The day after the party Éponine was woken up by Cosette, "Merry Christmas!" she spoke cheerfully, "wouldn't you like to see what Father Christmas brought?" she spoke smiling.
Éponine was confused, "what are you talking about? Father Christmas?"
"Well how do you know he did not bring gifts?" Cosette giggled.
"'Cause he's a myth, and I don't think I should be considered a good girl," Éponine explained.
"Myth or not you should come on downstairs, Toussaint has prepared something special for breakfast," Cosette pulled back the curtains from the window letting light enter the room.
Éponine got herself out of bed washed her face in the basin on the dressing table. The cold water sent a shock through her that instantly woke her up, she dried her face off, got dressed and headed down the stairs. She could smell the warm and inviting aroma of freshly baked croissants. It brought back some memories of the Christmases of her childhood. Then she remembered that, as she and Azelma enjoyed the treats, Cosette had been shivering in rags and starving.
She quickly tried to push that image away in order to take in what was before her, along with the croissants there were a couple of varieties of jams, preserved fruits, and a pot of tea on the table. She sat at the table and she was joined by Cosette, Marius and Cosette's father M. Fauchlevent. They all ate their meal in almost silence, Éponine was now very thankful she was not to be spending the holidays alone. She spread some jam on top of her croissant and bit into it, it was soft and very flaky, nothing like the scrap of moldy black bread she had eaten last Christmas.
"Merry Christmas!" A girl about twelve years of age greeted Daniel, her brown hair was in a simple plait tied with a blue satin ribbon that matched her dress. She ran up to the older boy and flung her arms around his waist.
Daniel returned the embrace, when they broke apart he ruffled his youngest sister's hair, she gasped then quickly rearranged it. "Whatever was that for?" she complained.
Daniel simply shrugged his shoulders, "Because you happen to be my beloved youngest sister?"
The girl frowned at him and went off to the parlor, Daniel laughed as she walked away, he loved all his sisters dearly but Rosalie was his favorite. As he continued walking through the house , he suddenly heard the heavy footsteps and deep booming voice of his father, Victor Lestat. "There you are!" he happily greeted his only son.
"It will be very nice to have you here for the holidays," his mother Madeline Lestat spoke. She was a small delicate woman with a soft voice in contrast of her husband. "I know the girls will be very pleased to see you."
In Victor Lestat's family there were four children: one son, Daniel, and three daughters, Clarise, Elisabeth and Rosalie. They were a very prominent family in Marseilles and in many social circles and their home rested on a very large plot of land that Daniel would eventually inherit and have to manage, even though he did not wish to do so.
"I was going to join Rosalie in the parlor..." Daniel started, he knew that his youngest sister desperately wanted to know what she had received for Christmas.
"Ah the curious little sprite, that one is," his father laughed, it was true that Rosalie was very much a tomboy and rather adventurous while Clarise and Elisabeth were extremely prim and proper. Daniel could not help but smile a little at his father's comment.
"Well then I suppose we should not make her wait?" he asked as he walked to the parlor. Inside he could see the room was decorated in bright and festive ribbons with delicate paper flowers. Also around the room were hung small sprigs of mistletoe in order to provide the family with good fortune in the coming year. Rosalie was quietly waiting on the couch and pretending that she was not restless even though she clearly was.
"Can we start?" she pleaded to her mother, it was always a family tradition to open Christmas presents together.
"Clarise and Elisabeth are not down here just yet, ma petit," her mother answered her. Daniel had to suppress a laugh when he noticed that Rosalie was scowling, but not long after the two older girls entered and sat beside Rosalie.
Then one at the time various members of the family would pick up one gift at a time and open it, at the end of it all there was paper and ribbon on everyone's laps. Then Daniel remembered, he withdrew three boxes from his coat pocket, and he handed one to each of his sisters. Inside each of the boxes contained a simple, but beautiful pendant on a lovely silver chain. Rosalie's eyes widened, "It's beautiful!" She went to embrace her brother once again, then she looked back at the pendant, "It almost reminds me of that fan you gave me for my birthday.
Daniel froze, he had forgotten about that... Rosalie's birthday was the last time he had been in Marseilles, right before the insurrection broke out and his parents would not let him return to Paris until they had heard news that it had been settled for the most part. Now he clearly remembered that fan he had given her, it was hand painted with pretty little cherry blossoms, he remembered where he bought it too. It was from a young working man with blonde hair and blue eyes, he was also very intelligent, he had met the workingman on more then one occasion and they had some discussions ranging from Voltaire, to the the Rights of Man. He had wanted to purchase fans for all of his sisters for Christmas because they were so beautiful but he could not find the man, later he learned that he had been killed on the barricades too.
"So have you found some pretty girl to settle down with?" his father asked him with a smile.
For some reason an image of Éponine flashed through his mind and he blushed, "Nice girl, I suppose?" his father asked.
"I have not found a girl," Daniel replied, his father seemed a little let down with this news, Daniel was a handsome boy and very smart, he reminded Victor very much of himself when he had been a young student in Paris. Although his marriage to Madeline had been arranged by their parents, he wished for Daniel, as well as his daughters to find love for themselves.