Zizi said nothing because she had guessed the truth; Jéricourt bit his lips and also held his peace; but Frefred exclaimed:
"This is strange—your story—one would say—where does your pretty flower girl stand?"
"Near here, on Boulevard du Château d'Eau; you know her perfectly well."
"What! is it Violette?"
"It is Violette."
"Why, in that case, the young man who pretends to have had her favors—is——"
Thereupon Jéricourt felt called upon to draw himself up and assume an impertinent tone.
"Monsieur," said he to Roncherolle, "I do not understand all the absurd stories and fairy-tales which you have been telling us, and which have neither head nor tail; but what seems even more inconceivable is that a man of your age should pose as the knight of flower girls!"
"A man of my age, monsieur, knows the world well enough to distinguish the false from the true; and when one can avenge a woman who has been shamelessly defamed by a conceited coxcomb, age makes no difference, monsieur, as I hope to prove to your satisfaction."