bring them to reason if I had anything to do with them! Why, they are a
lot of dirty jades that I wouldn't touch with the tip of my finger! That
Normande is the lowest of the low! I'd soon crush her, that I would! You
should really use your authority, Florent. You are wrong to behave as
you do. Put your foot down, and they'll all come to their senses very
quickly, you'll see."

A terrible climax was presently reached. One morning the servant of
Madame Taboureau, the baker, came to the market to buy a brill; and
the beautiful Norman, having noticed her lingering near her stall for
several minutes, began to make overtures to her in a coaxing way: "Come
and see me; I'll suit you," she said. "Would you like a pair of soles,
or a fine turbot?"

Then as the servant at last came up, and sniffed at a brill with that
dissatisfied pout which buyers assume in the hope of getting what they
want at a lower price, La Normande continued:

"Just feel the weight of that, now," and so saying she laid the brill,
wrapped in a sheet of thick yellow paper, on the woman's open palm.

The servant, a mournful little woman from Auvergne, felt the weight of
the brill, and examined its gills, still pouting, and saying not a word.

"And how much do you want for it?" she asked presently, in a reluctant
tone.

"Fifteen francs," replied La Normande.

At this the servant hastily laid the brill on the stall again, and