2354 Les Miserables
‘All is nearly over. But one last thing remains for me ...’
‘What is it?’
Jean Valjean struggled with what seemed a last hesita-
tion, and, without voice, without breath, he stammered
rather than said:
‘Now that you know, do you think, sir, you, who are the
master, that I ought not to see Cosette any more?’
‘I think that would be better,’ replied Marius coldly.
‘I shall never see her more,’ murmured Jean Valjean. And
he directed his steps towards the door.
He laid his hand on the knob, the latch yielded, the door
opened. Jean Valjean pushed it open far enough to pass
through, stood motionless for a second, then closed the
door again and turned to Marius.
He was no longer pale, he was livid. There were no lon-
ger any tears in his eyes, but only a sort of tragic flame. His
voice had regained a strange composure.
‘Stay, sir,’ he said. ‘If you will allow it, I will come to see
her. I assure you that I desire it greatly. If I had not cared to
see Cosette, I should not have made to you the confession
that I have made, I should have gone away; but, as I desired
to remain in the place where Cosette is, and to continue to
see her, I had to tell you about it honestly. You follow my rea-
soning, do you not? it is a matter easily understood. You see,
I have had her with me for more than nine years. We lived
first in that hut on the boulevard, then in the convent, then
near the Luxembourg. That was where you saw her for the
first time. You remember her blue plush hat. Then we went
to the Quartier des Invalides, where there was a railing on