CHAPTER VII.
GAVROCHE CALCULATES DISTANCES.
Marius kept his promise; he deposited a kiss on this livid forehead,upon which an icy perspiration beaded. It was not an infidelity toCosette, but a pensive and sweet farewell to an unhappy soul. He hadnot taken without a quiver the letter which Éponine gave him; for he atonce suspected an event in it, and was impatient to read it. The heartof man is so constituted,--and the unfortunate child had scarce closedher eyes ere Marius thought of unfolding the paper. He gently laid heron the ground and went off, for something told him that he could notread this letter in the presence of a corpse. He walked up to a candleon the ground-floor room; it was a little note folded and sealed withthe elegant care peculiar to women. The address was in a femininehandwriting, and ran,--
"To Monsieur Marius Pontmercy, at M. Courfeyrac's, No. 16, Rue de laVerrerie."
He broke the seal and read:--
"MY WELL-BELOVED,--Alas! my father insists on our going away at once.We shall be this evening at No. 7, Rue de l'Homme Armé, and within aweek in London. COSETTE."
"June 4."
Such was the innocence of their love, that Marius did not even knowCosette's handwriting.
What had happened may be told in a few words. Éponine had done itall. After the night of June 3 she had had a double thought,--to foilthe plans of her father and the bandits upon the house in the RuePlumet, and separate Marius and Cosette. She had changed rags with thefirst scamp she met, who thought it amusing to dress up as a woman,while Éponine disguised herself as a man. It was she who gave JeanValjean the expressive warning, "Remove!" and he had gone straighthome and said to Cosette, "We shall start this evening and go to theRue de l'Homme Armé with Toussaint. Next week we shall be in London."Cosette, startled by this unexpected blow, had hastily written twolines to Marius, but how was she to put the letter in the post? Shenever went out alone, and Toussaint, surprised by such an errand, wouldcertainly show the letter to M. Fauchelevent. In this state of anxiety,Cosette noticed through the railings Éponine in male clothes, who nowincessantly prowled round the garden. Cosette had summoned "this youngworkman," and given him the letter and a five-franc piece, saying,"Carry this letter at once to its address," and Éponine put the letterin her pocket. The next day she went to Courfeyrac's and asked forMarius, not to hand him the letter, but "to see,"--a thing which everyjealous, loving soul will understand. There she waited for Marius, orat any rate Courfeyrac--always to see. When Courfeyrac said to her,"We are going to the barricades," an idea crossed her mind,--to throwherself into this death as she would have done into any other, andthrust Marius into it. She followed Courfeyrac, assured herself of thespot where the barricade was being built, and feeling certain, sinceMarius had not received the letter, that he would go at nightfall tothe usual meeting-place, she went to the Rue Plumet, waited for Mariusthere, and gave him that summons in the name of his friends, which, asshe thought, must lead him to the barricade. She reckoned on Marius'sdespair when he did not find Cosette, and she was not mistaken, andthen she returned to the Rue de la Chanvrerie. We have just seen whatshe did there; she died with the tragic joy of jealous hearts, whichdrag the beloved being down to death with them and say, "No one shallhave him!"
Marius covered Cosette's letter with kisses; she loved him, then, andfor a moment he had an idea that he ought not to die; but then he saidto himself, "Her father is taking her to England, and my grandfatherwill not give his consent to the marriage; no change has taken placein fatality." Dreamers like Marius undergo such supreme despondencies,and desperate resolves issue from them; the fatigue of living isinsupportable, and death is sooner over. Then he thought that twoduties were left him to accomplish,--inform Cosette of his death andsend her his last farewell, and save from the imminent catastrophewhich was preparing, that poor boy, brother and Thénardier's son. Hehad a pocket-book about him, the same which had contained the paper onwhich he had written so many love-thoughts for Cosette; he tore out aleaf, and wrote in pencil these few lines,--
"Our marriage was impossible; I asked my grand-father's consent, andhe refused to give it; I have no fortune, nor have you. I ran to yourhouse, and did not find you there; you remember the pledge I made toyou, and I have kept it. I die. I love you; and when you read this mysoul will be near you and smile upon you."
Having nothing with which to seal this letter, he merely folded it, andwrote on it the address:--
"To Mademoiselle Cosette Fauchelevent, at M. Fauchelevent's, No. 7, Ruede l'Homme Armé."
The letter folded, he stood for a moment in thought, then opened hispocket-book again, and wrote with the same pencil these lines on thefirst page.
"My name is Marius Pontmercy. Carry my body to my grandfather, M.Gillenormand, No. 6, Rue des Filles du Calvaire, in the Marais."
He returned the book to his coat pocket, and then summoned Gavroche.The lad, on hearing Marius's voice, ran up with his joyous and devotedface.
"Will you do something for me?"
"Everything," said Gavroche. "God of Gods! my goose would have beencooked without you."
"You see this letter?"
"Yes."
"Take it. Leave the barricade at once,"--Gavroche began scratchinghis ear anxiously,--"and to-morrow morning you will deliver it at itsaddress No. 7, Rue de l'Homme Armé."
The heroic lad replied,--
"Well, but during that time the barricade will be attacked, and I shallnot be here."
"The barricade will not be attacked again till daybreak, according toall appearances, and will not be taken till to-morrow afternoon."
The new respite which the assailants granted to the barricade wasreally prolonged; it was one of those intermissions frequent innight-fights, which are always followed by redoubled obstinacy.
"Well," said Gavroche, "suppose I were to deliver your letter to-morrowmorning?"
"It will be too late, for the barricade will probably be blockaded, allthe issues guarded, and you will be unable to get out. Be off at once."
Gavroche could not find any reply, so he stood there undecided, andscratching his head sorrowfully. All at once he seized the letter withone of those bird-like movements of his.
"All right," he said.
And he ran off toward the Mondétour lane. Gavroche had an idea whichdecided him, but which he did not mention; it was the following:--
"It is scarce midnight; the Rue de l'Homme Armé is no great distanceoff. I will deliver the letter at once, and be back in time."
BOOK XV.
THE RUE DE L'HOMME ARMÉ