He had turned on his side, face on palm, elbow on pillow, had regarded her sternly as she spoke. I saw that he was very angry. "For what do you take me, little imbecile? Do you know that you insult me? I to be supported by a woman? _Nom de Dieu de Dieu!_" His ire blazed up suddenly. He cursed, scolded, boasted all in a breath. Blanquette looked at him terrified. She could not understand. Great tears rolled down her cheeks. "But I have made you angry," she wailed. The scornful spurning of her devotion hurt her less than the sense of having caused his wrath. The primitive savage feminine is not complicated by over-subtlety of feeling. As soon as she could speak she broke into repentant protestation. She had not meant to anger him. She had spoken from her heart. She was so ignorant. She would tear herself into four pieces for him. She was _brave fille_. She was alone and he was her only friend. He must forgive her. I, feeling monstrously tearful, jumped to my feet. "Yes, Master, forgive her." He burst out laughing. "Oh what three beautiful fools we are! Blanquette to think of supporting two hulking men, I to be angry, and Asticot to plead tragically as if I were a tyrant about to cut off her head. My little Blanquette, you have touched my heart, and who touches the heart of Paragot can eat Paragot's legs and liver if he is hungry and drink his blood if he is thirsty. I will remember it all my life, and if you will bring me my déjeuner I will stay in bed till this afternoon." "Then I am not to leave you?" she asked, somewhat bewildered. "Good heavens no!" he cried. "Because I am sick of fiddling do you suppose I am going to send you adrift? We shall settle down for the winter. Some capital. Which one would you like, Asticot?" "Buda-Pesth," said I at random. "Very well," said Paragot, "the day after tomorrow we start for Buda-Pesth. Now let me go to sleep." We took exactly two months getting to Buda-Pesth. The only incident of our journey which I clearly remember is a week's sojourn at the farm of La Haye near Chartres where we had carted manure, and where we renewed our acquaintance with Monsieur and Madame Dubosc. CHAPTER X IN Buda-Pesth three things happened. First, Paragot slipped in the street and broke his ankle bone, so that he lay seven weeks in hospital, during which time Blanquette and I and Narcisse lived like sparrows on the housetops, dazed by the incomprehensibilities of the strange city. Secondly, Paragot's aunt, his mother's sister, died intestate leaving a small sum of money which he inherited as her nearest surviving relative. Thirdly, Paragot fell into the arms of Theodor Izelin the painter, an old friend of Paris student days. The consequences of the first accident, though not immediate, were lasting. Paragot walked for ever afterwards with a slight limp, and his tramps along the high-roads of Europe had to be abandoned.