Chapter 57: The Favor

Elaine was depressed during her usual morning trip up the belltower stairs. She was troubled by the questions of how she would help Quasimodo through this difficult time and how she would cope with the fact that her feelings for him were not returned. The latter was relatively simple, she just had to ignore her own feelings for the time being and worry more about her friend. But the question of what she could do for Quasimodo at a time like this was difficult to answer. It wasn't as if she could change the fact that the woman he loved was in love with the man he hated. Elaine didn't know how she could possibly help, but she would try.

She expected to find Quasimodo in a sorrowful mood when she entered the tower, but what she found instead was the sight of him anxiously pacing and talking to himself.

"Are you okay?" Elaine asked.

Quasimodo stopped when he saw her.

"Oh, hi." He said, embarrassed. "I uh... I've been thinking."

"What have you been thinking about?..." Elaine asked nervously.

"Well... Frollo was here last night."

Elaine was taken aback. She'd anticipated that Esmeralda might seek out the bell ringer, but not the Minister of Justice.

"What did he say?" Elaine inquired.

Quasimodo relayed the events of the previous night to her. Elaine listened with curious silence, becoming even more curious with every detail.

"I don't know what to do now..." Quasimodo said in defeat. "If I'd listened to Esmeralda, I would have known she turned him down for my sake. I feel bad for not listening, and I feel bad that she did that for me. And I feel like I should apologize, but I'm still not happy about her being in love with him... And then there's Frollo! I hate him. I really do hate him! But he just told me the truth... And he wanted to look out for Esmeralda... And... And he has curly hair!"

Quasimodo quickly realized Elaine was confused by his last comment. She hadn't been around Frollo enough to know that curly hair wasn't normal for him.

"He's never looked like that." Quasimodo explained. "I'm so confused..."

Elaine was had many questions, but they weren't the kind that Quasimodo could answer. He was just as confused as she was.

"I see why you're so troubled." Elaine acknowledged.

"That's not even counting what I learned about my father." Quasimodo said sadly. "To be honest, I haven't even cried for him. I knew something bad must have happened to him, so this wasn't much of a surprise..."

"I don't blame you." Elaine assured. "I didn't cry when my parents died because I already knew it was happening. I finished crying before they were even gone..."

Quasimodo looked at Elaine in silence. He realized that Elaine had never mentioned her parents before, and that he had foolishly never thought to ask.

"You lost your parents?" He said apologetically.

"Years ago." Elaine shrugged. "We were such a happy family, but we all got sick. I'm the only one who lived..."

"I'm sorry..." Quasimodo said sincerely. "I can't believe I never asked about your family..."

"It's alright." Elaine assured. "I just wanted you to know that... Grief is complicated. So don't judge yourself for how you go through it, okay?"

Quasimodo felt foolish for needing to have this explained to him, but the simple fact was that he'd never experienced grief until just recently. He'd never had the chance to know how complicated it may be, so it was a relief to have Elaine inform him of that.

"Okay." He agreed. "Thanks... I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome." Elaine said with a slight smile.

Jean prayed that he would be able to comfort Quasimodo, who would no doubt be quite emotional today. He was sad to have to talk to poor bell ringer about the deaths of his parents, but this was for the best. He needed to hear it from someone other than Claude Frollo.

"Good morning, uncle." Elaine greeted after returning from the belltower.

"Hello, my dear." Jean responded lovingly. "I need to ask a favor of you. Will you go to the market and buy bread?"

The bread was not urgent, but Jean needed something to occupy Elaine while he went to speak to the bell ringer.

"Of course." Elaine responded. "I'll go right now."

That was a surprise. Jean hadn't thought the girl would be in such a rush to run a plain errand.

What he didn't know was that Elaine had more than an errand in mind.

She couldn't get over two things: The fact that Frollo had come to ask for mercy for Esmeralda, and that he'd finished telling a truth that would have better served him as a secret. That was the Claude Frollo Elaine had always pictured. The decent one. The one who apparently had not existed before her arrival in Paris.

She had to know why.

Claude woke up with a headache. He groaned.

The sunlight blinding his eyes told him he had overslept. How shameful. What was even more shameful was the state he was currently in. His body ached and his clothes were damp with sweat. He hadn't even taken his shoes off before drunkenly collapsing into bed last night.

