Part II, Book 4, Chapter 4
The Remarks of the Principal Tenant
Why are the side characters in this novel all so damned nosy??? I’m starting to think that Hugo wrote Les Misérables as a cautionary tale about the dangers of being a nosy old gossip. This chapter brings us yet another bored old lady who needs a hobby.
But first, a bit about Valjean and Cosette’s little routine in their current life. They don’t go out during the day out of an abundance of caution, so they take long walks at twilight. Cosette becomes “very lively” and loves these walks with her new dad.
Because his one set of clothes is so worn, Valjean is sometimes mistaken for a beggar. I have to ask…what is the laundry situation here? Does he at least change his underwear out? Does this man stink to high heaven? ONE SET OF CLOTHES.
Anyway, occasionally a kind passerby gives Valjean a sou, which he doesn’t actually need, but accepts gracefully. This has the exact same energy of Sara Crewe, “the-little-girl-who-is-not-a-beggar,” accepting the sixpence from little Guy Clarence. When this happens, Valjean turns right around and will give a bigger coin to “some poor wretch soliciting charity,” and despite his attempts to be discreet when doing this, people notice and start calling him “the beggar who gives alms to the poor.”
The principal tenant of the Gorbeau tenement, the lady who rented Valjean the room, meanwhile, is extremely curious about Valjean. She does Valjean and Cosette’s cooking and housekeeping, which is not a great setup if you’re trying to keep someone from knowing about your life, I gotta say. She interrogates Cosette, who tells her that she is from Montfermeil (Valjean! you should have come up with a cover story for Cosette to give people!) and not much else.
One day the principal tenant spots Valjean sneaking into a vacant room in the building—not suspicious at all—so she goes to spy on him through a crack in the door. This is pervert behavior, I have to say. Give the man some privacy!
As she watches, Valjean takes out scissors and thread, and carefully unstitches the lining of his coat to remove a 1000-franc note. I do have to agree that this is suspicious-looking behavior for sure. Later, Valjean hands her the note and asks her to change it, with the explanation that it’s his 6-month revenue payment that he’s just received, but the principal tenant notes that the government bank isn’t open at the hours Valjean goes out, so his explanation must be bogus.
Valjean is usually such a smart guy that I feel like all of this is unbelievably sloppy behavior on his part. If he has this whole thing where he only goes out once the sun’s gone down, of course the only other tenant in the building, whose job it is to know your business, is going to see through your flimsy story! Also, this is a hell of a lot of trust that he’s placing in this lady, handing over what is essentially a life-changing amount of money for a poor person.
Of course this nosy old lady runs off and tells her friends about the sketchy-provenanced 1000-franc note, and the old ladies of the neighborhood all gossip about it.
Some time later, Valjean is in the hallway, sawing wood in only his shirtsleeves, while Cosette watches. I got momentarily distracted just picturing the arms on this man. I’m kind of imagining, arms-wise, something like this:
Or this:
Ahem. Anyway. Instead of doing what I would do (linger in the hallway enjoying the arm show), the principal tenant, under the guise of cleaning Valjean and Cosette’s room, inspects Valjean’s coat, which he has left hanging up. She pats the lining and feels stacks of paper which are likely more banknotes, and also finds supplies in his pockets: sewing supplies, a wallet, a large knife, and wigs of different hair colors.
The first couple things are very everyday carry, but the wigs??? This man is prepared. I also have so many questions about what the wigs are for.
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