"I'm not, by the way."
Combeferre looked at Javert with a bemused expression on his face. "Pardon?"
"A grandfather." Javert explained.
"Oh." Combeferre looked at the ground, feeling somewhat abashed as they continued to walk down the dark streets.
"An interesting thought, though. But sadly, in order to be a grandfather one must first be a father and I never had time for such nonsense. I would not have made a good father…it isn't in my nature." Javert paused as if deeply considering something.
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. The expression unnerved Combeferre more than just a little. "But, I rather feel that I would have made a good grandfather. Pity."
"Sir? Where are we going?" Combeferre asked suddenly.
Javert sighed. "Some place where we can talk. I have a few questions for you."
"About my friends?"
Javert smiled at the defensive tone in the young doctor's voice. "No, about you. I'm very curious as to how an obviously intelligent man of science got involved in the foolhardy business of treason."
Combeferre's mouth opened and closed weakly. "We wanted—" Javert cut him off.
"No, stop with the group mentality, boy. " He said harshly. "Whatever your erstwhile leader filled your head with, I do not care. I want to know why you, René Combeferre, saw it fit to join up with a group whose purpose while no doubt noble, desired to kill their fellow countrymen all for the sake of progress."
"I…I…wanted…for the poor….for the downtrodden…for the abased…to lift them up…"
Javert shook his head. "You can change the government, you can take the money from the wealthy and hand it to the poor, you can change who is in power, but, you will still have the abased."
"All your friends have done today is to create more of them. Widows, orphans, and mothers left without a breadwinner. They will cry, they will beg, they will starve, and they will die. Your friends did not lift them up….they knocked them down into the gutter. And conveniently enough, they will perish and not have to worry about it."
Combeferre swallowed with difficulty. "I know. God help me, I know." He muttered.
Javert nodded slowly. "And that brings me to my other question."