Claude shook his head at himself. It had been years since he'd had that much to drink. Getting drunk wasn't something he normally did, but he'd seen nothing better to do after speaking with Quasimodo. He'd felt hopeless, especially with Esmeralda currently needing space from him.

But that was no excuse for this. Claude criticized himself for being so careless, drinking in such excess when he had responsibilities. He would do his best to fix this, despite the fact that he was starting the day late.

He had a bucket of water and soap brought to his room and used it to clean himself. It wasn't as comfortable as a bath, but it was quicker, and Claude had no intention of taking his time right now. He quickly put on a fresh set of clothes and stood with strict posture, trying to bring his body back into a disciplined state.

But before he could even leave the room, there was a knock at the door. Claude opened it and learned from a guard that someone had come asking for him, namely a girl by the name of Elaine.

Claude was frightened when he realized he had an unexpected visitor. The fact that it was Quasimodo's friend only added to the stress. But there was likely an important reason if Elaine had suddenly shown up, so Claude thought it best to speak to her. He only hoped that his hangover wouldn't be obvious.

He met the girl in the main hall, where she had been waiting patiently.

"Good morning." Elaine greeted.

"Good morning..." Claude repeated uneasily. "This is rather a surprise."

"I know." Elaine admitted. "I hope you don't mind."

By now she had scanned the judge and realized that he wasn't prepared to see anyone. He looked exhausted and depressed despite the discipline he presented himself with. Elaine suspected he'd had a long night, which wasn't surprising.

"Not at all." Claude insisted. "What can I do for you?"

Elaine hesitated. She didn't know where to begin.

"Quasimodo told me... Everything." She shared.

Claude frowned.

"And... You hate me?" He asked.

"No!" Elaine exclaimed. "I absolutely do NOT hate you! I know you're a good man. That's why I'm shocked..."

Claude sighed.

Elaine's faith in him was uplifting, but it was disappointing to have a past that shocked her like this.

"I was not good for a very long time." Claude informed. "You're lucky not to have met me sooner."

"But you're not like that now." Elaine reminded. "You've even told Quasimodo the truth about his parents. You've changed."

"I've come to my senses." Claude admitted. "But before that, I did unspeakable things. I don't blame Quasimodo for not wanting to see me."

"But why?" Elaine asked. "Why did you ever do such horrible things? I just don't understand..."

Claude debated how he should answer this. He certainly didn't want to give the long answer, but he couldn't avoid the question either. Elaine needed to hear something from him, so he only gave her the vaguest details.

"I had a deranged view of the world." Claude explained. "I told myself I was doing God's work, that everyone was evil and I needed to punish them. That was how I looked at everything. I was out of my mind."

"It doesn't sound right..." Elaine said in disbelief. "You saved my life. I can't picture you being like that..."

"Consider yourself lucky to have missed it." Claude suggested.

"There must have been some reason." Elaine speculated. "How did you ever come to think that way?"

Claude felt his heartbeat speed up slightly.

"I'd rather not talk about that." He responded frankly. "It justifies nothing, anyway."

Elaine nodded sadly.

"Okay." She accepted. "But... You might want to tell Quasimodo. I mean... I understand if the topic is just off limits. But if it isn't... Well... He's really confused right now, and I think it might help if he understood you more."

Claude hated the thought of what Quasimodo must be going through. The idea of speaking to him about this was not pleasant to think about, but perhaps it was worthwhile if it meant an ounce of peace for the boy.

"I... Will consider that." Claude promised.

"Thank you." Elaine said sincerely. "I should go now, and..."

She suddenly realized a mistake she had made.

"Oh no!" Elaine blurted out. "Um... I'm terribly sorry to ask this, but... Well, my uncle sent me to buy bread. But I didn't take any money, and-"

Before she could even finish talking, Claude had emptied his pocket, taken her hand, and placed a few coins in it.

"Don't worry about it." Claude said with a smile. "Consider it my thanks. For being a friend to Quasimodo."

Claude was more than grateful that Elaine had chosen to keep the bell ringer company. Quasimodo deserved to feel cared for, and that was something Claude had regretfully failed to provide.

Elaine smiled.

She hoped that Quasimodo would come to know this version of Claude Frollo.