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It was Major Laguitte, a brave old soldier who had served under Colonel Burle during Mme Burle's palmy days. He had started in life as a drummer boy and, thanks to his courage rather than his intellect, had attained to the command of a battalion, when a painful infirmity the contraction of the muscles of one of his thighs, due to a wound obliged him to accept the post of major.
Kill yourself, if it pleases you; starve your mother and the boy, but respect the regimental cashbox and don't drag your friends down with you." He stopped. Burle was sitting there with fixed eyes and a stupid air. Nothing was heard for a moment save the clatter of the major's heels. "And not a single copper," he continued aggressively. "Can you picture yourself between two gendarmes, eh?"
During well-nigh a couple of minutes the swords clashed, and then the captain lunged, but the major, recovering his old suppleness of wrist, parried in a masterly style, and if he had returned the attack Burle would have been pierced through. The captain now fell back; he was livid, for he felt that he was at the mercy of the man who had just spared him.
The name of Burle, that respected name, dragged through the mire! By all that was holy this could and should not be! Presently the major softened. If he had only possessed five hundred and forty-five francs! But he had not got such an amount. On the previous day he had drunk too much cognac, just like a mere sub, and had lost shockingly at cards. It served him right he ought to have known better!
Then he stretched out his hand. "No, no," said Laguitte, "I'll see you home; I'll at least make sure that you'll sleep in your bed tonight." They went on, and as they ascended the Rue des Recollets they slackened their pace. When the captain's door was reached and Burle had taken out his latchkey he ventured to ask: "Well?" "Well," answered the major gruffly, "I am as dirty a rogue as you are.
One evening the gentlemen of the divan, who had ended by tolerating each other's presence, experienced a disagreeable surprise on finding Captain Burle at home there. He had casually entered the cafe that same morning to get a glass of vermouth, so it seemed, and he had found Melanie there. They had conversed, and in the evening when he returned Phrosine immediately showed him to the inner room.
She almost felt the gust of the expected blow, and then, white with rage, she joined Phrosine in the outer room. When the two men were alone Major Laguitte walked up to Burle, looked at him and, slightly stooping, yelled into his face these two words: "You pig!" The captain, quite dazed, endeavored to retort, but he had not time to do so. "Silence!" resumed the major.
This idea froze the major, who left off cursing, picturing Mme Burle erect and despairing, and at the same time he felt his heart swell with personal grief and shame. "Well," he muttered, "I must first of all look into the rogue's business; I will act afterward." As he walked over to Burle's office he caught sight of a skirt vanishing through the doorway.
"No need to disturb anybody," said Laguitte on the landing; "my legs are not much better than yours, but if I get hold of the banisters I shan't break any bones. Now, my dear lady, I leave you happy; your troubles are ended at last. I watched Burle closely, and I'll take my oath that he's guileless as a child.
The thought of his men almost broke his heart, and, stopping short, he said aloud in a voice full of compassion: "Poor devils! what a lot of cow beef they'll have to swallow for those two thousand francs!" The regiment was altogether nonplused: Petticoat Burle had quarreled with Melanie.
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