She decided to put Etienne, now nearly eight, into a small boarding-school on Rue de Chartres for five francs a week.

Despite the expenses for the two children, they were able to save twenty or thirty francs each month.
Once they had six hundred francs saved, Gervaise often lay awake thinking of her ambitious dream: she wanted to rent a small shop, hire workers, and go into the laundry business herself.

If this effort worked, they would have a steady income from savings in twenty years.
They could retire and live in the country.
Yet she hesitated, saying she was looking for the right shop.

She was giving herself time to think it over.

Their savings were safe in the bank, and growing larger.