Maigret's Holiday by Georges Simenon

scullery, where I had to clean the silver …’
    â€˜Do you know, Monsieur Maigret, that
it’s Francis who polishes my copper pans? … even though my cleaning woman
comes every day, he claims that women don’t know how to scour—’
    â€˜When the girl came back today, did
you take her straight upstairs?’
    â€˜I didn’t need to announce her
… I saw Jeanne on the landing, and she said: “Show her up, Francis
…”’
    â€˜In other words, this time your
employer was expecting Lucile?’
    â€˜I presume so …’
    â€˜Do you ever listen at the
keyhole?’
    â€˜No, monsieur.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Because of Doctor Bellamy’s
mother … She looks heavy, almost helpless … She leans on her stick as if she
couldn’t stand on her own two legs but she swoops downon you out
of the blue … She’s always roaming around the house …’
    â€˜A pest! … And to top it all,
Monsieur Maigret, she isn’t even from a good family … When she comes to the
market with the cook, she yells at us as if we were trollops … She’s
forgotten that her father was a drunkard who they used to have to rescue from the gutter
and that her mother was a charwoman … It’s true that she was a beautiful
girl … You wouldn’t believe it to look at her now …’
    â€˜Tell me, Madame
Popineau—’
    â€˜You can call me Popine, like everyone
else!’
    â€˜Tell me, Popine − you know
everyone at Les Sables d’Olonne − would you have any idea whose daughter
this Lucile is?’
    â€˜Ten years ago, I’d have
answered yes … I was still a “pedlar” … I went from door to door
with my barrow selling fish … So you see, I knew all the urchins—’
    â€˜She’s lanky and thin with hair
that is almost colourless, straw-coloured …’
    â€˜Does she wear plaits?’
    â€˜No …’
    â€˜It’s a pity because I know one
but she wears plaits … She’s the cooper’s daughter …’
    â€˜Is she around fourteen or
fifteen?’
    â€˜Probably older … She’s
already developed … A fine little bust—’
    â€˜Think hard …’
    â€˜I don’t see … Mind you,
just give me until tomorrow lunchtime … With all the people that come to my shop,it won’t take me long to find out … The town
isn’t so big, after all …’
    Maigret was to remember those words a little
later.
The town isn’t so big!
    â€˜Francis, do you have the impression
that your employers get on well?’
    The Belgian was at a loss for an answer.
    â€˜Do they fight often?’
    â€˜Never.’
    He was nonplussed at the thought that anyone
could argue with the doctor.
    â€˜Does he sometimes speak to his wife
sharply?’
    â€˜No, monsieur …’
    Maigret realized that he would have to press
the matter.
    â€˜Are they cheerful when they are
together, at the table, for example? I presume you’re the one who serves their
meals?’
    â€˜Yes, monsieur.’
    â€˜Do they talk to each other
much?’
    â€˜Monsieur talks … So does his
mother …’
    â€˜Do you have the impression that
Madame Bellamy is happy?’
    â€˜Sometimes, monsieur …
It’s hard to say … If you knew Monsieur better …’
    â€˜Try and explain what you
mean.’
    â€˜I can’t … He’s not
a man you talk to like anyone else … He looks at you and you feel all
small—’
    â€˜Does his wife feel all small in front
of him?’
    â€˜Maybe, sometimes … She
sometimes talks like everyone else … She starts telling a story, laughing …
Then she looks at him and stops in mid-sentence—’
    â€˜I think it’s
rather when she looks at her mother-in-law,’ broke in La Popine. ‘You have
to