Chapter 15 The bargain.
"Sir? Cosette's small voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Would you give me back the bucket, please? If she sees that you have carried it for me, she will beat me."
He reluctantly returned the bucket to her and watched her walk towards the inn. The inn was full that night. A fire was burning in the chimney and a merry hubbub filled the room. Javert was not used to this kind of place and the smell of cigarettes and alcohol made him nauseous.
"Cosette! May I know what you were doing ?" A woman had just emerged from behind the counter. That woman looked like a bulldog. She barked a flood of insults and threats at Cosette as she grabbed the bucket with her big fleshy hand. "I don't believe it! What about my bread? I told you to get some bread. »
"It was closed, there were no more," Cosette answered.
"You had to knock and call! Where's the money? Little thief!" And before Cosette could answer anything, the scoundrel had already slapped her.
"Madam" Javert's voice made her stand up. She had not noticed him. She glared at him, measuring him with contempt. "Who is this, Cosette? »
"A gentleman, Madam, who would like to sleep here, Madam"
"Ah!" The face of ''Madam'' immediately changed, she smiled falsely and greeted Javert with too much obsequiousness to be honest. "Welcome sir"
"We have no room left, alas." A man had just joined them. In contrast to the bulldog that Cosette called Madam, this gentleman was tall, lean, and looked well-educated but a little bit sick.
"Then I will only have supper, someone recommended me this place."
"Sir only wants supper, then? Well, follow me, I'll take you to your table." The innkeeper led Javert to a table not far from the fire. He sat down so that he could see all the room, Cosette had disappeared during that brief moment. He was looking for her when the innkeeper, noticing this strange behaviour, stood before Javert. "Some soup and some wine for you, sir?" »
"No, I don't drink wine, thank you. That girl is your daughter?" Javert asked, trying to look detached.
"Who? Oh, you mean Cosette...it's a little girl we've been entrusted with. Her mother's in Montreuil, she is working. The poor girl. All she has is us. »
"Indeed, all she has… Isn't she cold by the way? I am wearing a coat and a shirt, and I am still freezing."
"These kids are really strong these days! Ah! Ah! Don't believe it, the little naughty girl is very sturdy »
"I wouldn't have guessed," Javert muttered.
"Soup and water for the gentleman, then!" And the innkeeper slipped away.
On the other side of the room, Cosette had just reappeared, this time, an enormous black circle covered her left eye. Javert trembled, his body stiffened, an unpleasant shiver passed through his back and went up to his neck. The little girl went under a table and disappeared again from the inspector's field of vision. It was definitely that woman who hit her, who else? No doubt Javert had guessed that it was the Thenardier couple, the famous innkeepers to whom Fantine had entrusted Cosette with. He had read, roughly painted on a sign on the front of the inn: "To the sergeant of Watterloo." It was Cosette, the inn, and the Thenardiers.
But it was absurd! Javert remembered the letters and the money the mayor had sent to Montfermeil. And the skirt of which Fantine had spoken but Cosette was almost naked.
As he was thinking, the Thenardier came back to give him his soup and a glass of water. The man lit a candle and place it next to the bowl of soup. "Bon appétit, monsieur".
"Mr. Thenardier, I would like to speak to the child"
"I don't remember introducing myself," Thenardier said suspiciously. That is something displeasing to be known without knowing.
" The people who recommended this place also told me you name." This justification seemed to satisfy the innkeeper, who immediately relaxed.
"You want to talk to Cosette? If you allow me to say, I'm her legal guardian and Cosette is a child. I can't...»
"I don't," Javert cut off.
"Excuse me?"
"You ask if I allow you to say something, well, I don't. I want to talk to Cosette and I advise you to bring her here right now without making a fuss. »
Thenardier's face had gone through all sorts of emotions in a short time. He stood up to his full height, frowned, and put his hands on his hips. "Sir, I ask you to leave my inn now, otherwise I will have to call the police."
"Sir, I am the police," Javert did not bother to look at Thenardier, who had stood before him like a rooster. Javert did not see that Thenardier's face had turned pale. Cosette had just reappeared and was playing under a table next door with a doll. Javert stood up, determined to speak to the child, and Thenardier dared not intervene. Javert was about to crouch down when a shrill cry surprised him. It was the Thenardier woman running to them. She grabbed the doll held by Cosette and pulled the child by the hair.
"Look at that! She will spoil it with those dirty hands! What did I tell you to do, you ugly toad! »
She was going to beat her again if Javert did not stop her hand in the air. "There's been enough for tonight. One more and you too will spend the night in a more very special inn. »
The Thenardier gave him an indignant look. Cosette, on the other hand, did not understand what was happening. What she was sure of, however, was that the gentleman she had found in the woods was certainly her prince who had come to her rescue at last.
Javert finally released the Thenardier. He readjusted his gloves and smoothed his coat, a tick he had to make sure that there were no folds on his uniform. "Now," said Javert calmly, "I will speak to Cosette alone. Come on, child."
Javert beckoned to Cosette to follow him to his table. He sat down and invited her to do the same.
"Kid," said Javert, watching her climb on the chair, "I am Inspector Javert. I'm from the police. Who did this to you?" And he pointed to the black eye of the child. "You don't have to be afraid of me, I won't do anything to you. »
"It's Madame," replied Cosette.
