Chapter Eighteen

A/N: Thank you to Guest and MissFiyerabaMeponineWholock for reviewing the last chapter.

Marius was near blinded by rage as he ran through the streets, but the path to Rue Plumet was one he had tread many times before. He had lived at the house ever since the fall of the barricades, comforting himself in the familiar place and trying to wash out the agony of his losses. Just a couple of minutes ago, he would have found the memory painful; now, it just fanned the flames of his fury.

Cosette. He had thought he had known her just as well as he knew himself, he had thought that she was a sweet, gentle soul who would never harm a fly, but he had been so wrong. She was vicious and grasping and cruel, and she was going to pay for what she had done.

Marius threw open the gate to the rear garden, with such a force that the metal crashed against the stone wall beside it, leaving a cloud of dust billowing in his wake. It was almost theatrical in its absurdity, how the place where he had met the love of his life had become the site of a final confrontation with that very same woman.

He could scarcely contain his anger enough to knock politely on the door rather than hitting it with all his might, and did so only to avoid attracting the attention of any living nearby. The last thing he wanted was to bring any other unfortunates into this mess.

As he waited for an answer to his knock, Marius breathed deeply, trying to calm himself enough that he would not seem hostile on sight. It was difficult, when all he could see was his poor 'Ponine, swinging on the hangman's rope. She had almost died, for a false charge.

A creaking sound caught his attention, the aged door groaning on its hinges as it opened, revealing Cosette, dressed all in white, with her hair loose around her shoulders. If she had been painted at that very moment, she could easily have passed for an angel. As it was, Marius saw only a vile demon.

"Marius." Cosette greeted, smiling widely at him, as if she had done nothing wrong. "You've been gone for quite a while. Is anything the matter?"

"There is, Cos- there is, as you very well know." He could not say her name, not now. He had always said that name with such joy, such affection. He would never say it in the same way again.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice sweet as a peach. For a girl who had been raised in a nunnery, she had quite the talent for pretence.

The student took another calming breath, though it had little effect on him. "There is a young girl who was almost hanged today, for a crime which she did not commit."

Cosette clasped a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide in horror. "That's awful. The poor child. Is she alright?"

"She is alive." Marius allowed. "She was accused of stealing jewellery from the house of one of the bourgeoisie, but I am certain that she did not. It seems that there is someone who had a vengeance to enact against her, and was willing for her to be killed to serve their own ends."

As he spoke, Cosette's hand had crept higher across her face, as if she thought she could hide her lies by hiding herself. Marius was not fooled by the gesture; to him, if anything, it only served as proof of her guilt.

After a minute or so, the young woman abandoned her silence. "It's terrible that someone would feel driven to such drastic measures. May God have mercy on them."

Marius could stand it no longer. "Cosette, I know that you are responsible for what happened to 'Ponine. She is a sweet, good-natured girl, there is no one else who would wish her harm."

"Sweet and good-natured?" the blonde asked, incredulous. Her image of innocence was slipping away, to reveal the hateful woman Marius now knew her to be. "When I was a child, she made my life agony. Her mother and father ordered me about like a servant and that slimy little rat played along with them. You know, when I discovered she was living in the Paris slums, I laughed. At last the little bitch has what she deserves."

There was a moment, a moment of blind rage, and Cosette stumbled back against the door frame, clutching her throbbing cheek. Marius stared at his palm, the same glaring red as her face, as if it were a snake. He had never struck anyone before, much less a woman. But there had never been anyone so deserving of the blow as she who stood before him.

"That girl is more a gentlewoman than you shall ever be, Cosette." Marius hissed. "You may be raised so much higher than she will ever be, but she has a good heart, whereas I doubt you have a heart at all."

Marius turned on his heel and began to walk away, knowing that if he stayed any longer he would give Cosette far more than a bruise to the face.

"I have a heart, Marius." she called after him, her voice laced with tears. "It belongs to you. I did this for you, for us, so that we could be together."

Her voice was getting higher-pitched, more desperate, and closer too. She was following him. The young man tried to move faster, but she had reached him now, and was clutching onto his sleeve as if she thought that by keeping him in the garden she could keep him as hers.

"Cosette, leave me be." he instructed her, trying to shake free of her grip.

"No!" she cried out. "No, I will not let you go. You are mine, Marius, and I am yours. We belong together. You belong here with me. I will never let you go."

Desperate to get away, Marius threw Cosette off of him with a strength he never knew he had. The girl went crashing into the wall beside the gate and collapsed against it. Marius waited for her to get up and chase after him once more. But she did not.

She never would again.

A/N: Bit of a shocker, but hey! Please review!