Chapter 7 Summary

Denise responds to her dismissal by wandering around in a daze. She keeps returning to Au Bonheur des Dames, and finally walks down her uncle's street. She sees the sign for a room for rent at the house of her uncle's friend, Bourras. Bourras thinks she is too respectable for his cheap rooms, but she convinces him to board her. She spends the next two months scraping by in terrible poverty and fear of the bold men in and around her building. She lives in the shadow of Au Bonheur des Dames and its employees. Colomban comes to see her to talk about Clara. When Pépé gets sick in the fall, Bourras brings bread, soup and a job offer for Denise. Denise accepts his charity while he invents work for her for the next few months. Bourras and Denise constantly talk about...