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Chapter Two
"We're late," Gavroche whispered as he quickly and quietly pulled his sister to a vacant table in the back of the room. Right as they sat down, Gavroche's full, undivided attention was captured by the man speaking. His strong voice boomed throughout the room. It seemed that all the men were holding their breath as he spoke, only releasing it when they murmured in approval and agreement. Even Eponine herself, who believed the schoolboys to be nothing but rich bourgeois brats with their heads in the clouds, could not help but become entangled in his words.
She had seen the leader before, heard his speeches, and yet had never fully paid attention to them because she was always too enchanted by Marius's presence. Now, without Marius there, Eponine seemed to throw herself completely into Enjolras' speech, momentarily forgetting Marius.
From what she could gather from the stories and descriptions she had heard from both Marius and Gavroche, this man hardly showed any emotions, the Marble Man was one of the names she had heard his friends refer to him as. But now, listening to his speech, she could not seem to believe that. She had never seen someone as passionate and entranced by something before. This obsession of his with Patria had far surpassed Marius's with Costte, and even her own with Marius. Though, unlike every other man there, she did not get rallied by him. She did not feel the need to act by his words. She pitied him knowing that this dream of his will only bring him to his untimely demise.
"It's a shame," she thought, "It's a waste. All of these men have so much to live for. They have so much to become, and yet they are throwing their lives away on a silly idealistic dream."
She studied the leader. She studied his broad jaw clenched with the desire of having a world with a free Patria. She studied his wide and passionate blue eyes. She studied him as he ran his long fingers through his golden curls, clenching them as he paused for just a moment, to gather the ideas and inspiration whizzing through his head only to bless the people listening with a perfectly worded and moving statement that made your blood rush with his.
This man was obviously intelligent and mature well beyond his years, and yet Eponine could not wrap her head around his blatant ignorance. He was simply refusing to even think for a moment that their revolution might not work. Would not work.
Was he that unaware? Did he not know? Surely he must. He had to know that the people he fought for, France's people were cowards. Any person who experienced the slums would realize that.
"But of course he never went there," Eponine thought almost mockingly, "Of course the bourgeois brat never ventured to the slums."
Suddenly, everything he said, no matter how beautiful, had lost its grasp on her.
"It is up to us to rally the people!" He yelled clenching his fists, "It is up to us to unchain the poor people of France from the bent shackles of the law and society!"
She heard him preach and before she could contain herself, she scoffed. The men listening, trembling with excitement, were shaken out of their trance and turned to look at her. She quickly started coughing as an attempt to disguise the scoff as the sickness that the poor just seemed to be born with. Accepting that it was just sickness, the men turned back around to face Enjolras once again. She looked up to see the leader looking at her, his eyes boring into her own with a questioning, and to her dismay, slightly offended look. She shrank down into her chair.
Enjolras' speeches were normally captivating and riveting, but tonight seemed to be his finest work. The words he spoke simply flowed out of him as if he had rehearsed them a hundred times. Looking at the men's eyes almost basking in his presence and his words, he felt pride well up in him, as his love for his country filled him to the brink. In the midst of his speech, his sweeping eyes landed on a thin, hunched figure being pulled by the gamin, Gavroche, who always attended their meetings. He recognized the girl as Marius's "shadow", which was what the other men referred to her as.
She had always been a puzzle to him. He never understood why she did the bidding of a man who not only would never reciprocate her obvious feelings for him, but also never treated her with the respect she deserved for her deeds she has done for him. Yes, Marius treated her better than what would be considered the socially acceptable way to treat someone of her class. Though, it was not nearly close to the amount of respect one would have in the Republic he was trying to build, but also the way one would treat a friend as close as they claim to be. She obviously cared for Marius deeply, perhaps she even loved him, and it was clear that he hurt her every time he talked about Cosette and sent her on errands to deliver the messages between the two so they could properly proclaim their love and admiration for each other. Marius was completely blind to all of her unconcealed feelings towards him, being as daft as he has been acting recently.
