In Which Enjolras Does Young Henri a Favor
Last night had been a success—hopefully the people sleeping in their houses had heard the glorious voices of the young revolutionists as they marched triumphantly through the streets. The leader of the students was assured, at least, that his own little army's confidence was renewed.
Rubbing his hands, which ached from the pages he had written, and resting his weary eyes, Enjolras sighed. It did not matter that he tried his hardest: his thoughts continued to run on their own, and they were all related to the young Henri and his new friend. Perhaps he was only interested in the suspicious character of Marius' follower; or could it be he actually worried about Henri? Who knows? He only knew that he could not think of anything else.
Heaving another deep sigh, he forced all his will-power and energy together and threw himself once more into the world of revolution, liberty and justice. "I will conquer this," thought he to himself, "I will finish this book at least, before I begin thinking once more about those two persons!"
But it was not meant to be. The door of the café burst open and he could hear quick, short footsteps running towards him, each step louder than the first. He knew those footsteps anywhere—or, perhaps Henri was the only child he knew besides Gavroche, and Gavroche never ran like that. It was too hasty, too desperate, in a way.
He was right.
"Monsieur! Monsieur Enjolras!" came the familiar, clear voice of Henri.
"So you've decided to show yourself?" replied the leader of the rebellion, in a rather irritated tone, for though he was aware that he had been longing to see the child for quite some time, he was too proud to admit it and indeed, the fact that Henri had not been present to see the glorious march through the streets was disappointing.
Henri seemed not to have heard him. "Monsieur Enjolras, please, I need your help!" cried he between quick breaths, and Enjolras came to the conclusion that the boy had been running a rather far distance.
"What is it?" was the calm, assured answer, although Enjolras's curiosity flamed and somewhere inside of him an anxious care for the child awoke.
"It is… monsieur, it is Eponine! I cannot find her! I woke up this morning and she was gone!"
The excitement in the older man abruptly dissolved. "Oh, is that all?" said he. "She's probably abandoned you, just as I thought she would," he continued in spite of himself.
The boy looked at him directly, and Enjolras could see the hurt and disappointment plain in the younger boy's eyes. "Never mind, monsieur," began the child steadily, "I'll ask Monsieur Marius instead. He will more likely be willing to…" he checked himself just in time and said instead, "He will more likely know where she is. Goodbye, monsieur." He gave a quick bow and hurriedly left the café.
At once Enjolras's remorse coursed through him, and he chided himself thoroughly. "And here you are, upsetting little Henri after wanting to see him for such a long time!" he said angrily to himself, if that is possible. "Well, might as well go and look after him!" And so saying, the student stood up, arranged his papers quickly, took one more look at them, and hurried out after the child.
"Wait! Henri! Henri, you little scoundrel, stop at once!"
Henri turned reluctantly, but much to his pleasure, saw his idol running towards him.
"Henri, forgive me for speaking so rudely, will you?"
"Are you in earnest?" asked the child without a moment's thought.
"I am."
"Then of course I do. Is that all you were chasing me for?"
"I wasn't chasing you," he began to protest, but then swiftly and wisely changing his tone into one of complete humility, "Well; I'll help you look for Monsieur Marius, to show you I'm truly and earnestly sorry."
"One of those will do," muttered Henri, referring to the synonyms "earnestly" and "truly", but his eyes had brightened and his voice was cheerful. "Alright then. Come on."
"Wait, where are we going?"
"Why, to Monsieur Marius's residence, surely!"
Enjolras hurried to the urchin's side and together they trudged onward, to the little, dilapidated building where Monsieur Marius lived. And the student was quite unaware of the delight the child felt in walking beside his tall, well-built frame.
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"Excuse me," began Enjolras politely to the old, toothless hag who answered the door. She grinned evilly, eyeing him with both suspicion and delight, which confused the student greatly. "Do you know if Monsieur Marius is in?"
The toothless grin dropped and the old woman answered, with obvious disappointment, "Is that all ye wanted? An' here I was hopin' you were here fo' rent! Well, no use lingerin' on such things. No, he ain't here. Off with you, then!"
"Wait," persisted the student. "Do you know where he's gone?"
The hag's grin reappeared. "What'll ye give me for't?"
Enjolras could feel Henri's pleading eyes upon him. He took out two sous. "Here," said he, as the woman laughed with immense pleasure, and Enjolras thought he saw the happiest queen of Paris right in front of him, without the dignity, of course, to name a few…
"Well?"
"Ah, a young girl came this mornin', and asked fo' the young student—he's quite the studier, ain't he? The man went down and talked some wi' her, and then they both of them left."
"Where?" asked Enjolras impatiently.
"Another sou," returned the hag.
The coin clinked and the goodlady smiled. "Well," continued she, "I heered them a'talking, I did. And the girl was saying she 'found her' and would 'take him there right away, if he wanted', though she didn't seem happy 'bout it, I tell ye. And I heered him sayin' where it was, an' her tellin' him it was at the Rue Plumet, or something like. She looked downright miserable, really, but the young man was just smilin' as if he were the 'appiest man in the world. Is that good enough for ye?"
"Yes, thank you," said Enjolras quickly, and, dragging Henri along with him, ran as fast as he could from that old, crooked building.