Volume I Part 52 (1/2)
Then Agathe ran into the garden; she examined it more carefully than before; she called the gardener and made him tell her the name of each tree and each flower; then she went back to Honorine.
”My dear,” she said, ”we have peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, grapes and gooseberries.”
”Yes, yes,” said Pere Ledrux, ”you have 'em when they grow, and they grow when they're well taken care of, well kept, well trimmed. Bless me!
a garden requires care. You'll have string beans too if you plant 'em, and now's the time, just the right time to plant, if you want radishes--to tone up the salad--and artichokes.”
”Very well; you must plant them, Pere Ledrux. You can tell us what we must buy at Paris and we'll bring you the seeds.”
”That ain't worth while; I've got all those things at home or right in the neighborhood; I'll supply you with what you want, and they'll be better than you'd get in Paris; because we fellows, you understand, know more about such things than you do; it's our business. Have you come to-day for good?”
”No, not yet; we have many things to do in Paris.”
”When are you coming?”
”I hope that in a week, at the latest, we shall arrive, with such furniture as we shall bring from Paris.”
”You're going to bring furniture, when it's here already?”
”That makes no difference.”
”The devil! the house will be well furnished, in that case.”
”But the mere having furniture isn't everything; we need something else that we can't do without; for the house is quite large.”
”What is it?”
”A maid, a servant to keep our house clean and to cook for us.”
”Ah! you want a maid who can cook?”
”Who can do everything, if possible.”
”Do you want a first-cla.s.s cook, like Madame Droguet's, who's a--a blue ribbon, so they say, and makes _souffles_ and omelettes as big as balloons?”
”No, no, Pere Ledrux, we don't ask for such talent as that; just find us a smart young girl, who likes to work and can sew a little. As for the rest, I will teach her what she doesn't know; with the desire to learn, one soon learns whatever one chooses. Let her be honest and virtuous--those are the princ.i.p.al points.”
”Well--wait--I believe Poucette would just suit you.”
”Who is Poucette?”
”She's Poucet's daughter, who used to work in the quarry and was killed in a cave-in three years ago; her mother died the year before, so the girl lives with her uncle, who's a farmer; but he has children enough of his own, and Poucette would be very glad to get a place.”
”Very well; if she's a good girl, I will take her.”
”As for being good, I'll answer for that; but when it comes to knowing how to cook, I won't answer for her.”
”That makes no difference, I tell you; she will learn. How old is she?”
”Well! she might be about eighteen; but she's strong and solid; she'd make two of you.”