47
It was two days later (roughly) that Éléonore came to visit once more, in the early stages of the evening when the sky was turning from a pale duck egg blue to a pink that was orange around the edges.
Gavroche and Inès were munching on macaroons in the corner, their fingers sticky with icing sugar and jam, and Éponine had been working her way through yet another romantic mystery novel. She was twisted into an awkward position, with her legs hooked over the back of the sofa and her head over the seat's edge, her hair pooling onto the dark floorboards. She nearly fell over when the knock came; she had been so engrossed in reading that the warm bickering chatter coming from Gavroche and Inès had faded into the background and any noise that disturbed the dull murmur would have surprised her just as much.
Gavroche moved the fastest and flung the door open, leaving traces of purplish red jam behind on the handle.
Éléonore was framed in the doorway, wearing dark blue today and yellow jewels glittering around her neck and on her fingers and dangling from her ears. "Good evening," she said. "You're not busy, are you?"
Inès hopped up from her seat and ambled over to the door as Éponine righted herself on the sofa, rearranging the soft fabric of her new green dress properly over her legs. She memorised the page number and put the book to one side.
"Not at all," she said, tucking hair behind her ears. "Please, come in – sit down –"
Éléonore stepped inside and Gavroche pushed the door shut behind her.
"Is this about me?" Inès asked, her voice filling with trepidation.
Éléonore sank down onto the sofa beside Éponine and folded her hands together. She shook her head, and then wrinkled her nose. "No, except partially it is; it's not the main reason I'm here, though."
Inès frowned and fidgeted with the sleeves of her dress, trying to tug them down over her hands. "I know I haven't been showing up to work, but –"
"That's not an issue," Éléonore replied, sounding surprised. "We all understand. Actually, it's your living arrangements..."
"What about them?" Inès stopped fidgeting for a few moments and some hint of aggression sparked in her eyes. Éponine's stomach sank and she desperately hoped that Inès wasn't about to lose her temper over nothing.
"Fantine's apartment was very large," Éléonore began to explain. "Her apartment had five rooms. It would be a shame to waste the space seeing as you have practically moved in here."
"That's Fantine's, though," Inès said immediately. Her tone was sharp and brittle, like broken glass.
"I thought you might say something like that," Éléonore said. In contrast, her voice was very smooth and calm and soothing with no sharp edges whatsoever. "As I said, it's a big apartment and it would be a shame to waste it, but you can't tell me that you squeezing in here is practical. You're sleeping on a sofa, are you not?"
"We really don't mind," Éponine cut in, seeing the way that Inès' cheeks were flooding with red. "Do we, Gav?"
"I know you don't." Éléonore's words were patient. "I'm not suggesting that at all. What I was going to suggest, however, is that you and Gavroche moved into Inès' home; that way, there is more room for all of you and Inès can stay in her old room. In addition to that I'm sure your presence will be something of a deterrent to any visits by Inès' family."
Inès' eyes widened a little. "They – they move in there? Where? There's only two bedrooms!"
"I'm sure that one of the other rooms could be converted into a bedroom," Éléonore said. "Or even both of them. Please, don't get upset, Inès – this is only a suggestion and you can take as much time as you like to think about it. I'm not here to force you into any rushed decisions, Inès. Surely, you know me better than that?"
"We'll sort something out," Éponine said, delicately. "What else did you want to speak to us about, Éléonore?" She decided it was best to change the subject as quickly as possible before Inès lost her temper completely.
"Ah, yes," Éléonore said, looking grateful for Éponine's intervention. "It is about the gentleman that died the evening that Fantine moved on. His name is Jean Valjean, and he has asked to meet you – he remembers you being there that night. Of course, I said I would speak to you first and believe me when I say you are under no obligation whatsoever to meet him at all if you do not feel comfortable with it. I have made that clear to him as well and he understands."
"Me? He wants to meet me?" Éponine frowned. "Why?"
Éléonore shrugged her slender shoulders. "He wants to thank you. That's what he said, at least. I don't think he has any ulterior motives..." She glanced at Inès and Gavroche for a moment. "I can arrange the meeting for you completely. I don't think he has a preference for where it happens, so it is understandable if you would rather meet him at his home or meet somewhere neutral, such as the Guardian building. You tell me how you want it to go and I will arrange it for you."
