"Thunder!" he exclaimed. "Now I think of it, I did notice something
strange. One of the two women called the other 'Madame' as large as
life, while the other said 'thee' and 'thou,' and spoke as if she were
somebody."
"Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed the young detective, in three different keys.
"And which was it that said 'thee' and 'thou'?"
"Why, the dowdy one. She with shabby dress and shoes as big as a gouty
man's. You should have seen her shake the prim-looking girl, as if she
had been a plum tree. 'You little fool!' said she, 'do you want to ruin
us? You will have time to faint when we get home; now come along. And
then she began to sob: 'Indeed, madame, indeed I can't!' she said, and
really she seemed quite unable to move: in fact, she appeared to be so
ill that I said to myself: 'Here is a young woman who has drunk more
than is good for her!'"
These facts confirmed even if they corrected Lecoq's first suppositions.
As he had suspected, the social position of the two women was not the
same. He had been mistaken, however, in attributing the higher standing
to the woman wearing the shoes with the high heels, the marks of which
he had so particularly noticed in the snow, with all the attendant signs
of precipitation, terror, and weakness. In reality, social preeminence
belonged to the woman who had left the large, broad footprints behind
her. And not merely was she of a superior rank, but she had also shown
superior energy. Contrary to Lecoq's original idea, it now seemed
evident that she was the mistress, and her companion the servant.
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