Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 699
These words possess the mysterious and admirable prop-
erty of swelling the bill on the following day. A chamber
where one sleeps costs twenty sous; a chamber in which one
reposes costs twenty francs.
‘Well!’ said the stranger, ‘you are right. Where is your
stable?’
‘Sir!’ exclaimed Thenardier, with a smile, ‘I will conduct
you, sir.’
He took the candle; the man picked up his bundle and
cudgel, and Thenardier conducted him to a chamber on the
first floor, which was of rare splendor, all furnished in ma-
hogany, with a low bedstead, curtained with red calico.
‘What is this?’ said the traveller.
‘It is really our bridal chamber,’ said the tavern-keeper.
‘My wife and I occupy another. This is only entered three or
four times a year.’
‘I should have liked the stable quite as well,’ said the man,
abr upt ly.
Thenardier pretended not to hear this unamiable re-
mark.
He lighted two perfectly fresh wax candles which figured
on the chimney-piece. A very good fire was flickering on the
hearth.
On the chimney-piece, under a glass globe, stood a wom-
an’s head-dress in silver wire and orange flowers.
‘And what is this?’ resumed the stranger.
‘That, sir,’ said Thenardier, ‘is my wife’s wedding bon-
net.’
The traveller surveyed the object with a glance which