Sentence:  "... They <WSD>talk</WSD> of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably." And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To gossip; to create scandal.