March 1833

Part One: Every Happy Family is Alike

Marius and Cosette had been happily married for a little over a month. Well, perhaps 'happily' was too strong a word. After all, Cosette had to mourn for her father, and how does one mourn for the entire world, for everything? And Marius still had nightmares about his friends' deaths on the barricade- men he had barely even known besides Courfeyrac, much less considered friends- and no one could explain this to him. He walked around most days in a bit of a trance, a trance of love and also of sadness, and wondered how that one night could have affected him so much. Both of these factors contributed to the little detail that the marriage had not, technically, been consummated.

But that didn't prevent them from being the ideal couple. Oh no. On the outside, they were. They loved each other- or did they? Did they ever doubt it? Wasn't their chastity proof of their love and the enduring strength of their marriage, that they were willing to wait and remain pure until they were ready, that they weren't driven by lust? Wasn't it impossible for a man's eyes to wander so soon, or if not his eyes, his heart? But how could his mind wander to a girl who had come back from the grave?

These days, Marius thought more and more of Éponine, the scraggly urchin who had called him handsome all those months ago. Éponine- he remembered her still. He couldn't love her; had never loved her. He hadn't seen her since the night she had almost laid down her life for him. Her face had been glowing, bathed in the cool, watery light of the gas lamps under a cloud of gun-smoke and powder. She had told him to kiss her forehead, and he had complied. Her wrinkled skin was deathly cold under his lips, and yet she had been beautiful. The moment before, she had smiled at him, and told him she was a little bit in love with him. He had thought she was dead. But she wasn't.

He had only heard about it, not seen it with his own eyes. But apparently the blood loss hadn't been as bad as it seemed. Some medic who had happened to be on the barricade- Joly? Combeferre?- had found her just in time, taken her away and patched up her wound to stop the bleeding and prevent infection. Her recovery had been as miraculous as Marius' own. Apparently when she woke up she had thrown quite a fit, angry that her suicide attempt had been thwarted. For God's sake, she had exclaimed blasphemously, shocking everyone in the room with her uncouth speech, what part of 'I want to die' didn't people understand?

She had been delirious for a long time after that from the medicines, but rumor was that she thought Marius was dead. Of course she did, he realized. How could she have known that despite her plans, Cosette's father was still in Paris, that he had gone to the barricades and risked his life to save him? He had no idea that it was Éponine's own design for hem to die together, in a suicide pact that he had never agreed to. At least, she thought, Marius had died thinking that she selflessly loved him. Yet somehow, she would rather that he be alive and with another woman. She began to regret her decision to drive him to his death. The bullet had missed her heart, and she was still in love with him.

And now things had returned to normal for Éponine. None of this Marius knew, for he had not been back to the Gorbeau House since last June. When she was well enough to walk, her father had come to pick her up and take her back home. This Marius could not have imagined, for after the LeBlanc incident he had not thought Jondrette capable of love or compassion, even towards his own daughters. When she had told him what had happened, Jondrette had been angry- angry at her for trying to take the coward's way out, leaving the rest of the family to fend for themselves even though they had had one less mouth to feed- but even angrier at Marius for allowing his daughter to almost die for him, for never noticing her and marrying that bourgeois girl who was rightfully no more than a bastard and a slave. Not to mention the fact that the ungrateful swine had been responsible for sending them all to the slammer. In the following months, thoughts of revenge consumed him, and he paced aimlessly around the apartment. He couldn't concentrate on his schemes anymore. Meanwhile, the family grew even more impoverished and desperate than in the days when Marius was their neighbor. Thénardier was itching for something- money, anything- to happen.

Another thing Marius did not know was that the bullet was still inside Éponine's body. The medics had not been able to safely remove it. Lead poisoning was a long-term danger, they had told her, and prostitution was no longer an option, but a shorter-term danger was that she would never be able to have children. The ball was lodged too close to her uterus. If it expanded, both she and the baby would die in a bloody hell. But Éponine didn't care. After all, there was only one man whose children she wanted to bear, and he was a lost cause.

She considered another attempt at suicide. But it was impossible this time, because her father was watching her constantly, and he refused to let her slip through his fingers again. Her mother was still in prison, but he told Éponine and Azelma that any day now she might be released. Despite everything, Éponine refused to hurt her mother by taking her own life.

As a gentleman, marrying Éponine Jondrette would be the chivalrous thing to do to help her escape her poverty. After all, she was the only girl who had ever showed affection for him without expecting any in return. It would be repaying his father's debt to Thénardier. And it wasn't as if he didn't like her- she was even attractive in a ratty sort of way. And really, would it kill him and Cosette to bring Éponine into the marriage? Sure, Cosette's father might have objected, but what did that matter now that he was dead? Cosette would always have the initial advantage of being the first wife, loved and pampered, and Éponine would be happy to be with a rich man. It was a win-win situation. Really, what could go wrong?

Part Two: A Truth Universally Acknowledged

"Cosette, she took a bullet for me," said Marius emphatically. "I think I owe this to her. I already neglected your father- I don't want to do that to anyone else now. I was blind, but that night on the barricade opened my eyes."

"You don't owe her anything, Marius," Cosette argued. "It was nine months ago. It's time to move on and stop feeling guilty and sorry for yourself."

Marius shook his head vehemently. "She still loves me," he insisted. "She's not going to get over me any time soon. When you take a bullet for someone- you don't forget that."

"Still," Cosette said hesitantly. "Polygamy just isn't something I'm...comfortable with."

"I'm the husband. It's my decision," Marius said firmly.

"This isn't what I agreed to," Cosette said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I want you all to myself. I know it sounds selfish, but I can't help it. That's how love is. I love you, Marius Pontmercy."

