Page:A chambermaid's diary.djvu/215

Rh "I am like you, I?"

"Oh! not in your features, of course. But you and I, in the very depths of the soul, are the same thing. Yes, yes, I know what I say."

Again there was a moment of silence. Then he resumed, in a voice that was less stern:

"I have a feeling of friendship for you, Célestine. And then "

"And then?"

"I have some money, too,—a little money."

"Ah?"

"Yes, a little money. Why, one does not serve forty years in good houses without saving something. Is it not so?"

"Surely," I answered, more and more astonished by Joseph's words and manner. "And you have much money?"

"Oh! only a little."

"How much? Let me see."

Joseph gave a slight chuckle.

"You may know well that it is not here. It is in a place where it is making little ones."

"Yes, but how much?"

Then in a low voice, almost a whisper:

"Perhaps fifteen thousand francs; perhaps more."

"My! but you are well fixed, you are!"

"Oh! perhaps less, too. One cannot tell."

Suddenly the two dogs lifted their heads