England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Short stories, English
Whether this sort of advertisement drew the public, or whether it might
have been the sterling respectability and devotion to business of
Monsieur Sauvage, he got on most successfully. The Marchand en détail
became also Marchand en gros, and in course of time he added liqueurs to
his wines. No citizen of Sainteville was more highly esteemed than he,
both as a man and a tradesman. Since his death the business had been
carried on by his widow, aided by the two sons, Gustave and Emile.
Latterly Madame Veuve Sauvage had given up all work to them; she was now
in years, and had well earned her rest. They lived in the rooms over the
shop, which were large and handsome. In former days, when the energies
of herself and her husband were chiefly devoted to acquiring and saving
money, they had let these upper rooms for a good sum yearly. Old Madame
Sauvage might be seen any day now sitting at a front-window, looking out
upon the world between her embroidered white curtains.
The door of this prosperous shop was between the two windows. The one
window displayed a few bottles of wine, most of them in straw cases;
in the other window were clear flacons of liqueurs: chartreuse, green
and yellow; curaçoa, warm and ruby; eau de vie de Danzick, with its
fluttering gold leaf; and many other sorts.
However, it is not with the goods of Madame Veuve Sauvage that we
have to do, but with her premises. Standing in front of the shop, as
if coveting a bottle of that choice wine for to-day's dinner, or an
immediate glass of delicious liqueur, you may see on your right hand,
but to the left of the shop, the private door of the house. On the other
side the shop is also a door which opens to a narrow entry. The entry
looks dark, even in the mid-day sun, for it is pretty long, extending
down a portion of the side of the Maison Rouge, which is a deep house,
and terminating in a paved yard surrounded by high buildings. At the end
of the yard is a small dwelling, with two modern windows, one above the
other. Near the under window is the entrance-door, painted oak colour,
with a brass knob, a bell-wire with a curious handle, and a knocker.
This little house the late Monsieur Sauvage had also caused to be
converted into a red one, the same as the larger.
In earlier days, when Jean Sauvage and his wife were putting their
shoulders to the wheel, they had lived in the little house with their
children; the two sons and the daughter, Jeanne. Jeanne Sauvage married
early and very well, an avocat. But since they had left it, the house in
the yard seemed to have been, as the Widow Sauvage herself expressed it,
unlucky. The first of the tenants had died there; the second had
disappeared--decamped in fact, to avoid paying rent and other debts; the
third had moved into a better house; and the fourth, an old widow lady,
had also died, owing a year's rent to Madame Sauvage, and leaving no
money to pay it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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