Les Misérables, page 109
CHAPTER X--HE WHO SEEKS TO BETTER HIMSELF MAY RENDER HIS SITUATION WORSE
Madame Thénardier had allowed her husband to have his own way, as washer wont. She had expected great results. When the man and Cosette hadtaken their departure, Thénardier allowed a full quarter of an hourto elapse; then he took her aside and showed her the fifteen hundredfrancs.
"Is that all?" said she.
It was the first time since they had set up housekeeping that she haddared to criticise one of the master's acts.
The blow told.
"You are right, in sooth," said he; "I am a fool. Give me my hat."
He folded up the three bank-bills, thrust them into his pocket, and ranout in all haste; but he made a mistake and turned to the right first.Some neighbors, of whom he made inquiries, put him on the track again;the Lark and the man had been seen going in the direction of Livry. Hefollowed these hints, walking with great strides, and talking to himselfthe while:--
"That man is evidently a million dressed in yellow, and I am an animal.First he gave twenty sous, then five francs, then fifty francs, thenfifteen hundred francs, all with equal readiness. He would have givenfifteen thousand francs. But I shall overtake him."
And then, that bundle of clothes prepared beforehand for the child; allthat was singular; many mysteries lay concealed under it. One does notlet mysteries out of one's hand when one has once grasped them. Thesecrets of the wealthy are sponges of gold; one must know how to subjectthem to pressure. All these thoughts whirled through his brain. "I am ananimal," said he.
When one leaves Montfermeil and reaches the turn which the road takesthat runs to Livry, it can be seen stretching out before one to a greatdistance across the plateau. On arriving there, he calculated that heought to be able to see the old man and the child. He looked as far ashis vision reached, and saw nothing. He made fresh inquiries, but he hadwasted time. Some passers-by informed him that the man and child of whomhe was in search had gone towards the forest in the direction of Gagny.He hastened in that direction.
They were far in advance of him; but a child walks slowly, and he walkedfast; and then, he was well acquainted with the country.
All at once he paused and dealt himself a blow on his forehead like aman who has forgotten some essential point and who is ready to retracehis steps.
"I ought to have taken my gun," said he to himself.
Thénardier was one of those double natures which sometimes pass throughour midst without our being aware of the fact, and who disappear withoutour finding them out, because destiny has only exhibited one side ofthem. It is the fate of many men to live thus half submerged. In acalm and even situation, Thénardier possessed all that is required tomake--we will not say to be--what people have agreed to call an honesttrader, a good bourgeois. At the same time certain circumstances beinggiven, certain shocks arriving to bring his under-nature to the surface,he had all the requisites for a blackguard. He was a shopkeeper inwhom there was some taint of the monster. Satan must have occasionallycrouched down in some corner of the hovel in which Thénardier dwelt, andhave fallen a-dreaming in the presence of this hideous masterpiece.
After a momentary hesitation:--
"Bah!" he thought; "they will have time to make their escape."
And he pursued his road, walking rapidly straight ahead, and with almostan air of certainty, with the sagacity of a fox scenting a covey ofpartridges.
In truth, when he had passed the ponds and had traversed in an obliquedirection the large clearing which lies on the right of the Avenue deBellevue, and reached that turf alley which nearly makes the circuit ofthe hill, and covers the arch of the ancient aqueduct of the Abbey ofChelles, he caught sight, over the top of the brushwood, of the hat onwhich he had already erected so many conjectures; it was that man's hat.The brushwood was not high. Thénardier recognized the fact that the manand Cosette were sitting there. The child could not be seen on accountof her small size, but the head of her doll was visible.
Thénardier was not mistaken. The man was sitting there, and lettingCosette get somewhat rested. The inn-keeper walked round the brushwoodand presented himself abruptly to the eyes of those whom he was insearch of.
"Pardon, excuse me, sir," he said, quite breathless, "but here are yourfifteen hundred francs."
So saying, he handed the stranger the three bank-bills.
The man raised his eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Thénardier replied respectfully:--
"It means, sir, that I shall take back Cosette."
Cosette shuddered, and pressed close to the old man.
He replied, gazing to the very bottom of Thénardier's eyes the while,and enunciating every syllable distinctly:--
"You are go-ing to take back Co-sette?"
