130 6 Les Miserables
quarter! Isn’t he a fool! So he will come at six o’clock! That’s
the hour when our neighbor goes to his dinner. Mother
Bougon is off washing dishes in the city. There’s not a soul
in the house. The neighbor never comes home until eleven
o’clock. The children shall stand on watch. You shall help
us. He will give in.’
‘And what if he does not give in?’ demanded his wife.
Jondrette made a sinister gesture, and said:—
‘We’ll fix him.’
And he burst out laughing.
This was the first time Marius had seen him laugh. The
laugh was cold and sweet, and provoked a shudder.
Jondrette opened a cupboard near the fireplace, and
drew from it an old cap, which he placed on his head, after
brushing it with his sleeve.
‘Now,’ said he, ‘I’m going out. I have some more people
that I must see. Good ones. You’ll see how well the whole
thing will work. I shall be away as short a time as possible,
it’s a fine stroke of business, do you look after the house.’
And with both fists thrust into the pockets of his trousers,
he stood for a moment in thought, then exclaimed:—
‘Do you know, it’s mighty lucky, by the way, that he didn’t
recognize me! If he had recognized me on his side, he would
not have come back again. He would have slipped through
our fingers! It was my beard that saved us! my romantic
beard! my pretty little romantic beard!’
And again he broke into a laugh.
He stepped to the window. The snow was still falling, and
streaking the gray of the sky.