Julien, the house steward, alone pretended to defend his mistress.
She was quite the thing, whatever they might say! And when the others
accused him of sleeping with her he laughed fatuously, thereby driving
the cook to distraction, for she would have liked to be a man in
order to "spit on such women's backsides," so utterly would they have
disgusted her. Francois, without informing Madame of it, had wickedly
posted the baker in the hall, and when she came downstairs at lunch time
she found herself face to face with him. Taking the bill, she told him
to return toward three o'clock, whereupon, with many foul expressions,
he departed, vowing that he would have things properly settled and get
his money by hook or by crook.
Nana made a very bad lunch, for the scene had annoyed her. Next time the
man would have to be definitely got rid of. A dozen times she had put
his money aside for him, but it had as constantly melted away, sometimes
in the purchase of flowers, at others in the shape of a subscription
got up for the benefit of an old gendarme. Besides, she was counting on
Philippe and was astonished not to see him make his appearance with his
two hundred francs. It was regular bad luck, seeing that the day before
yesterday she had again given Satin an outfit, a perfect trousseau this
time, some twelve hundred francs' worth of dresses and linen, and now
she had not a louis remaining.
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