Chapter 18 What else to do ?
Javert did not slept at all that night. He got up very early, put on his coat and left the room. Downstairs, the fire was still burning, lighting the whole room. Javert sat down at a table by the fire and took a cigar out of his pocket. He rolled it between his thumb and forefinger, carried it to his nose and smelled the fresh perfume of tobacco. His eyes were lost in the flames that flapped and whirled like a gypsy's dress. The crackling of the fire took him several years back, when he was just a little boy.
Her mother had broken out of prison and had fled to the countryside where she and little Javert had joined a group of gypsies. Javert still remembered the bonfires and the dances around the flames that sometimes rose so high in the midnight sky. The early years of his childhood were punctuated by music, dances and also by the movements of the camp. Her mother had become pregnant in prison, just before she was released, and for three years she had gone into hiding before returning to the city. It was a fatal mistake for her. Eventually, she was found and arrested again. Javert was not there with her when it happened, nor did he suffer from this sudden absence. The nomadic life had prepared him for this. He had always known that nothing was permanent, that everything had an inevitable end. No more bonfires in the streets of the city, no more arms of his mother to keep him, no, no more place to warm up in the winter. Javert had become a city boy.
"You're not sleeping, Inspector?" Anicette had just entered, carrying a bucket of fresh milk in her arms.
"Where is your son?" asked Javert, his eyes still lost in the chimney.
"He's asleep, why? You need him?"
"You went to do this on your own?"
"It's my job, Inspector. »
"I have something to ask you, ma'am," he stood up. Anicette noticed that he was wearing his gloves. She put down the bucket and let the inspector come to her. In that morning cool, Anicette wore nothing but a white cotton blouse and an apron that barely covered her athletic shoulders.
"The man last night, who was he? »
"A client like you, Inspector?" A spark lit up the innkeeper's gaze, she began to smile with a teasing air. "You were scared, weren't you? Sir, I haven't had a husband for so long that I learned to replace him myself. I'm not afraid of men and I know how to take them. All these years, I haven't had a problem. And if it ever goes wrong, I know how to deal with it... Well, you know what I'm talking about." Her cheeks turned red, remembering that she had a police inspector in front of her, and that perhaps it was not worth revealing to him that she still had a small gun with her. "I live far from Montfermeil, and even further from Montreuil," she said as an excuse.
Javert shook his head, he had to give her that, she was brave. He took a deep breath, and with a resolute gesture he took a purse full of coins out of his pocket and handed it to the innkeeper. She stared at him, surprised, not understanding what it meant and not knowing what to say.
"Would you keep the child with you? Her mother's dead, she's got nothing. She's an orphan. The people she was with, you saw it, they beat her up. I swore to make sure she was safe. You seem to be honest, I've seen it. You have a son, I know. But Cosette will grow up and she will also be able to help you here, you cannot dismiss that." Javert continued briskly, and without giving her time to reply, "I will pay if necessary, I earn enough to send good money here every month. Please. I don't really have a choice, and she doesn't have anything... »
"Inspector," Anicette cut him off gently, placing her hand on the inspector's arm. "That's not true, Cosette has you. »
"I can't give her anything. My work takes all my time, I am not the fatherly type," he spat the word with a grimace of disgust and contempt. "Take the money, it will pay the night and the care you've given to the horse. And there may be enough money to cover the next two weeks, so I'll send more money." He forced her to take the purse and then walked away abruptly. As if what he had just given was burning his hands.
"If you ask me, Inspector. I will do it."
"Good. I... »
The coachman had just woken up and was coming down the stairs. He froze at the sight of them speaking in a low voice, believing that he had caught an intimate affair between them. Javert stood up and greeted the coachman.
"Mr. Flauder, good morning. When will we be ready to leave? »
"Hello Inspector, when does the gentleman want to leave? »
"As soon as possible," Javert said.
"Well, give me some time to get something to eat and make sure the horse is ready to go and we will go. »
Anicette put the purse in the pocket of her apron, greeted the inspector with a nod and disappeared into the kitchen.
Cosette was still asleep when Javert boarded the stagecoach. They were ready to go. Anicette had remained on the doorstep, her hand plunged into her pocket, weighting the small coin bag thoughtfully. She watched the stagecoach go away. Javert had not said a word, Cosette was up there sleeping peacefully. How was she going to react? Anicette thought sadly.