so,—five balls!"
Thénardier thought it his duty to speak.
"Yes, sir, if such be your fancy, you can have the pair of stockings for five francs; we cannot refuse travellers anything."
"Cash payment," the landlady said in her peremptory voice.
"I buy the pair of stockings," the man said, and added, as he drew a five-franc piece from his pocket and laid it on the table, "I pay for them."
Then he turned to Cosette,—
"Your labor is now mine; so play, my child."