A/N: Thank you for the continued support with such kind reviews!
Chapter Ten
The next two weeks were difficult, but Valjean was determined to see Enjolras through them. There were good days and bad days – on the good days, Enjolras made it out of bed with some assistance to sit in the chair in his room; on the bad days, he laid in bed without speaking. Valjean expected this. From the moment Cosette told him Enjolras seemed to be improving, he knew they were going to have some ups and downs.
But at least Enjolras is trying.
Today is an in-between day. Enjolras insisted on getting out of bed, but he sits pale and clammy in the chair. His wounds are clearly hurting him more than they have been though he won't admit it. Still, Valjean can tell by the way he refused lunch and is taking extra care to breathe shallowly so that his chest does not move too much.
"When do we start walking?" asks Enjolras, even as he grimaces in pain. Valjean frowns; it's one of those rare days where Enjolras's motivation far surpasses his physical capabilities.
"Not for another two weeks at least," he replies. Enjolras's face falls in disappointment. "Don't push yourself so hard, Enjolras. Your body's been through a lot and needs the proper time to recover. We'll discuss walking once you're able to get out of bed on your own."
"It would be going a lot faster if I hadn't been so stupid and stubborn the first two months."
"That's not true."
"It is. Look at Marius, he can go wherever he likes and he hardly even needs the cane anymore." There is bitterness in Enjolras's voice.
"Marius's injury was not as severe as yours are. His fever also broke sooner than yours did so he was not incapacitated for as long," says Valjean. And he hasn't suffered the depression you have are the words that Valjean does not say. Enjolras does not concede, but he also doesn't continue to argue. Instead, he changes the subject.
"Do you think Marius will propose to Cosette soon?" he asks. The question startles Valjean.
"What?" He must have misheard Enjolras. The boy doesn't strike him as the type to be interested in other's love affairs.
"He clearly loves her. I could tell that ever since he came into the café the night before the barricade. He told me that if I'd seen her I would understand how it feels to…what were his exact words? 'To be struck to the bone in a moment of breathless delight', I believe." Enjolras pauses to laugh at the memory. It's a happy sound that Valjean doesn't often hear from him. "I would have thought he'd be asking for her hand now that he's nearly recovered."
Valjean hasn't really thought about it before. He knows Marius and Cosette are in love and so he supposes they will marry someday, but that is something Valjean chooses not to think about. Because as soon as Cosette is married she will no longer need him. He will have to quietly disappear to allow her to live her own life without his past holding her back anymore, and that is not something he wants to thinks about yet.
"He hasn't mentioned anything to me yet, but I'm sure he will soon," says Valjean. Enjolras's expression changes suddenly and, despite looking at Valjean, his blue eyes appear to be seeing something miles or years away.
"He should do it soon or he might find that he's too late," says Enjolras gravely. "I think I'd like to get back into bed now."
Valjean has no idea what that was all about, but he immediately goes to help Enjolras up. He puts his arms around him with his hands gripping Enjolras's arms tightly and together they shuffle the two feet to the bed. Valjean settles Enjolras into a seated position on the bed and then gives him a moment – he's practically doubled over in pain from the movement. His golden head is bowed and his hands are clutching his chest; his face is scrunched up in pain with gritted teeth.
"Okay…go ahead…" he pants. He doesn't look ready, but Valjean lifts up his legs and swings them around so that he's now laying on the bed. Enjolras lets out a yell as Valjean does this, and whimpers some more when the old man helps him adjust to a more comfortable position. Enjolras's face has gone white and his eyes are closed.
"Are you going to be sick?" asks Valjean. He hasn't eaten since breakfast, but Valjean bets there is enough to come up and Enjolras looks like it might any moment. But he shakes his head, eyes still closed.
"No…just need a minute…the pain…" he mumbles. Valjean gently brushes loose curls off of Enjolras's face and tucks them behind his ears. Enjolras jumps a little at the touch at first – Valjean suspects he isn't used to such fatherly tactility – but he quickly relaxes as much as he can while in so much pain.
"Do you need a dose of laudanum?" asks Valjean. Dr. Bonhomme has suggested starting to wean Enjolras off the laudanum, but they still give to him when he can't stand the pain anymore.
"No," gasps Enjolras. Valjean is unsure about that, but he obliges and allows Enjolras to breathe through the pain. Finally, he lifts his head and opens his eyes, his entire body relaxing after being tensed up again pain.
"It's better now," says Enjolras at the look of concern on Valjean's face. "Would it be alright if I sat by myself for a bit to read?"
Valjean agrees; he hands Enjolras the book on his nightstand and leaves. He heads straight for Marius's room. Although he doesn't want to speed up the marriage and his inevitable departure from Cosette's life, he does want to find out what Marius's intentions are. Marius's door is open, so Valjean enters without knocking. Marius is sitting in the chair by the window, flipping through a book. Valjean clears his throat to announce his arrival; Marius looks up, startled.
"Oh, Monsieur Fauchelevent. How are you?" he greets. Valjean smiles fondly at him.
"As well as can be, I suppose."
