1072 Les Miserables
‘I beg your pardon, sir, for having disturbed you a while
ago, and for again disturbing you at this moment; you must
have thought me intrusive, and I will explain myself.’
‘There is no need of that, Sir,’ said Marius.
‘Yes!’ went on the old man, ‘I do not wish you to have a
bad opinion of me. You see, I am attached to this place. It
seems to me that the mass is better from here. Why? I will
tell you. It is from this place, that I have watched a poor,
brave father come regularly, every two or three months, for
the last ten years, since he had no other opportunity and no
other way of seeing his child, because he was prevented by
family arrangements. He came at the hour when he knew
that his son would be brought to mass. The little one never
suspected that his father was there. Perhaps he did not even
know that he had a father, poor innocent! The father kept
behind a pillar, so that he might not be seen. He gazed at his
child and he wept. He adored that little fellow, poor man! I
could see that. This spot has become sanctified in my sight,
and I have contracted a habit of coming hither to listen to
the mass. I prefer it to the stall to which I have a right, in
my capacity of warden. I knew that unhappy gentleman a
little, too. He had a father-in-law, a wealthy aunt, relatives,
I don’t know exactly what all, who threatened to disinherit
the child if he, the father, saw him. He sacrificed himself in
order that his son might be rich and happy some day. He
was separated from him because of political opinions. Cer-
tainly, I approve of political opinions, but there are people
who do not know where to stop. Mon Dieu! a man is not a
monster because he was at Waterloo; a father is not sepa-