have
it your own way! [_A silence_] Only don't all jaw at once. You'll see
you'll want a chairman, I tell you that, but I don't care. It ain't my
show.

CHARPIN. Get a move on you, Girard, and speak up.

GIRARD. Well, ladies--

VINCENT [_interrupting_] Now look here. I want to get at an
understandin'.

THERESE. Monsieur Girard, will you be kind enough to speak for your
friends? We have nothing to say on our part. We're asking for nothing.

GIRARD. Well, that's true. We want to have the mending back.

THERESE. And we don't mean to give it up.

GIRARD. Well, we expected that. Now, to show you that we're not such a
bad lot as you think, we'll share it with you on two conditions. The
first is that you're paid the same wages as we are.

DESCHAUME. Look here, that won't suit me at all, that won't. If my old
woman gets as much as me, how am I to keep her under? Blimey, she'll
think she's my bloomin' equal!

GIRARD [_impatiently_] Oh, bung her into some other berth. Let me go on.
The second condition is that you aren't to have a separate workshop.
We'll all work together as we used to.

THERESE. Why?

DESCHAUME. You women do a damned sight too much for your ha'pence.

GIRARD. Yes, it's all in the interests of the masters. It's against
solidarity.

THERESE. Will you allow me to express my astonishment that you should
make conditions with us when you wish to take something from us?

CHARPIN. We're ony tellin' you our terms for sharing the work with you.

THERESE. I quite understand; but we have no desire to share it with you.
We mean to keep it. And I'm greatly surprised to hear you suggest that
we should all work together.

CONSTANCE. Indeed we won't.

DESCHAUME. Why not, Mademoiselle? When we worked together--

CONSTANCE [_interrupting_] When we worked with you before, you played
all sorts of dirty tricks on us to make us leave.

DESCHAUME. What tricks? Did you hear anything about that, Charpin?

CHARPIN. I dunnow what she's talkin' about. D'you Vincent?

VINCENT. Look here, I only want to get to an understandin'.

CONSTANCE. You never stopped sayin' beastly things.

DESCHAUME AND CHARPIN [_protesting together_] Oh! O-ho!

DESCHAUME. Well, if we can't have a bit of chippin' in a friendly way
like!

BERTHE. Beastly things like that ain't jokes. I didn't know where to
look meself; and I've sat for a sculptor, so I ain't too particular.

CHARPIN. He! He! I thought she was talkin' about that old jo