"And you work for the Thenardier, right?" Cosette nodded. Javert joined his two hands under his chin and examined the girl. Fantine had no idea what was happening to her daughter. The inspector's piercing eyes intimidated Cosette who had begun to stamp on her chair. "Well," exclaimed Javert with a resolute air, "your calvary here is over, child". Javert stood up and walked toward the counter. Cosette realized that something decisive had just been decided before her eyes, left the table and followed the inspector.
"Mr. Thenardier, I would like to pay for my soup"
"Sir is leaving already? ," he said in a falsely amiable tone as he stepped behind the counter. Javert nodded and took a purse out of the inner pocket of his coat.
"Ah, yes, let's see," hastened Thenardier. Javert saw him scribbling on a paper, taking his time to reflect and mumbling. He had the unpleasant feeling of being watched. He looked around, the counter was placed in a small room apart from the main hall. In the corner of the wall there was a staircase that went up, and to the right of the counter, an arch that led to the kitchen. Here, in the shadow of this arch, the Thenardier wife was there, standing against the stones, arms crossed, her eyes fixed on Javert like a watchdog.
"Ahem, this is for you, sir."
Thenardier handed him a small card on which was written:
FOR THE MAN TABLE N.3
Soup fr. 3
Candle fr. 5
Fire fr. 4
Servis fr. 1
Water fr. 2
Left over fr. 3
Total : fr. 18
Javert raised his eyes from the paper and measured for a moment the man in front of him before resigning, had he just made him pay for water and fire? Especially since service was written as this ''servis". Javert did not have time and he did not want to make a fuss. He was not fooled. Thenardier was a crook, but what was he going to do, arrest him? He would have done so if he had been in Montreuil-sur-Mer. He paid the sum they asked.
Cosette had not taken her eyes off him, well hidden in the shadows of the inspector, she felt safe. Nothing could touch her, he was from the police after all and everyone feared him, right? Javert felt that little look which weighed all the weight of the world on his shoulders, he turned, thinking that it was the Thenardier still looking at him, but it was the two eyes of Cosette that he met; they shone in the darkness of the room like two diamonds. He thought for a moment about what he had promised Fantine on that deathbed. He looked at the child, he could not turn back and leave her here, it was obvious that the child would eventually die of cold or starvation. So what else to do? To entrust her fate to the police of Montfermeil? They would not do anything either. There was in the mission that Fantine had entrusted to him something far greater than duty. Strangely enough, Cosette felt the doubt agitating the inspector. He had said that her calvary was over and even though she did not understand the meaning of the word CALVARY, she knew that the inspector had come to save her from here and that she was going to live a better life from now on. A better life with that stranger she already loved. She took the part of his coat, and pressed it against her, defying Javert with her gaze, making him understand that she would not let him go without her. She did not know that it was that gesture and that look that made Javert surrender.
"One more thing," Javert said slowly. "Cosette comes with me »
The Thenardier woman jumped out of the shadows and joined her husband at the counter. "What? » she said surprised.
"Cosette, I'm taking her with me". Javert clearly repeated.
The woman grabbed Cosette's arm and pulled her toward her, "What did she tell you! Little toad, are you not done bothering the world! Leave the gentleman alone."
"But, sir," said Thenardier confidently, "the thing is: it was the child's mother who entrusted her to us. We may be hard on her, but it is so that she can grow obedient and well-educated. And we can't just give her to a stranger. I will not leave my little Cosette to the first man to come! »
"Her mother is dead," Javert revealed without realizing the impact it would have on the child. Cosette who had never known her mother was not really grieved. This news slipped on her. On the contrary, it was the Thenardiers who seemed to be the most affected.
"Oh, poor Fantine," exclaimed Thenardier suddenly. "That's why we didn't get any news this month. You see, that good Fantine used to send us some money for the little girl. We bought her food, it doesn't seem so but she eats for four! And we already have two daughters, the same age, and a baby. Four mouths to feed.. Not to mention that this month Cosette was ill two times! She could have died if we hadn't put all our savings into drugs to treat her. Oh see there, arms so skinny and these rattles... Oh, you're cold? » He squeezed Cosette in his arm and rubbed her back to warm her up. He squeezed her too tightly and she wanted to get rid of him but she dared not move. "Oh, if only I could clothe you…" cried the innkeeper. "We are condemned, the money will not come…" He kept squeezing the child and moaning. Javert remained impassive.
"That's right, I'll spare you the next few years. I'm taking her with me now," Javert announced. He grabbed the child's arm and pulled her away from Thenardier.
"It cost a lot of money. How are we going to recover from these expenses?" The innkeeper asked. "You see how difficult our business is."
"And what do you want me to do?"
"Well... Fantine was paying us."
"Well," cut Javert, "probably she won't pay any more."
"But..."
"Let's not play, Thenardier, I could have you arrested."
"I'm not guilty of anything!"
"That's what we'll see then."
Thenardier shivered at the idea of being investigated, yet he did not give up. He raised his two arms in distress and shouted "They're taking our Cosette away! How can you do that! It's stealing."
"Little one, do you have anything you'd like to take before you go?" Javert asked to Cosette, ignoring Thenardier.
The little girl shook her head, she had taken refuge behind the inspector.
"Good!" Javert said, "we are leaving, goodbye madam, goodbye sir. If we meet again, it will be in a courthouse." He grabbed Cosette's hand and left the inn.