Gavroche made a little noise at the back of his noise and hopped across the room. "Isn't that a thank you in itself, though? Why does he need to see her?"
"I don't know," Éléonore said. "I think that's private, but he's also asked after Enjolras."
"He knew his name?" Éponine said, sitting up a little straighter in her seat.
"No," Éléonore said. "But he asked after a blond gentleman, a leader, who died on the barricades not too long ago. I think that Enjolras fits that description. I was going to visit Enjolras next..."
"He might be hard to convince," Éponine pointed out.
"He's probably thinking up excuses as we speak," Éléonore said, giving a small smile. "If you consider the fact he probably knows it is going to happen."
"I hadn't thought of that," Éponine admitted.
"But what about you?" Éléonore cocked her head to one side. "Would you like to meet him?"
Éponine glanced at Inès' stony face and Gavroche's bored one. She looked back to Éléonore, who was just smiling pleasantly. "I feel curious enough to go," she said, honestly. "I can't think of what he would want to talk to me about."
She could, but she didn't want to explain all of that out loud to them all; it would mean explaining her family in more detail, explaining about Cosette and her childhood, and Marius, and...No, that was not a conversation she wanted to have. Not today, at least.
"Where would you like to meet him?" Éléonore said, smoothing out the material of her skirt.
"I'd rather meet him at the Guardian's building, if that's all right with you," Éponine answered.
"Of course it is," Éléonore said. "I will sort something out for tomorrow; I will probably have another Guardian come over here when he is ready to see you."
"That's fine by me." Éponine glanced once more towards Inès and her brother. "I'm sure that these two can occupy themselves for an hour or so."
Inès scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I might go back to work," she said, in a snooty voice.
"Your mother is still haunting the Guardian's building," Éléonore said, linking her fingers together. "I suggest you give it a wide berth for just a little longer."
"Courfeyrac wants to take us horse riding again," Gavroche said suddenly. "We could do that tomorrow."
"Which one is Courfeyrac?" Some of the tension was slowly beginning to seep out of Inès' body and she let her arms drop from her chest. "Is he the pretty blond one, or the big man?"
"You're thinking of Enjolras and possibly Bahorel," Éponine said.
Inès squinted at her. "Describe him to me."
"He has dark hair." Éponine thought about it, and after a few moments of hesitation said, "He has a very nice smile. And he's tall."
"Oh, he's not the annoying one, is he?" Inès wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He talks too much. And I don't think his smile is particularly nice."
"Really?" Éponine thought of a smile as bright as sunshine and felt defensive on his behalf. "Well, that's Courfeyrac."
"I don't think being in the same place as him and horses would be particularly fun," Inès frowned.
"Well, it was just an idea," Gavroche sniped.
"Please don't start arguing," Éponine sighed. "If you must, settle your differences through a game of chess but please keep your voices down if you do so."
Gavroche muttered under his breath and darted away, disappearing into his bedroom.
"I'll be leaving now, I think," Éléonore said, slowly rising out of her seat. She pulled on the sleeves of her dress and then met Inès' eye. "Please, Inès, think about the suggestion I have made," she said, in a soft voice.
Inès didn't speak, but gave a very curt nod.
Éponine got to her feet as well and led Éléonore to the front door. She opened it for her and stood aside as Éléonore stepped out onto the landing outside.
"For what it's worth, Éponine, I think you're doing a wonderful job with both Gavroche and Inès," Éléonore said in a whisper, a slightly wistful edge to her voice as she spoke.
Éponine raised her eyebrows in question, and received a small smile in response.
"I can't comment on Gavroche," Éléonore said, "because I have never known him and you separately. But Inès...She seems happy here, with you and him, and it has only been a matter of days...I'd be interested to see how she fares in your company after a longer period of time. Fantine was a good, kind woman and she helped Inès a lot, and I can't think of a better person than you to carry on helping Inès recover than you."
Before Éponine could come up with a response to that, Éléonore rested her hand on Éponine's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.
"I shall see you tomorrow at some point," Éléonore said. "Au revoir, Éponine."
And with that, she turned on her heel and began to climb down the stairs.
A/N: Just a quick note to say that I've returned to university after the summer holidays so my updates might possibly be a little slower...I've only been back a few days but already I've been very, very, very busy! But I hope to fit in writing as much as possible even if the updates might become slower. Just wanted to give everyone a head's up on that :)