686 Les Miserables
would have been equivalent to an order. But that a man with
such a hat should permit himself such a desire, and that a
man with such a coat should permit himself to have a will,
was something which Madame Thenardier did not intend
to tolerate. She retorted with acrimony:—
‘She must work, since she eats. I don’t feed her to do
nothing.’
‘What is she making?’ went on the stranger, in a gentle
voice which contrasted strangely with his beggarly gar-
ments and his porter’s shoulders.
The Thenardier deigned to reply:—
‘Stockings, if you please. Stockings for my little girls,
who have none, so to speak, and who are absolutely bare-
foot just now.’
The man looked at Cosette’s poor little red feet, and
continued:—
‘When will she have finished this pair of stockings?’
‘She has at least three or four good days’ work on them
still, the lazy creature!’
‘And how much will that pair of stockings be worth when
she has finished them?’
The Thenardier cast a glance of disdain on him.
‘Thirty sous at least.’
‘Will you sell them for five francs?’ went on the man.
‘Good heavens!’ exclaimed a carter who was listening,
with a loud laugh; ‘five francs! the deuce, I should think so!
five balls!’
Thenardier thought it time to strike in.
‘Yes, sir; if such is your fancy, you will be allowed to have