Part II, Book 5, Chapter 8
The Mystery Deepens
Cosette has fallen asleep with her head on a stone. A STONE. This might actually be a downgrade from her nest under the stairs.
In a very tender moment, Valjean calms down looking at little Cosette, and realizes the only thing he needs in his life is to be with her. I’m sorry, I do not have the time to be emotionally destroyed by the beautiful adoptive father energy!
Valjean then hears the sound of a little bell. I am no longer able to be surprised at any new developments, because between the mysterious angel choir and the dead-ish body on the floor, I have lost the ability to predict what the heck is going to happen next. There’s a little bell! Great! Just tell me what is happening!
He turns to see a man walking through the garden. “Walking” is a general term here, because the man is 1) limping and 2) constantly stopping, bending down, and getting back up. While I think Valjean clearly needs help in this lonely borderline-nightmare place, he understandably is anxious about being noticed by the limping bending-over man; he is very worried that the guy could cry for help, report Valjean as a thief, and get Javert’s attention.
So Valjean picks up the sleeping Cosette and hides her in a corner of the outhouse, which I am very hopefully gathering refers to a shed for storage and not, you know, a toilet, and continues to observe the stranger in the garden. Every time the man moves, a bell sounds. I personally don’t know why the man is wearing a bell, but I can’t get over the fact that in this book you have a guy wearing a bell like a pet cat. Is every character in this book secretly a cat? (Besides Javert, the only dog?)
While observing the cat-guy, our protagonist cat guy touches Cosette’s little hands, and finds that they’re freezing cold. Cosette does not wake up when she is shaken or when her name is called. Her breathing is also very weak. UH OH. Valjean freaks out, dad style. All his concerns about being caught vanish with the pressing need to get Cosette inside and warm so she doesn’t follow her mom to the afterlife before Act II.
Hugo, you cannot end a chapter like this!!!!!
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