Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 433
be so pretty; you will see! If you only knew what pretty little
rosy fingers she had! In the first place, she will have very
beautiful hands; she had ridiculous hands when she was
only a year old; like this! she must be a big girl now; she is
seven years old; she is quite a young lady; I call her Cosette,
but her name is really Euphrasie. Stop! this morning I was
looking at the dust on the chimney-piece, and I had a sort
of idea come across me, like that, that I should see Cosette
again soon. Mon Dieu! how wrong it is not to see one’s chil-
dren for years! One ought to reflect that life is not eternal.
Oh, how good M. le Maire is to go! it is very cold! it is true;
he had on his cloak, at least? he will be here to-morrow, will
he not? to-morrow will be a festival day; to-morrow morn-
ing, sister, you must remind me to put on my little cap that
has lace on it. What a place that Montfermeil is! I took that
journey on foot once; it was very long for me, but the dil-
igences go very quickly! he will be here to-morrow with
Cosette: how far is it from here to Montfermeil?’
The sister, who had no idea of distances, replied, ‘Oh, I
think that he will be here to-morrow.’
‘To-morrow! to-morrow!’ said Fantine, ‘I shall see Co-
sette to-morrow! you see, good sister of the good God, that I
am no longer ill; I am mad; I could dance if any one wished
it.’
A person who had seen her a quarter of an hour previ-
ously would not have understood the change; she was all
rosy now; she spoke in a lively and natural voice; her whole
face was one smile; now and then she talked, she laughed
softly; the joy of a mother is almost infantile.