Rougon shuddered as he passed through this current of terror.

He hastened his steps, feeling as if he would choke.

As he passed a cafe on the Place des Recollets, where the lamps had just been lit, and where the petty cits of the new town were assembled, he heard a few words of terrifying conversation.
"Well! Monsieur Picou," said one man in a thick voice, "you've heard the news?
The regiment that was expected has not arrived." "But nobody expected any regiment, Monsieur Touche," a shrill voice replied.
"I beg your pardon.

You haven't read the proclamation, then ?" "Oh yes, it's true the placards declare that order will be maintained by force, if necessary." "You see, then, there's force mentioned; that means armed forces, of course." "What do people say then ?" "Well, you know, folks are beginning to feel rather frightened; they say that this delay on the part of the soldiers isn't natural, and that the insurgents may well have slaughtered them." A cry of horror resounded through the cafe.

Rougon was inclined to go in and tell those bourgeois that the proclamation had never announced the arrival of a regiment, that they had no right to strain its meaning to such a degree, nor to spread such foolish theories abroad.