"Stop, Piaulard! you may go to the devil now! Here's a friend who'll answer for me—pay for me if necessary. Ah! he has the stuff, he has; and I forbid you to call me a thief before him; if you do, I'll have a crack at you in my turn—ugly mug!"
I stood as if petrified. I had not the strength to move a muscle. The great colossus, who was on the point of striking Ballangier, paused in amazement, and stared at me with the expression of one who cannot believe his ears. As for the ladies, they continued to pull me by the arm.
"For heaven's sake, push that man away!"
"Do come, Monsieur Rochebrune!"
"That drunkard takes you for a friend of his; drive him away, do! Come! let's not stay here. Oh! it's horrible to come in contact with such people!"
But I was incapable alike of speech and action. Moreover, Ballangier did not relax his grasp on my coat.
"Drive me away!" he cried; "me—his friend—the most intimate friend he's got in the world! I think I see him driving me away, good old Charles! Charlot—Rochebrune, if you like that better. Ah! you think I'm mistaken, do you? you think I don't know him? Just ask him if he don't know me; ask him, and see what he says. Piaulard, you're an old ass! I'm not a vagabond and a tramp, for I've got friends to answer for me.—You'll answer for me, won't you, Charles? you won't let this old rascal arrest me?"
Since Ballangier had mentioned my name, and I, by my silence, had admitted that he was not lying when he said that he knew me, Madame Gerbancourt, her sister, and even Armantine herself, had dropped my arm; and, as a crowd soon collected about us, the first two speedily disappeared, and were lost in the multitude. Armantine also walked away, but I could see that she was still listening.
"If it's true that monsieur knows you, and if he chooses to pay your bill," said tall Piaulard, walking toward me, "that makes a difference, and things can be settled without a row."
I realized at that moment all the falseness and absurdity of my position; I realized also how foolish it is to be afraid of prejudice and the opinion of gossips. Passing abruptly from shame to anger, I extricated myself roughly from Ballangier's grasp, and, seizing him by the collar, shook him violently.