“Yes, monsieur, yes, that’s the truth; when I told her about monsieur’s offer, she was struck dumb at first; and when she did answer, I heard her voice trembling as if she were going to cry, when she said: ‘Well! if you want me to go away, if it bores you to live with your mother, why then I will go to this fine place in the country; but for my part, I should much prefer to live on a little, to be less comfortable, and to be where I could embrace my son every day; that would make me much happier!’--So then, monsieur, as you can imagine, I threw my arms about my mother’s neck and said to her: ‘It was in the hope of assuring your happiness that I offered you this; if you are happier with me, you must stay here, and I shall be happier too!’--Then she told me to come and thank you for your kindness, monsieur, and explain the reason for her refusal, and I beg you to forgive me for showing so little appreciation of your kindness; for in all this it is I who am most to blame. If I had had the courage to leave Paris, why, then my mother would have been very glad to go!” “I don’t blame you, Georget, but I hope that your flower girl is worthy of the sacrifice you are making for her. Go, my boy.” “And monsieur doesn’t want Violette to bring him a bouquet, so that--so that he can make her acquaintance.” “No, I don’t want any bouquet.” “And I am not to look for Monsieur de Roncherolle any more?” “It’s no use.” “But monsieur will still employ me when he needs a messenger?” “That goes without saying. Now go.” Georget went away in a sad frame of mind, for at the bottom of his heart he was not content with himself. As he passed through the reception room, he made no reply when Pongo called out to him: “Monsieur Georget, Carabi not so bad now, he no claw nothing but my ear.” XV A TRAP To Georget’s mind, the best way to find an excuse for his wrongdoing was to go to her who was the cause of his committing it; so that was what he did not fail to do; and as he looked at the fascinating flower girl, he said to himself: “As if it would have been possible for me to live without seeing her! Oh, no! I should have died of grief, and that would have made my mother more unhappy than all the rest! So I did well not to accept Monsieur Malberg’s offer.” Thus it is that man always finds a way to compromise with his conscience and to put himself on pleasant terms with it. Violette smiled pleasantly at Georget, saying: “So you’re not travelling all over Paris to-day, Georget?” “No, mamzelle, my travels are ended; Monsieur Malberg doesn’t want me to go on looking for his man.--But what has become of Chicotin? I never see him here now.” “That’s true, he doesn’t come so much as he did. I am not sorry, for he frequently knocked my customers down, and that would have ended by injuring my trade.” “Your customers! You mean the fine gentlemen who come here to make sweet speeches to you! Do you still see those fellows?”