"I don't know you—let me go upstairs!"
"You shall not go upstairs, you shall not go to your sister-in-law's, who is perfectly justified in refusing to admit a miserable wretch, a scoundrel of your stamp!"
"What! what do you say? What business is it of yours?"
"I say that you're a low-lived hound, that you call on Madame Dermont for no other purpose than to worm money out of her, which you spend in orgies and debauchery! And you are not ashamed to be guilty of such conduct! Do you think that Madame Dermont's modest fortune will serve to gratify your passions forever? No, monsieur; don't count upon it. I forbid you—do you hear?—I forbid you to show your face at your sister-in-law's again!"
"By what right, I should like to know?"
"By the right that every decent man has to protect a woman who is abused and threatened and robbed!"
"Oh! you make me tired! I propose to go up."
And Monsieur Alexandre, turning half around, tried to reach the stairway. But Adhémar overtook him, seized him by the throat, and held him against the wall, saying:
"If you make another attempt to go up those stairs, I'll smash your head against this wall!"
"You're choking me, monsieur!"