Oreille utterly rebelled at such an idea.
"All right," he said; "then I shall resign my post. I am not going to the office with the kitchen umbrella."
The friend interposed:
"Have this one re-covered; it will not cost much."
But Mme. Oreille, being in the temper that she was, said:
"It will cost at least eight francs to re-cover it. Eight and eighteen are twenty-six. Just fancy, twenty-six francs for an umbrella! It is utter madness!"
The friend, who was only a poor man of the middle-cla.s.ses, had an inspiration:
"Make your Fire a.s.surance pay for it. The companies pay for all articles that are burnt, as long as the damage has been done in your own house."
On hearing this advice the little woman calmed down immediately, and then, after a moment"s reflection, she said to her husband:
"To-morrow, before going to your office, you will go to the _Maternelle_ a.s.surance Company, show them the state your umbrella is in, and make them pay for the damage."
M. Oreille fairly jumped, he was so startled at the proposal.
"I would not do it for my life! It is eighteen francs lost that is all.
It will not ruin us."
The next morning he took a walking-stick when he went out, and, luckily, it was a fine day.
Left at home alone, Mme. Oreille could not get over the loss of her eighteen francs by any means. She had put the umbrella on the dining-room table, and she looked at it without being able to come to any determination.
Every moment she thought of the a.s.surance Company, but she did not dare to encounter the quizzical looks of the gentlemen who might receive her, for she was very timid before people, and grew red at a mere nothing, and was embarra.s.sed when she had to speak to strangers.
But the regret at the loss of the eighteen francs pained her as if she had been wounded. She tried not to think of it any more, and yet every moment the recollection of the loss struck her painfully. What was she to do, however? Time went on, and she could not decide; but suddenly, like all cowards, on becoming determined, she made up her mind.
"I will go, and we will see what will happen."
But first of all she was obliged to prepare the umbrella so that the disaster might be complete, and the reason of it quite evident. She took a match from the mantelpiece, and between the ribs she burnt a hole as big as the palm of her hand; then she delicately rolled it up, fastened it with the elastic band, put on her bonnet and shawl, and went quickly towards the Rue de Rivoli, where the a.s.surance Office was.
But the nearer she got the slower she walked. What was she going to say, and what reply would she get?
She looked at the numbers of the houses; there were still twenty-eight.
That was all right, so she had time to consider, and she walked slower and slower. Suddenly she saw a door on which was a large bra.s.s plate with "_La Maternelle_ Fire a.s.surance Office" engraved on it. Already!
She waited for a moment, for she felt nervous and almost ashamed; then she went past, came back, went past again, and came back again.
At last she said to herself:
"I must go in, however, so I may as well do it sooner as later."
She could not help noticing, however, how her heart beat as she entered.
She went into an enormous room with grated wicket openings all round, and a man behind each of them, and as a gentleman, carrying a number of papers, pa.s.sed her, she stopped him and said, timidly:
"I beg your pardon, Monsieur, but can you tell me where I must apply for payment for anything that has been accidentally burnt?"
He replied in a sonorous voice:
"The first door on the left; that is the department you want."
This frightened her still more, and she felt inclined to run away, to make no claim, to sacrifice her eighteen francs. But the idea of that sum revived her courage, and she went upstairs, out of breath, stopping at almost every other step.
She knocked at a door which she saw on the first landing, and a clear voice said, in answer:
"Come in!"
She obeyed mechanically, and found herself in a large room where three solemn gentlemen, all with a decoration in their b.u.t.tonholes, were standing talking.
One of them asked her: "What do you want, Madame?"
She could hardly get out her words, but stammered: "I have come--I have come on account of an accident, something--"
He very politely pointed out a seat to her.
"If you will kindly sit down I will attend to you in a moment."
And, returning to the other two, he went on with the conversation.
"The Company, gentlemen, does not consider that it is under any obligation to you for more than four hundred thousand francs, and we can pay no attention to your claim to the further sum of a hundred thousand, which you wish to make us pay. Besides that, the surveyor"s valuation--"
One of the others interrupted him:
"That is quite enough, Monsieur; the Law Courts will decide between us, and we have nothing further to do than to take your leave." And they went out after mutual ceremonious bows.
Oh! If she could only have gone away with them, how gladly she would have done it; she would have run away and given up everything. But it was too late, for the gentleman came back, and said, bowing:
"What can I do for you, Madame?"
She could scarcely speak, but at last she managed to say:
"I have come--for this."
The manager looked at the object which she held out to him in mute astonishment.
With trembling fingers she tried to undo the elastic, and succeeded, after several attempts, and hastily opened the damaged remains of the umbrella.
"It looks to me to be in a very bad state of health," he said, compa.s.sionately.
"It cost me twenty francs," she said, with some hesitation.
He seemed astonished. "Really! As much as that?"