She could hardly get out her words, but stammered: “I have come—I have come on account of an accident, something—”
He very politely pointed out a seat to her.
“If you will kindly sit down I will attend to you in a moment.”
And, returning to the other two, he went on with the conversation.
“The company, gentlemen, does not consider that it is under any obligation to you for more than four hundred thousand francs, and we can pay no attention to your claim to the further sum of a hundred thousand, which you wish to make us pay. Besides that, the surveyor’s valuation—”
One of the others interrupted him:
“That is quite enough, Monsieur; the law-courts will decide between us, and we have nothing further to do than to take our leave.” And they went out after mutual ceremonious bows.
Oh! if she could only have gone away with them, how gladly she would have done it; she would have run away and given up everything. But it was too late, for the gentleman came back, and said, bowing:
“What can I do for you, Madame?”
She could scarcely speak, but at last she managed to say:
“I have come—for this.”
The manager looked at the object which she held out to him in mute astonishment. With trembling fingers she tried to undo the elastic, and succeeded, after several attempts, and hastily opened the damaged remains of the umbrella.
“It looks to me to be in a very bad state of health,” he said, compassionately.
“It cost me twenty francs,” she said, with some hesitation.
He seemed astonished. “Really! As much as that?”
“Yes, it was a capital article, and I wanted you to see the state it is in.”
“Very well, I see; very well. But I really do not understand what it can have to do with me.”
She began to feel uncomfortable; perhaps this company did not pay for such small articles, and she said:
“But—it is burned.”
He could not deny it.
“I see that very well,” he replied.
She remained open-mouthed, not knowing what to say next; then suddenly forgetting that she had left out the main thing, she said hastily:
“I am Mme. Oreille; we are assured in La Maternelle, and I have come to claim the value of this damage. I only want you to have it recovered,” she added quickly, fearing a positive refusal.
The manager was rather embarrassed, and said:
“But, really, Madame, we do not sell umbrellas; we cannot undertake such kinds of repairs.”
The little woman felt her courage reviving; she was not going to give up without a struggle; she was not even afraid now, so she said:
“I only want you to pay me the cost of repairing it; I can quite well get it done myself.”
The gentleman seemed rather confused.
“Really, Madame, it is such a very small matter! We are never asked to give compensation for such trivial losses. You must allow that we cannot make good pocket-handkerchiefs, gloves, brooms, slippers, all the small articles which are every day exposed to the chances of being burned.”
She got red, and felt inclined to fly into a rage.
“But Monsieur, last December one of our chimneys caught fire, and caused at least five hundred francs’ damage. M. Oreille made no claim on the company, and so it is only just that it should pay for my umbrella now.”
The manager, guessing that she was telling a lie, said, with a smile:
“You must acknowledge, Madame, that it is very surprising that M. Oreille should have asked no compensation for damages amounting to five hundred francs, and should now claim five or six francs for mending an umbrella.”
She was not the least put out, and replied:
“I beg your pardon, Monsieur, the five hundred francs affected M. Oreille’s pocket, whereas this damage, amounting to eighteen francs, concerns Mme. Oreille’s pocket only, which is a totally different matter.”
As he saw that he had no chance of getting rid of her, and that he would only be wasting his time, he said, resignedly:
“Will you kindly tell me how the damage was done?”
She felt that she had won the victory, and said: “This is how it happened, Monsieur: In our hall there is a bronze stick- and umbrella-stand, and the other day, when I came in, I put my umbrella into it. I must tell you that just above there is a shelf for the candlesticks and matches. I put out my hand, took three or four matches, and struck one, but it missed fire, so I struck another, which ignited, but went out immediately, and a third did the same.”
The manager interrupted her, to make a joke.
“I suppose they were Government matches, then?”
She did not understand him, and went on:
“Very likely. At any rate, the fourth caught fire, and I lit my candle, and went into my room to go to bed; but in a quarter-of-an-hour I fancied that I smelled something burning, and I have always been terribly afraid of fire. If ever we have an accident it will not be my fault, I assure you. I am terribly nervous since our chimney was on fire, as I told you; so I got up, and hunted about everywhere, sniffing like a dog after game, and at last I noticed that my umbrella was burning. Most likely a match had fallen between the folds and burned it. You can see how it has damaged it.”
The manager had taken his clue, and asked her:
“What do you estimate the damage at?”
She did not know what to say, as she was not certain what amount to put on it, but at last she replied:
“Perhaps you had better get it done yourself. I will leave it to you.”
He, however, naturally refused.
“No, Madame, I cannot do that. Tell me the amount of your claim, that is all I want to know.”
“Well!—I think that—Look here, Monsieur, I do not want to make any money out of you, so I will tell you what we will do. I will take my umbrella to the maker, who will recover it in good,
