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ceive nor think of the latter. It was more than effacement, it
was an eclipse.
Marius did what he considered necessary and just. He
thought that he had serious reasons which the reader has
already seen, and others which will be seen later on, for
getting rid of Jean Valjean without harshness, but without
weakness.
Chance having ordained that he should encounter, in a
case which he had argued, a former employee of the Laffitte
establishment, he had acquired mysterious information,
without seeking it, which he had not been able, it is true, to
probe, out of respect for the secret which he had promised
to guard, and out of consideration for Jean Valjean’s peril-
ous position. He believed at that moment that he had a grave
duty to perform: the restitution of the six hundred thou-
sand francs to some one whom he sought with all possible
discretion. In the meanwhile, he abstained from touching
that money.
As for Cosette, she had not been initiated into any of
these secrets; but it would be harsh to condemn her also.
There existed between Marius and her an all-powerful
magnetism, which caused her to do, instinctively and al-
most mechanically, what Marius wished. She was conscious
of Marius’ will in the direction of ‘Monsieur Jean,’ she
conformed to it. Her husband had not been obliged to say
anything to her; she yielded to the vague but clear pressure
of his tacit intentions, and obeyed blindly. Her obedience
in this instance consisted in not remembering what Marius
forgot. She was not obliged to make any effort to accom-