She was obliged to stand up close against the stair-rail with her basket to make way for a tall bare-headed woman who was coming up, carrying in her hand a very fresh mackerel, with bloody gills, in a piece of paper.

She recognized Virginie, the girl whose face she had slapped at the wash-house.

They looked each other full in the face.

Gervaise shut her eyes.

She thought for a moment that she was going to be hit in the face with the fish.