Chapter 3
The Chien Noir, where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined,
was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. Downstairs was a
public room, where all and sundry devoured their food, for the
little place had a reputation for good cooking combined with
cheapness; and the patron, a retired horse-dealer who had
taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son,
was a cheery soul whose loud-voiced friendliness attracted custom.
But on the first floor was a narrow room, with three tables
arranged in a horse-shoe, which was reserved for a small party of
English or American painters and a few Frenchmen with their wives.
At least, they were so nearly wives, and their manner had such a
matrimonial respectability, that Susie, when first she and Margaret
were in