The two's "relationship" had always irritated Enjolras. The girl putting herself through torture for a man who loves another, helps him find his "love", and Marius allows Eponine to continue hurting herself without a bat of an eye. It astounded him. It irritated him because of his complete lack of understanding of it. And Enjolras was not one to be confused easily. He had always prided himself on his ability to grasp concepts of almost everything. Whether it be a subject, a person, or a piece of literature, he could immediately understand it and form his own opinions of it. But now, continuing his unimpaired speech, he found himself constantly glancing at the malnourished girl in between compelling sentences. He would look at the girl, desperately trying to understand this aggravatingly difficult subject and yet was at a loss. He was attempting to study her as you would an unopened textbook and he saw that she was doing the exact same to him. She was not only closely listening to his words and analyzing them, but also studying his actions.
"It is up to us to rally the people! It is up to us to unchain the poor people of France from the bent shackles of the law and society!" he proclaimed getting excited murmurs in response and shifts of his men readying themselves to cheer as he approached the end of his speech. And from the corner of the room, he heard a distinct scoff make its way through the whispers. All eyes fell on the gamine who produced the noise as she blushed and quickly started a very believable coughing fit to cover it. Once all the men seemed to be fooled she stopped, but Enjolras would not shift his gaze from her. He had keen senses, more so than the other men, and could tell through her thoroughly convincing performance that she had indeed scoffed at his speech. His words that were meant to ignite and free people like her. He could not comprehend the cause of this patronizing noise and he felt a bit offended. Would she rather have him stand idly by letting the people of France suffer? She must have her reasons and he was eager to convince a skeptic to believe in his cause. He has finished his speech and an explosive applause and yells followed. He sat down and looked at the gamine from behind his books.
Eponine followed her brother into the middle of the group of chattering men that had begun to form. She and her brother were approached by the man she had met earlier that day.
Courfeyrac ruffled Gavroche's hair affectionately saying, "Gavroche! You never told me you were acquainted with this beautiful Mademoiselle," he did a polite bow at Eponine, "nice to see you again Mademoiselle Eponine."
She blushed at the title and shifted uncomfortably. She was not used to being addressed in such a way. "The pleasure is all mine, Monsieur Courfeyrac," she answered curtseying.
"Tell me, Gavroche! How did you charm your way into getting this one to accompany you to the meeting?" Courfeyrac asked with a smile dancing on his face.
"Gross, she's my sister!" Gavroche informed Courfeyrac while playfully swatting his hand away.
"Sister!" Courfeyrac exclaimed looking up at Eponine, "Well this is a pleasant surprise! It is very comforting to know Gavroche has someone looking out for him when we aren't there."
Eponine affectionately ruffled Gavroche's hair. "I do what I can," she answered modestly.
Upon hearing the relation between Marius's shadow and the loveable young revolutionary that had squirmed his way into all of the men's hearts, the members of the Les Amis de l'ABC started making their way over to introduce themselves. Eponine had never in her life been treated as kindly and respectfully as these men treated her. She finally realized why Gavroche looked up to them so much.
"Joly," said one of the men introducing himself to her, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mademoiselle Eponine and if you'd like I can check out that cough you have. I noticed it during Enjolras's speech." He did not say it as an accusation but as a kind offer.
"Thank you Monsieur, but I am from the streets. I have survived through far more than a silly little cough." She smiled at him, "And if you please, just Eponine, I am no lady." She repeated for what seemed like the fiftieth time whenever someone called her Mademoiselle.
"Everyone is a lady in the eyes of the Republic Mademoiselle," she heard a voice say behind her. She turned around to find the leader of the group addressing her.
"A Republic that has yet to be installed in the government, therefore there are no eyes to see me as a lady Monsieur," she responded cleverly.
He smirked at her. He enjoyed her fire, something that is rarely seen in a woman at the time.
"In due time, Mademoiselle, in due time. I am Enjolras," he stated taking her hand and planting a light kiss on it.
She did not blush, "Eponine, and I hope what you say is true Monsieur, I truly do," she responded with her large dark eyes showing trace of pity in them. He was taken a bit off guard and was going to respond to her odd statement, but Bahorel was already introducing himself to her. He sighed and decided that they would continue this conversation at a later date as he slowly moved back to his chair, lifting up his book once again.