spouse with her fever, my child with her wound,-- we shall all four be turned out of here and thrown into the street, on the boulevard, without shelter, in the rain, in the snow. There, sir.
I owe for four quarters--a whole year! that is to say, sixty francs."
Jondrette lied.
Four quarters would have amounted to only forty francs, and he could not owe four, because six months had not elapsed since Marius had paid for two.
M. Leblanc drew five francs from his pocket and threw them on the table.
Jondrette found time to mutter in the ear of his eldest daughter:--
"The scoundrel!
What does he think I can do with his five francs? That won''t pay me for my chair and pane of glass!
That''s what comes of incurring expenses!"
In the meanwhile, M. Leblanc had removed the large brown great-coat which he wore over his blue coat, and had thrown it over the back of the chair.
"Monsieur Fabantou," he said, "these five francs are all that I have about me, but I shall now take my daughter home, and I will return this evening,--it is this evening that you must pay, is it not?"
Jondrette''s face lighted up with a strange expression. He replied vivaciously:--
"Yes, respected sir.
At eight o''clock, I must be at my landlord''s."
"I will be here at six, and I will fetch you the sixty francs."
"My benefactor!" exclaimed Jondrette, overwhelmed.