One of them, a girl, was now married to a carpenter, with whom she had gone to Le Havre, while of the others, both boys--one a soldier, had been killed in Tonquin, and the other Charles, after serving his time in the army, had become a working mechanician.

Still, Toussaint's long illness had exhausted the little money which he had in the Savings Bank, and now that he had been set on his legs again, he had to begin life once more without a copper before him.
Madame Theodore found her sister-in-law alone in the cleanly kept room which she and her husband occupied.

Madame Toussaint was a portly woman, whose corpulence increased in spite of everything, whether it were worry or fasting.

She had a round puffy face with bright little eyes; and was a very worthy woman, whose only faults were an inclination for gossiping and a fondness for good cheer.

Before Madame Theodore even opened her mouth she understood the object of her visit.