"Oh!" Fantine hadn't even considered this. She'd thought she would shame Cosette, but that M. Madeleine should worry over such a thing hadn't crossed her mind.
And now that it has, she finds it utterly ridiculous. "But monsieur, of course you can't hide your association with Cosette. There was a wedding, wasn't there? You didn't hide from that, surely. People must know who raised her, and as for your past, why, no one will find that out. You say Javert knows where you live. But he's said nothing, he hasn't arrested you yet. That must mean you've checked him somehow. Good! So who else knows? He's the only one wicked enough to remember and chase you. Everyone else must have forgotten. You're so very old," she says, forgetting to be tactful. "No one will turn up and shame you. No one will even think of you in connection with whatever you did when you were young."
Why, M. Madeleine was gray when she herself knew him, and now he looks older still. He must have been arrested ages ago.
"And you're wrong about Cosette, so very wrong, monsieur, you deserve a scolding for it. Once she knows you're a convict, she will change her ideas, because she loves you. Not real men! What nonsense. I've told her all about your kindness in Montreuil-sur-Mer. She already thought you were an angel, even before that, even though she was so angry and hurt with you. Why--"
Fantine has been keeping her voice lowered while discussing M. Madeleine's secret, speaking in a furious hiss. Now she lowers it even more, looking around again.
"She knows what I am," Fantine says. "She knows I wasn't married to her father. It saddened her to hear it, but she's such a sweet, loving girl. It's her nature, and you've raised her so well, she is so kind and so generous. She will love you all the more for the troubles you've undergone for her, and for me."
no subject
And now that it has, she finds it utterly ridiculous. "But monsieur, of course you can't hide your association with Cosette. There was a wedding, wasn't there? You didn't hide from that, surely. People must know who raised her, and as for your past, why, no one will find that out. You say Javert knows where you live. But he's said nothing, he hasn't arrested you yet. That must mean you've checked him somehow. Good! So who else knows? He's the only one wicked enough to remember and chase you. Everyone else must have forgotten. You're so very old," she says, forgetting to be tactful. "No one will turn up and shame you. No one will even think of you in connection with whatever you did when you were young."
Why, M. Madeleine was gray when she herself knew him, and now he looks older still. He must have been arrested ages ago.
"And you're wrong about Cosette, so very wrong, monsieur, you deserve a scolding for it. Once she knows you're a convict, she will change her ideas, because she loves you. Not real men! What nonsense. I've told her all about your kindness in Montreuil-sur-Mer. She already thought you were an angel, even before that, even though she was so angry and hurt with you. Why--"
Fantine has been keeping her voice lowered while discussing M. Madeleine's secret, speaking in a furious hiss. Now she lowers it even more, looking around again.
"She knows what I am," Fantine says. "She knows I wasn't married to her father. It saddened her to hear it, but she's such a sweet, loving girl. It's her nature, and you've raised her so well, she is so kind and so generous. She will love you all the more for the troubles you've undergone for her, and for me."