I'll never forget the night I heard of your death.
Marius was telling me of his friends and their departures, and he mentioned you so quickly I almost missed it. He did not name you, but he did not need to.
I knew it was you who died in front of him, Éponine. I had to pretend that I cared only for hissuffering, and not my own, for why should I care about the passing of a gamine I knew only as a child? But when I left his side, I cried until I was sick.
Hardly anytime has passed, but I miss you more than I thought possible. I ache for you. Not just for your body, but for your words and your mind.
I see your ghost in every shadow and street corner. I hear your laugh whenever I walk the streets. I weep when you do not tap at my window in the night.
I am to marry Marius in the morning. I love him, you know I do, but never as much as I loved you. As I still love you. Will you watch as we are wed? Will you hate me? I hope not.
While it must have been painful to die as you did, I must selfishly proclaim that I share your pain, knowing I will never hold you again.
Please, my dearest of loves, know that you will always be in my heart. I will carry your image in my mind for as long as I live. I will think of you when I hear the pitter-patter of rain on the rooftop; when I smell the flowers in the garden.
Eternally yours,
Cosette.