1290 Les Miserables
M. Leblanc had taken the arm of the young girl, once
more, and had turned towards the door.
‘Farewell until this evening, my friends!’ said he.
‘Six o’clock?’ said Jondrette.
‘Six o’clock precisely.’
At that moment, the overcoat lying on the chair caught
the eye of the elder Jondrette girl.
‘You are forgetting your coat, sir,’ said she.
Jondrette darted an annihilating look at his daughter,
accompanied by a formidable shrug of the shoulders.
M. Leblanc turned back and said, with a smile:—
‘I have not forgotten it, I am leaving it.’
‘O my protector!’ said Jondrette, ‘my august benefactor,
I melt into tears! Permit me to accompany you to your car-
riage.’
‘If you come out,’ answered M. Leblanc, ‘put on this coat.
It really is very cold.’
Jondrette did not need to be told twice. He hastily donned
the brown great-coat. And all three went out, Jondrette pre-
ceding the two strangers.