Find a way to help her Marius

It had been a day full of the most extreme happiness and extreme sadness, Marius and Cosette had been married and were celebrating that fact when they found out that Cosettes father was dying. They had managed to get to him in time for Cosette to say goodbye to him and for Marius to make his peace with him, but then their entire world was changed forever, Jean Valjean died.

Cosette took it the hardest, obviously. She felt like a light had gone out from inside of her and she felt so lost all of a sudden. She had never let it cross her mind that her father would be gone one day, he was her hero, the man who rescued her from abuse and raised her with such love, how could a man like that ever be gone from the world she thought.

But he was gone, and now Cosette was devastated. The first moments after Valjean had passed were terrible ones, Cosette was crying so hard she could barely breathe and Marius had to practically pry her hands off her fathers so the doctor who was there could have the body taken away. She screamed when they tried to move him, she had tried to stop them but Marius held her back while the doctor and the porter took him out of the room.

"Let me go!" she shouted "I have to stop them Marius".

Marius didn't know what to do; he had never seen her like this. He needed to make her see reason though so he decided to be firm with her.

"Cosette NO! STOP IT!" he said to her as she tried to get away from him, He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him, he put his hands on her face so he could look her in the eyes and then spoke to her softly to try to make her understand "I'm sorry, he's gone. He's really gone Cosette".
As he said that he could have sworn that Cosettes eyes that were usually so bright had gone dull.

Cosette looked at him and she did understand. She nodded and he relaxed his hands and let her go.

"Let's go home Cosette" He said softly to her "We'll go home and you can rest, it'll be alright I promise".

Cosette just nodded again and took his hand, he led her outside into the early evening air and when the cold wind hit Cosette she suddenly turned away and threw up onto the pavement, everything had just hit her like she had been punched in the stomach and that was the only reaction her body could come up with.


When they finally got home Marius helped Cosette to their bedroom, the one that had been arranged specifically for their wedding night activities, neither of them were thinking about that right now though, Cosette wasn't able to think about anything in fact, she was too distraught. All Marius was thinking about was how he could make Cosette feel better, it was breaking his heart to see her like this.

Cosette was crying softly at the moment as Marius led her into their room, it wasn't very late yet but he thought that the best thing for Cosette now would be to let her sleep, it would give her a break from the pain she was feeling.

Marius held her hand as he led her inside, he sat her down on the edge of their bed and took her hands from his, he found a nightgown which had been brought over earlier with some other things of hers in preparation, and brought it over to her.

"I can help you get undressed if you need me too" he told her quietly.

Cosette was half listening to him and half still blank inside from the grief she was feeling but she suddenly remembered it was her wedding night and she remembered what she would be expected to do tonight, she didn't know what Marius would still want from her, would he force her to do it?

She was suddenly terrified and broke down into loud sobs.

Cosette? Marius asked with concern, he tried to touch her hair gently but she moved away from him, only slightly but enough so that he noticed.

Cosette buried her face in her hands and cried even more

What is it? Asked Marius, still concerned, why is she so afraid of me? He thought.

Cosette managed to gain a little composure and was able to say quietly to him "It's our wedding night", it came out more of a whimper than an actual sentence, she was so confused and scared and upset that she didn't know what else to say.

Marius then understood what she was afraid of.

He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his, Cosette was looking down at the floor like it was too much for her too actually look at him

"Cosette, look at me" Marius said gently

Cosette did look at him; it was hard for her though as she was so full of tears that her vision was blurred.

"I know what tonight is, but it doesn't matter. We don't have to do anything; I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. Is that what you're afraid of? Did you think I would force you?"

Cosette nodded her head, slightly ashamed of herself for thinking the worst of him.

"All I want right now is for you to feel better", Marius said to her

"I'm sorry" Cosette said in a whisper

"You don't have anything to be sorry about Cosette", Marius said. Then he put one of his hands on her face and looked into her eyes, he was being so gentle with her that it made Cosette realise he really wouldn't make her do anything tonight.

"I love you Marius" Cosette said

"I love you too Cosette" Marius replied, and then he leaned in to kiss her. He kissed her gently on the forehead, and then on the lips. It was a beautiful soft kiss, a kiss that was to show her how much he cared for her, a kiss to comfort her, a kiss to let her know he was there to look after her, and that truly was all he wanted right then, because at that moment Cosette wasnt able to be anyone's wife, and she certainly didn't look like anyones wife, right now she looked like a scared little girl who had just lost her father.

Marius knew in his heart that it wouldn't have been fair and it certainly wouldn't have been right to expect her to do something she clearly couldn't do.

"I want you to sleep now, it'll help you feel better" Marius said to her whilst standing up again.

Cosette nodded and tried to make a start undressing, but her hands were still shaking from crying so much that she couldn't even manage to get the pins out of her hair.

"Let me help you" Marius said to her softly

Cosette looked at him for a few seconds and nodded again, she knew he just wanted to help her, nothing more.

After a short time he had helped her get her wedding dress off and she was in her nightdress, Marius didn't know what to do with the gown so he just folded it and put it on a chair for now. He noticed Cosette was letting her hair out of the elaborate style it had been put in for the wedding, and it was now flowing down to her shoulders.

Marius couldn't help but think how lovely she looked with her hair let down, but he put any thoughts like that quickly out of his mind. He then took off his own jacket which he had forgotten he was still wearing but he didn't know what to do next, should he get undressed too? Should he sleep in the same bed with her tonight? What was the right thing to do?

Cosette must have felt what he was feeling right then; she sat down on the bed again and looked at him.

"Marius…will you lie down with me? Could you just hold me tonight?" She asked him.

"Of course" Marius replied gently.

Marius didn't get fully undressed that night, except for his shoes, he just went over to the bed and lay down with his caught a glimpse of her eyes again before she shut them for the night, she looked so lost at that moment and he had no idea how he was going to find her again.
There was nothing more he could do right now though so he lay on his side and put his arms around her as she buried her head into his chest. He held her gently and kissed her on the forehead, Cosette cried again softly during that night until she was too exhausted to cry anymore and fell asleep. Marius looked at her poor tear-stained face when she had fallen asleep and whispered to her "I'm so sorry Cosette". He was feeling guilty for being partly responsible for her father's death and he didnt know if he could ever make it right again.
Before he drifted off too he felt such sorrow for Cosette, he was the only person she had left in the world now and he felt terrible about that, but he also found it wonderful just being able to hold his wife in his arms on his wedding night. He didn't need anything more right now, he didn't need to make love to her to know that he loved her; right now he felt that this was the purest act of love that he could show her.