Part I, Book 2, Chapter 5
Tranquillity
Ah, a short transitional chapter in which the household winds down at bedtime.
Because the former hospital is so tiny, the three rooms of the ground floor are set up railroad-style, so to get to the alcove (where the spare bed is), everyone has to pass through the bishop’s bedroom.
So, as the bishop takes Valjean through to the alcove, they pass Madame Magloire putting the silverware away in the bishop’s bedroom cupboard. Obviously Valjean sees this. (It is both thrilling and excruciating to see how Hugo is carefully lining everything up for Plot to happen.)
Valjean is installed in the alcove with the spare bed made up with clean sheets, and he’s set up with one of the silver candlesticks. Valjean says thank you, and as he does so, “something strange came over him.”
He goes on to say that he can’t believe the bishop is letting him stay, right next to his own bedroom, and says, “How do you know I’m not a murderer?”
The part of me that can’t stand easy-to-clear-up misunderstandings in rom-coms just wants Valjean to just say that the thing that sent him to prison was stealing a loaf of bread, but whatever. I get that he’s been psychologically broken into thinking of himself as a bad man, that he’s scarred by how society has treated him, etc.
The bishop, being the bishop, simply responds with, “That’s the concern of the good Lord.”
I’m starting to think that being devout is really handy for getting you out of having to answer sticky questions. It is really exhausting when pushier friends and family ask you why you’re not doing such-and-such with your life and have you considered this and how come you don’t do that and somehow whatever reasonable answer you have never gets them to stop and just invites more nosy questions. It seems like saying something along the lines of, “That’s up to God, sorry” is a nice little conversation ender. I have got to figure out whatever the non-religious version of that is.
Anyway. The bishop kneels at the altar in the alcove, says a little prayer, and leaves. Valjean is so tired (36 miles!) he just flops onto the bed and immediately falls asleep.
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