From the greeting that he received, M.
Violette suspected the poor opinion that M.Gaufre had of him.

If he went there in spite of his natural pride it was only on his son's account.

For M.Gaufre was rich, and he was not young.

Perhaps--who could tell ?--he might not forget Amedee, his nephew, in his will?
It was necessary for him to see the child occasionally, and M.Violette, in pursuance of his paternal duty, condemned himself, three or four times a year, to the infliction of a visit at the "Bon Marche des Paroisses." The hopes that M.Violette had formed as to his son's inheriting from M.
Gaufre were very problematical; for the father, whom M.Gaufre had not been able to avoid receiving at his table occasionally, had been struck, even shocked, by the familiar and despotic tone of the old merchant's servant, a superb Normandy woman of about twenty-five years, answering to the royal name of Berenice.

The impertinent ways of this robust woman betrayed her position in her master's house, as much as the diamonds that glittered in her ears.