She had been out to buy the mackerel for him.
"He adores mackerel," said she.

"We must spoil them, those naughty men, mustn't we?
But come up.

You shall see our home.

We are standing in a draught here." After Gervaise had told of her own marriage and that she had formerly occupied the very apartment Virginie now had, Virginie urged her even more strongly to come up since it is always nice to visit a spot where one had been happy.
Virginie had lived for five years on the Left Bank at Gros-Caillou.

That was where she had met her husband while he was still in the army.
But she got tired of it, and wanted to come back to the Goutte-d'Or neighborhood where she knew everyone.