2.M.8.16. IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE WORDS TO AN ENGLISH AIR
WHICH WAS IN FASHION IN 1832
MARIUS seated himself on his bed. It might have been
half-past five o'clock. Only half an hour separated him from
what was about to happen. He heard the beating of his
arteries as one hears the ticking of a watch in the dark. He
thought of the double march which was going on at that
moment in the dark, — crime advancing on one side, justice
coming up on the other. He was not afraid, but he could
not think without a shudder of what was about to take place.
As is the case with all those who are suddenly assailed by an
unforeseen adventure, the entire day produced upon him the
effect of a dream, and in order to persuade himself that he
was not the prey of a nightmare, be had to feel the cold
barrels of the steel pistols in his trousers pockets.
It was no longer snowing; the moon disengaged itself more
and more clearly from the mist, and its light, mingled with
the white reflection of the snow which had fallen, communicated
to the chamber a sort of twilight aspect.
There was a light in the Jondrette den. Marius saw the
hole in the wall shining with a reddish glow which seemed
bloody to him.
It was true that the light could not be produced by a
candle.
However, there was not a sound in the Jondrette quarters, not
a soul was moving there, not a soul speaking, not a breath; the
silence was glacial and profound, and had it not been for that
light, he might have thought himself next door to a sepulchre.
Marius softly removed his boots and pushed them under
his bed.
Several minutes elapsed. Marius heard the lower door turn
on its hinges; a heavy step mounted the staircase, and
hastened along the corridor; the latch of the hovel was noisily
lifted; it was Jondrette returning.
Instantly, several voices arose. The whole family was in
the garret. Only, it had been silent in the master's absence,
like wolf whelps in the absence of the wolf.
"It's I," said he.
"Good evening, daddy," yelped the girls.
"Well?" said the mother.
"All's going first-rate," responded Jondrette, "but my
feet
are beastly cold. Good! You have dressed up. You have
done well! You must inspire confidence."
"All ready to go out."
"Don't forget what I told you. You will do everything
sure?"
"Rest easy."
"Because — " said Jondrette. And he left the phrase
unfinished.
Marius
heard him lay something heavy on the table, probably
the chisel which he had purchased.
"By the way," said Jondrette, "have you been eating here?"
"Yes," said the mother. "I got three large potatoes and
some salt. I took advantage of the fire to cook them."
"Good," returned Jondrette. "To-morrow I will take you
out to dine with me. We will have a duck and fixings. You
shall dine like Charles the Tenth; all is going well!"
Then he added: —
"The mouse-trap is open. The cats are there."
He lowered his voice still further, and said: —
"Put this in the fire."
Marius heard a sound of charcoal being knocked with the
tongs or some iron utensil, and Jondrette continued: —
"Have you greased the hinges of the door so that they will
not squeak?"
"Yes," replied the mother.
"What time is it?"
"Nearly six. The half-hour struck from Saint-Medard a
while ago."
"The devil!" ejaculated Jondrette; "the children must go
and watch. Come you, do you listen here."
A whispering ensued.
Jondrette's voice became audible again: —
"Has old Bougon left?"
"Yes," said the mother.
"Are you sure that there is no one in our neighbor's
room?"
"He has not been in all day, and you know very well that
this is his dinner hour."
"You are sure?"
"Sure."
"All the same," said Jondrette, "there's no harm in going
to see whether he is there. Here, my girl, take the candle and
go there."
Marius fell on his hands and knees and crawled silently
under his bed.
Hardly had he concealed himself, when he perceived a light
through the crack of his door.
"P'pa," cried a voice, "he is not in here."
He recognized the voice of the eldest daughter.
"Did you go in?" demanded her father.
"No," replied the girl, "but as his key is in the door, he
must be out."
The father exclaimed: —
"Go in, nevertheless."
The door opened, and Marius saw the tall Jondrette come
in with a candle in her hand. She was as she had been in the
morning, only still more repulsive in this light.
She walked straight up to the bed. Marius endured an
indescribable moment of anxiety; but near the bed there was
a mirror nailed to the wall, and it was thither that she was
directing her steps. She raised herself on tiptoe and looked
at herself in it. In the neighboring room, the sound of iron
articles being moved was audible.
She smoothed her hair with the palm of her hand, and
smiled into the mirror, humming with her cracked and sepulchral
voice: —
Nos amours ont dure toute une semaine,
Mais que du bonheur les instants sont courts!
S'adorer huit jours, c' etait bien la peine!
Le temps des amours devait durer toujours!
Devrait durer toujours! devrait durer toujours!
In the meantime, Marius trembled. It seemed impossible
to him that she should not hear his breathing.
She stepped to the window and looked out with the half-foolish
way she had.
"How ugly Paris is when it has put on a white chemise!"
said she.
She returned to the mirror and began again to put on airs
before it, scrutinizing herself full-face and three-quarters face
in turn.
"Well!" cried her father, "what are vou about there?"
"I am looking under the bed and the furniture," she
replied,
continuing to arrange her hair; "there's no one
here."
"Booby!" yelled her father. "Come here this minute!
And don't waste any time about it!"
"Coming! Coming!" said she. "One has no time for anything
in this hovel!"
She hummed: —
Vous me quittez pour aller a la gloire;
Mon triste coeur suivra partout.
She cast a parting glance in the mirror and went out,
shutting the door behind her.
A moment more, and Marius heard the sound of the two
young girls' bare feet in the corridor, and Jondrette's voice
shouting to them: —
"Pay strict heed! One on the side of the barrier, the
other
at the corner of the Rue du Petit-Banquier. Don't lose sight
for a moment of the door of this house, and the moment you
see anything, rush here on the instant! as hard as you can go!
You have a key to get in."
The eldest girl grumbled: —
"The idea of standing watch in the snow barefoot!"
"To-morrow you shall have some dainty little green silk
boots!" said the father.
They ran down stairs, and a few seconds later the shock of
the outer door as it banged to announced that they were
outside.
There now remained in the house only Marius, the
Jondrettes
and probably, also, the mysterious persons of whom
Marius had caught a glimpse in the twilight, behind the door
of the unused attic.