"And I love you, Cosette," Marius told her, kissing her hand. "But some things are more important than love, and sometimes we have to think about them."

Part Three: Ships at a Distance

It is always a strange feeling to step into the house where you used to live. Marius was experiencing this sensation quite acutely when he stepped into the Gorbeau hovel on a dreary March afternoon. Another family now occupied the room where he had stayed for the better part of three years, and he declined the landlord's offer to see it, fearing that they would tamper with his memories of meeting Cosette and being a student, energetic and free. It all seemed so long ago, like another person had lived there and joined a rebellion and fallen in love.

"Monsieur Pontmercy, I am delighted to hear that you, my loyal friend and neighbor, have taken such an interest in my eldest daughter," said Monsieur Jondrette as he welcomed Marius into his apartment. "I would be deeply honored to have a baron such as yourself as a son-in-law."

"Thank you, Monsieur," said Marius, shaking his hand vigorously. "The honor is all mine. After all, you saved my father's life at Waterloo, and for that I am forever indebted to you and your family."

"There is just one problem with your plans," said Jondrette as Marius withdrew his hand. "Perhaps you would consider marrying Azelma instead?"

"Now, why on earth would I do that?" demanded Marius, taken aback. "She is too young and besides, she does not love me. I do not believe we have ever even formally met."

"Ah, yes, but I'm afraid Éponine is already spoken for. My business associate Montparnasse is quite... attached to her, you see."

"She's living in sin with him?" Marius asked, scandalized.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that. And a gentleman like yourself would not dream of disgracing his family name- and the memory of his late father- by marrying a girl with no honor. Azelma, on the other hand, is marriage material. I have done everything in my power to keep her pure and clean...even at the cost of my own well-being."

At this, Marius stifled a dry laugh. He remembered seeing Thénardier ordering Azelma to break a windowpane, the blood streaming from her hand down her wrist. If anything, he got the impression that Éponine was his favored daughter.

"Monsieur, I do not wish to be rude, but my reason for coming here is Éponine. I will have her or I will have neither girl. As for your 'associate'- I know what that means, I'm not as naïve as I was when I first moved here- either you will talk to him and convince him to give up on Éponine, or else we can consider this matter closed."

"Be reasonable, Monsieur! Consider the poor man's heart! You are to have two wives and he is not even allowed one? What injustice! To have his sweetheart stolen from him this way, and by a bourgeois no less!"

"You are lying," Marius said sternly. "Montparnasse cannot possibly love Éponine."

"Oh? And why do you say that?"

"Because I have seen the way he mistreats and abuses her every day. I have seen how she shrinks from him in fear. I have seen how he looks at her as an object, not as a human being."

"Who are you to judge?" Thénardier demanded hotly. "You love Éponine no more than he does."

"Perhaps, but I care for her enough not to beat her, and I can give her the life she deserves. And I know how to keep civility within my own house."

"Then we have a deal, Monsieur." Thénardier shook Marius' hand. "I shall bring your bride to you in the morning. And let me state, once again, how excited I am for our two families to be entering into this alliance."

Part Four: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

"Éponine, did you hear the good news? You and the Baron de Pontmercy are to be married!"

Éponine could hardly contain her joy. Had she heard her father correctly? Oh, this was the greatest day of her life, the greatest day that could be imagined! Not only was Marius not dead, but after years of pining and not-so-subtly hinting, he had finally realized and returned her feelings for him. True, it had taken a bullet in the gut to make him come to this epiphany, but was it worth it? Of course! This was the best thing her father had ever done for her, and she forgave him everything that had come before it. Speechless, she began to weep and ran into his arms.

"We have arranged everything," he told her, his bony frame cradling hers. "'Ponine, our days of suffering in this hellhole are over. You, your husband, and your sister-wife Cosette will live happily together for many, many years."

Éponine's face fell. She released herself from her father's embrace. There was always a catch, wasn't there? It wasn't even a marriage of convenience; it was a marriage of 'why not?'. Her father didn't care about her happiness; he just knew that Marius had money and he wanted it for himself. How on earth was she supposed to live with the Lark as if she was some kind of equal? The indignity! Who did that bourgeois-to-a-penny thing think she was?

"This is so exciting," he exclaimed, oblivious to her disappointment. "Just think, my daughter, in a polygamous marriage!"

Éponine winced. No matter her personal feelings about it, polygamous marriages were very desirable from a poor person's point of view. It was practically the only way for a woman to advance her social status. Many domestic servants schemed to be their master's second and third wives, but such an opportunity for a gamine was extremely rare. And it was certainly better than her default arranged marriage to Montparnasse, who had seemed repulsed by her ever since the barricade incident. She knew she was already lucky, to be a girl in a family where girls were desirable when the rest of society said otherwise. Her life had been hard, but at least her mother hadn't given her away on account of her sex.

Meanwhile, Jondrette patted himself on the back for his clever use of reverse psychology. Montparnasse would be easy to take care of, and fortunately, Marius' months of recovery and nuptial bliss had made him no less of a fool. The Gillenormand fortune was, after all, something fit for a Baron and two Baronnes. And Éponine deserved nothing less.

AN: Hope you didn't think anyone was too OOC. This Thénardier does genuinely care about both his daughters. He doesn't beat her without reason, and he certainly doesn't take pleasure in beating her. He's not a sadist. And Éponine is a little more Brick-based, so be ready for some craziness.

A few of the Amis may turn up alive to make an appearance, depending on what I want/need. Also, BTW, this is not a traditional Marius/Éponine fic. But you've probably already figured that out.