Read "A Broken Blossom Vol. 1 of 3" by Florence Marryat online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I must have slept for several hours, when I was awakened by the sound of a shrill voice that reached me from the courtyard below. For my room was at the back of the house, and looked out on a little paved court that lay on the other side of the narrow garden, and led through a cow-shed into the main street again. So primitive was the mode of architecture and the idea of comfort in the town of St. Pucelle.
‘_Tiens! _' the shrill voice was exclaiming when my ears were suddenly made cognisant of its existence; ‘you are a fool-a pig, a _maladroit_, to fancy any such thing! She will cost twice the money to keep that one of our girls do. Can we feed her on nettle soup and dandelion salad? Will she eat rye bread every day, and be content with crust _potage_ for her dinner? And her presence here will make the town furious. We shall be beset by them; they will say you have no right to increase your family; and if you tell them the reason why, they will answer, "Then give us justice," and you will look like a fool-as you are!'