Madame had three birds in a cage. They were no great thing, she explained. Fine birds were so dear. They had sought to get a Hollandais last winter in Rouen (Rouen? thought I; and is this whole mansion, with its dogs and birds and smoking chimneys, so far a traveller as that? and as homely an object among the cliffs and orchards of the Seine as on the green plains of Sambre?)⁠—they had sought to get a Hollandais last winter in Rouen; but these cost fifteen francs apiece⁠—picture it⁠—fifteen francs!

“ Pour un tout petit oiseau ⁠—For quite a little bird,” added the husband.