A Chambermaid's Diary

obe

rther than I should. He is such a simpleton that he imagines that he has given me serious offence, and

is mind to try a new direct attack,-not even the classic device of a button to be sewed on a pair of pantaloons

ssion, an indirect confession of his desire; and what a confession! But he is also more and more timid; he is afraid to c

strange expression, with a sort of ha

very well ... very ... very ... well ... Never ... h

Monsieur gasped and slobbered as if he h

d for his dog,

s somethin

sing-room to take a tub and dress, as usual. Oh, for that matter, Monsieur is very clean, and he is not afraid of water. I thought it a favorable opportunity to try something that might at last put him at his ease

nc, Mam'zel

on ... petit

mingling a number of

treaming into the tub, and the "Ahs" and "Ohs" and "Fuuiis" and "Brrrs" which th

unded. Having nothing with which to cover his body, with a gesture instinctively modest and comical he used the sponge as a fig-leaf. It required great strength of will on my part to suppress t

inutes. Not a sound,-except the crystalline sound of a drop of water falling, from time to time, into the tub. "He is reflecting," thought I; "he does not dare to come to a decision; but he will call me back." In vain. Soon t

nc, Mam'zel

on ... petit

pid!" I murmured, in a low

n-room, firmly resolved to

yard, whither I had gone to throw some refuse on the muck-heap. And as I, for the sake of laugh

that is nothing;

ed him then and there, in the middle of the phrase in which he

ave no time to talk to Monsie

stine, listen t

Monsi

Monsieur. He had not stirred from the spot. With head lowered, and irre

alon, Monsieur and Mad

me s

ou are paying atte

ur ans

; such a loose creature,-a dirty thing, and po

e res

at I don't know your co

e; oh! pe

creatures whom you

r's feet, as he walked back and forth

as as you have! Where did

was obs

d on whose account I had to pay five hundred francs! But for which,

ing. He sank into a c

nded with these

ous. You can behave as you like with this Cé

ow I have

ke her accounts square with them. Sometimes she gets lost in her figures, which embarrasses her greatly with Madame, who is very quick to find out anything wrong in them. Joseph is becoming a little more human with us. Now, from time to time, he condescends to speak to me. This evening, for instance, he

is political opinions are. He is weary of the republic

ord, and a very red one, there

cause ... in short ... we

used to have it; until everybody is obliged to go to mas

the generals, all the caricatures of the circumcised. For Joseph is violently anti-Semitic. He belongs to all the religious, military, and patriotic societies of the department. He is a member of the "Anti-Semitic Youth" of Rouen, a member of the "Anti-Jewish Old Age" of Louviers, and a memb

Jew left in France, t

he a

sed sheenies. There is no danger that the traitors will come to live at

igands who never set foot in the churches, and who are, moreover, nothing but Jews in

f a Zola, who, for six hundred thousand francs, has delivered the entire French army, and also the entire Russian army, to the Germans and the English? And this is no humbug, no gossip, no lightly-spoken word; no, Joseph is sure of it. Joseph has it from the sacristan, who has it from the priest, who has it from the bish

, undoubtedly is being ruined and disgraced by the republic. She, too, is for the sword, for the priests, and

octrines? Say what you will of the domestics,-it is possible that they have many faults,-but it cannot be denied that they are patriots. Take myself, for instance; politics is not in my line, and it

ty creature? Oh, n

ike. They are equally vicious, have equally vile characters, equally ugly souls. They all belong to the same world, you see, and the difference in religion counts for nothing. Perhaps the Jews make more show, more noise; perhaps they

ot and a bad Frenchwoman, and, with prophecies of massacre on his lips, and with bl

woman who kept a tobacco-shop at Caen, she was seduced by a hospital-surgeon,-a delicate, slender, blonde young fellow, who had blue eyes and a pointed, short, and silky beard,-oh! how silky! She became pregnant, and the tobacco merchant, who herself was intimate with any number of people, includi

e Boratory I killed rabbits and

arianne's thick lips a smile that

ilence, I

d! What bec

to pull aside the heavy veils from the limbos where her child was

ine. What should I have

ttle guinea-

t's

red herself

ur rooms somewh