Page:The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter.djvu/391

“And does he know your present situation?” asked Marcel.

“I have not seen him since and I do not want to,” replied Mimi; “ it makes me sick when I think of him; I would rather die of hunger than ask him for a sou.”

“But,” said Marcel, “since you left him you have not been living alone.”

“Yes, I assure you, Monsieur Marcel,” exclaimed Mimi, quickly; “I have been working to earn my living, only as artificial flower making was not a very flourishing business I took up another. I sit to painters. If you have any jobs to give me,” she added gaily.

And having noticed a movement on the part of Rodolphe, whom she did not take her eyes off whilst talking to his friend, Mimi went on:

“Ah! but I only sit for the head and hands. 1 have plenty to do, and I am owed money by two or three, I shall have some in a couple of days, it is only for that interval that I want to find a lodging. When I get the money I shall go back to my own. Ah!” said she, looking at the table, which was still laden with the preparation for the modest feast which the two friends had scarcely touched; “you were going to have supper?”

“No,” said Marcel, “we are not hungry.”

“You are very lucky,” said Mimi, simply.

At this remark Rodolphe felt a horrible pang in his heart, he made a sign to Marcel, which the latter understood.

“By the way,” said the artist, “since you are here, Mimi, you must take pot luck with us. We were going to keep Christmas Eve, and then—why—we began to think of other things.”

“Then I have come at the right moment,” said Mimi, casting an almost famished glance at the food on the table.