Back on Fleet Street, as the sun began to slowly set, the man in the tidy waste coat was putting on his gloves and scarf and heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" A soft voice said from behind him. He turned to see his wife, his beautiful wife, with her golden yellow hair and bright hazel eyes, her pale yet rosy skin, and a wonderful smile not yet apparent on her face.
"I know it's three or four miles away, but I'm going to the Thenardier's inn on Lanbury Street. The innkeeper wanted me to work for him, but wanted to meet with me first, which is of course recommended. I'll be back before morning."
"I don't like the idea, Mr. Barker. You know the people on Lanbury Street - " she said, walking up from behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders.
"I'll be home before morning." he said, kissing her on the cheek. He left and she smiled.
The man walked with some pep in his step down Lanbury Street, even though he had gone more than a couple of miles. He had the hint of a smile on his face, excited for a new job, and hoping to make a name for himself as the best barber in town. He stopped and looked around eagerly for the sign that told him where this particular inn was. He saw it hanging a few buildings away and smiled, but stopped again when he heard a child, then noticed the little girl singing to herself as she was sweeping the steps leading up to the inn's front door.
GIRL: "There is a castle on a cloud, I like to go there in my sleep, aren't any floors for me to sweep, not in my castle on a cloud. There is a lady all in white, holds me and sings a lullaby, she's nice to see and she's soft to touch, she says, 'Morley, I love you very much'..I know a place where no one's lost, I know a place where no one cries. Crying at all is not allowed, not in my castle on a cloud..."
"Are you alright?" Mr. Barker said as he walked up to her. She looked at him, with big, brilliantly blue eyes that were clouded over. She was pale and thin, and her clothes were nothing short of rags. Fear was spread all over her. She merely stared at him, and he didn't know if she were confused or afraid as she clutched a broom more than twice as long as she was tall, and her tiny callused hands shook without any apparent reason, and he just assumed she was cold for she wore no gloves. Suddenly, there was a heavy slamming noise from inside.
"Oh help! I think I hear them now, and I'm nowhere near finished sweeping and scrubbing and polishing the floor!" She exclaimed. She forgot about him and hurried back to sweeping. There was the sound of a door opening quickly. "Oh it's her! It's Madame!" The door swung open and a tall horse faced woman, who was by no means an attractive specimen, smiled angrily at the child who had become a mere mouse before the large woman, who must've been no one but Madame Thenardier.
MME: "Now look who's here! The little madame herself! Pretending once again she's been 'so awfully good', better not let me catch you slacking! Better not catch my eye!" She said, grabbing the tiny child by the neck of her clothes,. "Ten rotten pounds your mother sends me, what's that going to buy?" She pushed the girl away and pointed to a pail at the foot of the steps. "Now take that pail, my little mademoiselle, and go draw some water from the well!" she shouted. The girl ran to put the broom away, her bare feet barely making any noise against the ground.
"We should have never taken you in in the first place. How stupid the things that we do! Like mother like daughter, scum of the street." Madame Thenardier said to herself as a girl a few years older than the first walked out from the inn, visibly much more well taken care of. She was smiling as she looked up at the woman, who was clearly her mother.
MME: "Eponine, come my dear, Eponine let me see you. You look very well in that new little blue hat. There's a little girl who knows how to behave, and she knows what to wear, and I say, thank heaven for that."
The girl Eponine, tugged on her mother's dress and pointed to the younger child emptying the collected rainwater out of the pail.
MME: "Still there, Lottie? Your tears will do you no good, I told you, fetch some water form the well in the wood!
LORETTE: "Please do not send me out alone, not in the darkness on my own."
MME: "Enough of that! Or I'll forget to be nice. You heard me ask for something and I never ask twice!" The woman gave the child a shove out the door, then finally noticed Mr. Barker standing a few yards away. She straightened up and her tone and expression changed completely.
"Can I help you sir?" She opened the door and he gave him a fake smile as she led him in.