"Ah! little neighbor again! He want to speak to master or me?"
"I have come to bring your master my mother's reply. He is very good----"
"Oh, no! he not good; but me beat him, me whip him if he claw again!"
"Oh! me tink it was my new friend Carabi; he claw my nose. Come, you go in right away.--Little gutter cat! you wait there till me come back. Don't stir, or me take Zima!"
When he reappeared before Monsieur Malberg, Georget was sad, and seemed embarrassed; he kept his eyes on the floor, and dared not speak.
"Well, Georget, you have come to bring me your mother's answer," said Monsieur Malberg; "but to look at you one would think that you dared not tell me what it is."
"Mon Dieu! I will spare you the trouble of telling me, for I will wager that I can guess what your mother answered: she refused my offer, because she would have to part with you, and she prefers to live in poverty and not leave her son; isn't that it?"
"Yes, monsieur, yes, that's the truth; when I told her about monsieur's offer, she was struck dumb at first; and when she did answer, I heard her voice trembling as if she were going to cry, when she said: 'Well! if you want me to go away, if it bores you to live with your mother, why then I will go to this fine place in the country; but for my part, I should much prefer to live on a little, to be less comfortable, and to be where I could embrace my son every day; that would make me much happier!'--So then, monsieur, as you can imagine, I threw my arms about my mother's neck and said to her: 'It was in the hope of assuring your happiness that I offered you this; if you are happier with me, you must stay here, and I shall be happier too!'--Then she told me to come and thank you for your kindness, monsieur, and explain the reason for her refusal, and I beg you to forgive me for showing so little appreciation of your kindness; for in all this it is I who am most to blame. If I had had the courage to leave Paris, why, then my mother would have been very glad to go!"
"I don't blame you, Georget, but I hope that your flower girl is worthy of the sacrifice you are making for her. Go, my boy."
"And monsieur doesn't want Violette to bring him a bouquet, so that--so that he can make her acquaintance."