"Yes, sir, I am. I will tell you; I have considered the matter. In fact,I have not the right to give her to you. I am an honest man, you see;this child does not belong to me; she belongs to her mother. It was hermother who confided her to me; I can only resign her to her mother. Youwill say to me, 'But her mother is dead.' Good; in that case I can onlygive the child up to the person who shall bring me a writing, signed byher mother, to the effect that I am to hand the child over to the persontherein mentioned; that is clear."
The man, without making any reply, fumbled in his pocket, and Thénardierbeheld the pocket-book of bank-bills make its appearance once more.
The tavern-keeper shivered with joy.
"Good!" thought he; "let us hold firm; he is going to bribe me!"
Before opening the pocket-book, the traveller cast a glance about him:the spot was absolutely deserted; there was not a soul either in thewoods or in the valley. The man opened his pocket-book once more anddrew from it, not the handful of bills which Thénardier expected, but asimple little paper, which he unfolded and presented fully open to theinn-keeper, saying:--
"You are right; read!"
Thénardier took the paper and read:--
"M. SUR M., March 25, 1823.
"MONSIEUR THÉNARDIER:--
You will deliver Cosette to this person. You will be paid for all the little things. I have the honor to salute you with respect, FANTINE."
"You know that signature?" resumed the man.
It certainly was Fantine's signature; Thénardier recognized it.
There was no reply to make; he experienced two violent vexations, thevexation of renouncing the bribery which he had hoped for, and thevexation of being beaten; the man added:--
"You may keep this paper as your receipt."
Thénardier retreated in tolerably good order.
"This signature is fairly well imitated," he growled between his teeth;"however, let it go!"
Then he essayed a desperate effort.
"It is well, sir," he said, "since you are the person, but I must bepaid for all those little things. A great deal is owing to me."
The man rose to his feet, filliping the dust from his threadbaresleeve:--
"Monsieur Thénardier, in January last, the mother reckoned that she owedyou one hundred and twenty francs. In February, you sent her a bill offive hundred francs; you received three hundred francs at the end ofFebruary, and three hundred francs at the beginning of March. Since thennine months have elapsed, at fifteen francs a month, the price agreedupon, which makes one hundred and thirty-five francs. You had receivedone hundred francs too much; that makes thirty-five still owing you. Ihave just given you fifteen hundred francs."
Thénardier's sensations were those of the wolf at the moment when hefeels himself nipped and seized by the steel jaw of the trap.
"Who is this devil of a man?" he thought.
He did what the wolf does: he shook himself. Audacity had succeeded withhim once.
"Monsieur-I-don't-know-your-name," he said resolutely, and this timecasting aside all respectful ceremony, "I shall take back Cosette if youdo not give me a thousand crowns."
The stranger said tranquilly:--
"Come, Cosette."
He took Cosette by his left hand, and with his right he picked up hiscudgel, which was lying on the ground.
Thénardier noted the enormous size of the cudgel and the solitude of thespot.
The man plunged into the forest with the child, leaving the inn-keepermotionless and speechless.
While they were walking away, Thénardier scrutinized his huge shoulders,which were a little rounded, and his great fists.
Then, bringing his eyes back to his own person, they fell upon hisfeeble arms and his thin hands. "I really must have been exceedinglystupid not to have thought to bring my gun," he said to himself, "sinceI was going hunting!"
However, the inn-keeper did not give up.
"I want to know where he is going," said he, and he set out to followthem at a distance. Two things were left on his hands, an irony in theshape of the paper signed _Fantine_, and a consolation, the fifteenhundred francs.
The man led Cosette off in the direction of Livry and Bondy. He walkedslowly, with drooping head, in an attitude of reflection and sadness.The winter had thinned out the forest, so that Thénardier did not losethem from sight, although he kept at a good distance. The man turnedround from time to time, and looked to see if he was being followed.All at once he caught sight of Thénardier. He plunged suddenly intothe brushwood with Cosette, where they could both hide themselves. "Thedeuce!" said Thénardier, and he redoubled his pace.
The thickness of the undergrowth forced him to draw nearer to them. Whenthe man had reached the densest part of the thicket, he wheeledround. It was in vain that Thénardier sought to conceal himself in thebranches; he could not prevent the man seeing him. The man cast upon himan uneasy glance, then elevated his head and continued his course. Theinn-keeper set out again in pursuit. Thus they continued for two orthree hundred paces. All at once the man turned round once more; he sawthe inn-keeper. This time he gazed at him with so sombre an air thatThénardier decided that it was "useless" to proceed further. Thénardierretraced his steps.