"How is Enjolras?"
"In a lot of pain today, but his spirits seem fairly high." Valjean omits the part where Enjolras turned melancholy after discussing Marius and Cosette. He still hasn't quite figured out what that was all about.
"Good, I'm glad," says Marius, and he genuinely seems it. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yes, actually. You see, Marius, I…I was wondering what your intentions were when it comes to…my daughter," says Valjean awkwardly. Talking about Cosette's love life is quite embarrassing for him. Judging by the way Marius's face quickly turned bright red, it's an embarrassing topic for him as well.
"Well, sir, I love her a great deal. And I should like to marry her one day with your permission," replies Marius. The air between them is awkward and uncomfortable.
"And do you have any idea of when you plan on proposing?"
"Soon, I hope. I'm just waiting for the right time. Everything has been quite chaotic around here lately with Enjolras and all."
"Understandable. But I think Enjolras would be happy to see you two together," says Valjean. Marius nods slowly. He takes a deep breath and pulls a ring out of his pocket. Valjean's heart begins to race. When he said soon, he really meant soon if he already has a ring.
"It's my grandmother's," says Marius quietly. "Grandfather gave it to me about two weeks ago. I've been carrying it around ever since in case the right moment arrives. Do I have your blessing, monsieur?"
"Of course," replies Valjean with a soft smile on his face. Inside, his heart is breaking. Marius could propose any day now. Any day now, Valjean will be thrown out of Cosette's life forever. It's for the best, he tries to tell himself. She won't need you anymore. She doesn't need your history holding her back from having the life she deserves.
It is his fault that Cosette was such a lonely child. His fault that she never had any friends, never got to leave the house. He was so paranoid that Javert would find him and arrest him, taking him away from her, that he led the life of a recluse and forced Cosette to do the same. He did it all out of love for her so that she would not be put in an orphanage or taken back to the Thenardiers, as would surely happen if Javert caught him, but looking back he isn't so sure he's made the best decisions for her. They could have gone to England or America where they could've led normal lives without fear of Javert. Valjean had thought about it before, but he'd never acted upon it and now he's wishing he had. It's selfish because Cosette found the love of her life here in France, but Valjean would be allowed to stay in her life if they'd just gone elsewhere all those years ago.
Valjean leaves Marius's room with a heavy heart to go shut himself in his room for a bit. Hiding is what he does best.
Two days later, Marius takes Cosette out for a stroll around Luxembourg Gardens, the place where he first laid eyes on her beautiful face. Ever since Fauchelevent brought up a proposal and gave his blessing, Marius can't help but think now is the time. He's walking without the cane, his collarbone is still bandaged but no longer in the sling, and he has the strength to get down on one knee. Most importantly, he loves Cosette more than he ever thought it possible to love anyone.
He's brought her to the Gardens because it seems like the right place to propose. After all, he knew he would marry her someday the moment he saw her here. They've been strolling around for nearly half an hour and Marius knows that he's got to do it soon. Otherwise, Cosette will be ready to go home and Marius will have lost his chance.
He sits her down on a bench next to a cluster of peonies, Cosette's favorite flower. The sun shines down on them, and Marius notices that the light reflecting off her blonde hair makes her look like an angel. She is my angel, he thinks lovingly. Then he clears his throat and takes Cosette's hands in his. He had a whole speech planned out, but the words leave his mind as soon as he looks into her beautiful blue eyes.
"Cosette, we haven't known each other for very long, but I love you," begins Marius. For once, unplanned words flow out of him without a hint of awkward. "I love you and I can't even tell you what everything you have done for me and for Enjolras means to me. I can't picture my world without you in it and I don't want to. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. Cosette Fauchelevent, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"
Marius pulls the ring of out his jacket pocket and holds it up to her. Tears fill Cosette's eyes. She clamps a hand over her mouth and nods, blinking furiously as the happy tears begin to spill down her cheeks.
"Yes!" she manages to choke out as she cries. With a huge grin on his face, Marius slips the ring onto her finger. Cosette smiles and looks down at it fondly before throwing her arms around Marius. He hugs her back; when they let go of each other, Marius hesitates but nonetheless kisses Cosette very gently on the lips for the first time. It's a perfect moment and Marius couldn't be happier.
"Well," he says, still grinning like an idiot, "shall we go back and tell the others?"
Cosette has never been happier in her entire life. Nothing, nothing compares to this, not even the day Papa took her away from the Thenardiers.
She is engaged to Marius. She is marrying the love of her life.
Cosette can't stop smiling the whole fiacre ride home.
This is what she has wanted her entire life: a family. She has Papa, of course, but she's always yearned for something more. Someone to love her in a way her father cannot, children to dote on and spoil, a full household so that she may never feel lonely again. When she learned of Marius's involvement in the barricade, she was terrified for him because she knew from the moment they met he was the only one for her. As she watched him suffer from injury and illness, her fear only increased. He couldn't die, not when they had just found each other.
And now here she is, sitting next to him and wearing the beautiful ring he gave her. It's a silver band with a blue sapphire in the middle and little diamonds framing the sapphire. Cosette can't stop looking down at it on her finger; it is without the doubt the loveliest ring she has ever seen.
