The Bath Keepers; Or, Paris in Those Days, v.1: (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume VII)Kock, Paul de
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The Bath Keepers; Or, Paris in Those Days, v.1: (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume VII)
Kock, Paul de
French fiction -- Translations into English
But the sonorous voice of Master Hugonnet would reach the ears of
Ambroisine, who, divining from her father's tone that he was in a
passion, would at once leave her work and run to the shop, to put an end
to the dispute.
At sight of the girl, the person who had caused all the uproar would
begin to laugh and would exclaim, with a bantering glance at the barber:
"I told you that I would not go away without a sight of the charming
Ambroisine! I have succeeded, you see!"
Whereupon Master Hugonnet would look sheepish; but a word or two from
his daughter would speedily allay his anger, and more than one among the
witnesses of the scene would resolve to employ the same method when he
wished to see La Belle Baigneuse.
Now that we are acquainted with Master Hugonnet's house and household,
we must pay a visit to the establishment of another bath keeper, on Rue
Dauphine. That street, which had been laid out twenty years earlier, on
the site of the garden of the Augustinians and of the buildings of the
Collège Saint-Denis, was already lined by fine houses, and had an air of
refinement and a class of inhabitants in striking contrast to Quartier
Saint-Jacques.
IV
BATHILDE
The baths on Rue Dauphine were kept by one Landry. He was a man of
sixty, but still vigorous and robust, despite his gray moustache, which
he wore very long. By his soldierly bearing and the way he carried his
head, one could divine that he had seen military service. And Landry
was, in fact, an ex-soldier. He had fought under Henri IV, whose name he
never mentioned without carrying the back of his right hand to his
forehead, or without manifesting his emotion by the change in his voice.
At the great king's death, Landry, then thirty-six years of age, had
left the service. Later, although his face was scarred, his martial
set-up and his military gait had fascinated Dame Ragonde, a widow with a
small hoard. She had married Landry, and they had obtained, by purchase,
a license to keep hot and cold baths.
Landry was a tall, thin, stiff individual. He had an uncommunicative
air, and his long gray moustache tended to make his expression even less
inviting. However, Master Landry was not a bad-tempered man. He had
never been known to seek a quarrel with anyone; and when quarrels arose
among his neighbors, it was usually he who intervened to restore peace.
It is true that his voice was strong and that his moustache produced an
imposing effect on the vulgar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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