Can Mother Genevieve be in trouble about
anything?
Poor woman! All her best years were subject to such bitter trials,
that she might think she had received her full share already. Were I
to live a hundred years, I should never forget the circumstances
which first made her known to me, and which obtained her my respect.
It was at the time of my first settling in the faubourg. I had
noticed her empty fruit-shop, which nobody came into, and being
attracted by its forsaken appearance, made my little purchases in
it. I have always instinctively preferred the poor shops; there is
less choice in them, but it seems to me that my purchase is a sign
of sympathy with a brother in poverty. These little dealings are
almost always an anchor of hope to those whose very existence is in
peril--the only means by which some orphan gains a livelihood. There
the aim of the tradesman is not to enrich himself, but to live! The
purchase you make of him is more than exchange--it is a good action.
Mother Genevieve at that time was still young, but had already lost
that fresh bloom of youth, which suffering causes to wither so soon
among the poor. Her husband, a clever joiner, gradually left off
working to become, according to the picturesque expression of the
workshops, _a worshipper of Saint Monday_.
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