Page:A chambermaid's diary.djvu/351

 "I cannot drink cider, Madame. The doctor has forbidden me to."

"Ah! the doctor has forbidden you to. Well, I will give you six quarts of cider. If you want wine, you will buy it. That concerns you. What pay do you expect?"

She hesitated, looked at the carpet, the clock, and the ceiling, rolled her umbrella in her hands, and said, timidly:

"Forty francs."

"Forty francs!" exclaimed Madame. "Why don't you say ten thousand francs, and done with it? You must be crazy. Forty francs! Why, it is unheard of! We used to pay fifteen francs, and got much better service. Forty francs! And you do not even know how to fatten poultry! You do not know how to do anything! I pay thirty francs, and I think that altogether too much. You have no expenses in my house. I am not exacting as to what you wear. And you are washed and fed. God knows how well you are fed! I give out the portions myself."

Jeanne insisted:

"I have had forty francs in all the places where I have worked."

But the lady had risen. And, in a dry and ugly voice, she exclaimed:

"Well, you had better go back to them. Forty francs! Such impudence! Here are your