With a vague gesture of her hand she would send everybody about their business.

At each fresh worry she buried herself deeper in her only pleasure, which was to have her three meals a day.

The shop might have collapsed.
So long as she was not beneath it, she would have gone off willingly without a chemise to her back.

And the little shop was collapsing, not suddenly, but little by little, morning and evening.

One by one the customers got angry, and sent their washing elsewhere.