1698 Les Miserables
CHAPTER II
THE BEWILDERMENT OF
PERFECT HAPPINESS
They existed vaguely, frightened at their happiness. They
did not notice the cholera which decimated Paris precisely
during that very month. They had confided in each other
as far as possible, but this had not extended much further
than their names. Marius had told Cosette that he was an
orphan, that his name was Marius Pontmercy, that he was
a lawyer, that he lived by writing things for publishers, that
his father had been a colonel, that the latter had been a hero,
and that he, Marius, was on bad terms with his grandfa-
ther who was rich. He had also hinted at being a baron, but
this had produced no effect on Cosette. She did not know
the meaning of the word. Marius was Marius. On her side,
she had confided to him that she had been brought up at
the Petit-Picpus convent, that her mother, like his own, was
dead, that her father’s name was M. Fauchelevent, that he
was very good, that he gave a great deal to the poor, but that
he was poor himself, and that he denied himself everything
though he denied her nothing.