"
"That may be," he quietly resumed. "I don't care a fig, I intend to have
money."
"No, a thousand times no!" she retorted. "You left your place, the
mercery business is in a very bad way, and the revenue from my marriage
portion is not sufficient to maintain us. Every day I encroach on the
principal to feed you and give you the one hundred francs a month you
wrung from me. You will not get anything beyond that, do you understand?
So it's no use asking."
"Just reflect," he replied, "and don't be so silly as to refuse. I tell
you I mean to have 5,000 francs, and I shall have them. You'll give them
me, in spite of all."
This quiet determination irritated Therese and put the finishing touch
to her intoxication.
"Ah! I know what it is," she cried, "you want to finish as you began.
We have been keeping you for four years. You only came to us to eat and
drink, and since then you've been at our charge. Monsieur does nothing,
Monsieur has arranged so as to live at my expense with his arms folded
one over the other. No, you shall have nothing, not a sou. Do you want
me to tell you what you are? Well then, you are a------"
And she pronounced the word. Laurent began to laugh, shrugging his
shoulders.
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