When they arrive home, Marius helps Cosette out of the fiacre. Now that they are engaged and it is no longer inappropriate, they stroll hand in hand into the house. It's quiet inside. Cosette wonders where everyone is.
"Hello?" she calls out. No response. She and Marius exchange quizzical looks.
"Where do you suppose everyone is?" asks Cosette. Marius shrugs.
"I haven't a clue. Let's go check Enjolras's room. He's probably there and maybe he knows where everyone else is," he suggests. It's a good idea – Enjolras currently can't move more than two feet and that's with help, so the odds of him being in his room are quite high.
Sure enough, Enjolras is propped up against his pillows with a book in hand. He looks up at the sound of footsteps and smiles a little at the sight of Marius and Cosette. Cosette notices that he looks drained. His face is pale and there are dark circles under his eyes.
"Hello," he greets quietly, setting his book in his lap. His hands are shaking. Cosette can tell Marius is bursting to share their news, but she gently lays a hand on his shoulder to silently ask him to wait just a moment.
"Are you alright?" she asks Enjolras. He nods unconvincingly. Cosette raises her eyebrows.
"I'm fine," insists Enjolras. "I didn't sleep well last night and then I spent about half an hour out of bed, so I'm just a bit tired."
"I asked Papa not to push you so hard –"
"Cosette, it's fine. Really. I'm starting to learn my limits, I know when I've had enough for the day. Now, what did the two of you need?"
At this, Cosette and Marius look at each other and smile. Cosette holds out her left hand to Enjolras, showing off her new sparkling ring.
"Marius proposed!" she exclaims happily. Enjolras smiles warmly at her, although Cosette can't tell if it's forced or not.
"Congratulations to both of you," he says. Cosette beams at him and turns to reach for Marius's arm so that she can loop hers through his. It feels so nice to be so tactile with Marius now. His mere touch makes her feel happier and more content than she has in a long time.
"Thank you," says Marius sincerely. "Do you happen to know where Grandfather and Monsieur Fauchelevent have gone off to so we might share our news with them?"
"They've gone down to the kitchens to oversee tonight's dinner," replies Enjolras. Cosette laughs.
"Papa must have had a feeling you were going to propose, Marius, and that a special dinner would be in order. He never sees to dinner," she says. They thank Enjolras for his help and head down to the large kitchen in the basement of the Gillenormand mansion.
When they enter, M. Gillenormand is standing over the oven, keeping an eye on the cook, and Papa is at the table, chopping carrots. The sight makes Cosette giggle – only on rare occasion when their maid, Toussaint, was ill has Cosette seen her father go anywhere near the preparation of food. Both gentlemen look up at the sound of Cosette's light-hearted laughter.
"Oh, good, you're home!" exclaims M. Gillenormand. He comes over to put a hand on Marius's shoulder; Papa sets down his knife and joins them with a smile on his face.
"Monsieur, how did you know?" asks Marius with a groan. He and Cosette can both tell that the men know exactly what went on at Luxembourg Gardens.
"You asked for my blessing and two days later you take Cosette to your first meeting place?" There is a foreign twinkle in Papa's eyes. "It was not hard to figure out. So?"
With a large smile that shows all of her perfect white teeth, Cosette holds out her left hand just as she did for Enjolras. Papa takes her hand in his and looks down at the ring with a bigger smile than Cosette has ever seen on his face. He is truly happy for her, she can tell.
M. Gillenormand takes a look at the ring next. He hugs her and welcomes her warmly to the family, telling her that it is so nice to see his wife's ring on the hand of such a lovely girl. His relationship with Marius is slowly getting stronger, which warms Cosette's heart to see.
"We've planned a celebration dinner for the two of you," says M. Gillenormand. "It has all of both of your favorites. Should be done in an hour or two."
"Have you spoken to Enjolras?" asks Papa quietly as Marius thanks his grandfather. Cosette nods.
"Yes, and he seemed happy for us. Do you think he might be able to join us for dinner?" she replies. It's a silly question; she knows he won't be able to make it down the stairs to the dining room, but she hopes he can nonetheless. But, as expected, Papa shakes his head.
"No, I'm afraid not. The only way to get him downstairs would be to carry him and I think that would just hurt his pride. And he wouldn't eat very much breakfast this morning, so I doubt he's up to a three course meal."
"I knew he looked ill, but he insisted he was fine." It hurts Cosette that Enjolras won't tell her the truth, but even that currently cannot put a damper on her happiness.
"Perhaps he was fine," suggests Papa. "He's going to have some bad days for the rest of his life, but that doesn't mean he isn't mostly alright. At least he made it out of bed today, and he did very well yesterday. It's possible all that merely left him feeling poorly."
Papa's words are always so wise. It makes Cosette feel a little better about Enjolras, but she makes a note to ask Marius if it would be acceptable to postpone the wedding until Enjolras is well enough to attend. She's fond of him, she wants him to be there, and she's sure Marius does too.