o the good
God for it. So the good God took pity on her, and gave her a little
daughter. I will not speak to you of her joy; it was a fury of
tears, and caresses, and kisses. She nursed her child herself, made
swaddling-bands for it out of her coverlet, the only one which she
had on her bed, and no longer felt either cold or hunger. She became
beautiful once more, in consequence of it. An old maid makes a
young mother. Gallantry claimed her once more; men came to see la
Chantefleurie; she found customers again for her merchandise, and out
of all these horrors she made baby clothes, caps and bibs, bodices
with shoulder-straps of lace, and tiny bonnets of satin, without even
thinking of buying herself another coverlet.--Master Eustache, I have
already told you not to eat that cake.--It is certain that little Agnes,
that was the child's name, a baptismal name, for it was a long time
since la Chantefleurie had had any surname--it is certain that
that little one was more swathed in ribbons and embroideries than a
dauphiness of Dauphiny! Among other things, she had a pair of little
shoes, the like of which King Louis XI. certainly never had! Her mother
had stitched and embroidered them herself; she had lavished on them all
the delicacies of her art of embroideress, and all the embellishments of
a robe for the good Virgin. They certainly were the two prettiest little
pink shoes that could be seen. They were no longer than my thumb, and
one had to see the child's little feet come out of them, in order to
believe that they had been able to get into them. 'Tis true that those
little feet were so small, so pretty, so rosy! rosier than the satin of
the shoes! When you have children, Oudarde, you will find that there is
nothing prettier than those little hands and feet."

"I ask no better," said Oudarde with a sigh, "but I am waiting until it
shall suit the good pleasure of M. Andry Musnier."

"However, Paquette's child had more that was pretty about it besides its
feet. I saw her when she was only four months old; she was a love! She
had eyes larger than her mouth, and the most charming black hair, which
already curled. She would have been a magnificent brunette at the age
of sixteen! Her mother became more crazy over her every day. She kissed
her, caressed her, tickled her, washed her, decked her out, devoured
her! She lost her head over her, she thanked God for her. Her pretty,
little rosy feet above all were an endless source o