Behind a glass
partition one perceived the dim back shop, which served as kitchen and
dining-room and bedchamber, and which received only a little air from a
damp inner yard which suggested a sewer shaft.
"As you see, monsieur, we have scarcely any room," continued Madame
Menoux; "but then we pay only eight hundred francs rent, and where else
could we find a shop at that price? And besides, I have been here for
nearly twenty years, and have worked up a little regular custom in the
neighborhood. Oh! I don't complain of the place myself, I'm not big,
there is always sufficient room for me. And as my husband comes home only
in the evening, and then sits down in his armchair to smoke his pipe, he
isn't so much inconvenienced. I do all I can for him, and he is
reasonable enough not to ask me to do more. But with a child I fear that
it will be impossible to get on here."
The recollection of her first boy, her little Pierre, returned to her,
and her eyes filled with tears. "Ah! monsieur, that was ten years ago,
and I can still see La Couteau bringing him back to me, just as she'll be
bringing the other by and by. I was told so many tales; there was such
good air at Rougemont, and the children led such healthy lives, and my
boy had such rosy cheeks, that I ended by leaving him there till he was
five years old, regretting that I had no room for him here.
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