2016 Les Miserables
was not sufficient. In short, he had been administering to
himself little inward remonstrances and he feared Marius’
reproaches. In order to extricate himself from the predica-
ment, he took the simplest course; he lied abominably.
‘Citizen, I delivered the letter to the porter. The lady was
asleep. She will have the letter when she wakes up.’
Marius had had two objects in sending that letter: to bid
farewell to Cosette and to save Gavroche. He was obliged to
content himself with the half of his desire.
The despatch of his letter and the presence of M. Fau-
chelevent in the barricade, was a coincidence which occurred
to him. He pointed out M. Fauchelevent to Gavroche.
‘Do you know that man?’
‘No,’ said Gavroche.
Gavroche had, in fact, as we have just mentioned, seen
Jean Valjean only at night.
The troubled and unhealthy conjectures which had out-
lined themselves in Marius’ mind were dissipated. Did he
know M. Fauchelevent’s opinions? Perhaps M. Fauchelevent
was a republican. Hence his very natural presence in this
combat.
In the meanwhile, Gavroche was shouting, at the other
end of the barricade: ‘My gun!’
Courfeyrac had it returned to him.
Gavroche warned ‘his comrades’ as he called them, that
the barricade was blocked. He had had great difficulty in
reaching it. A battalion of the line whose arms were piled
in the Rue de la Petite Truanderie was on the watch on the
side of the Rue du Cygne; on the opposite side, the munici-