Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER V THE UTILITY OF GOING TO MASS, IN ORDER TO BECOME A REVOLUTIONIST

Description

Marius had preserved the religious habits of his childhood. One Sunday, when he went to hear mass at Saint-Sulpice, at that same chapel of the Virgin whither his aunt had led him when a small lad, he placed himself behind a pillar, being more absent-minded and thoughtful than usual on that occasion, and knelt down, without paying any special heed, upon a chair of Utrecht velvet, on the back of which was inscribed this name: Monsieur Mabeuf, warden. Mass had hardly begun when an old man presented himself and said to Marius:--

"This is my place, sir."

Marius stepped aside promptly, and the old man took possession of his chair.

The mass concluded, Marius still stood thoughtfully a few paces distant; the old man approached him again and said:--

"I beg your pardon, sir, for having disturbed you a while ago, and for again disturbing you at this moment; you must have thought me intrusive, and I will explain myself."

"There is no need of that, Sir," said Marius.

"Yes!" went on the old man, "I do not wish you to have a bad opinion of me. You see, I am attached to this place. It seems to me that the mass is better from here. Why? I will tell you. It is from this place, that I have watched a poor, brave father come regularly, every two or three months, for the last ten years, since he had no other opportunity and no other way of seeing his child, because he was prevented by family arrangements. He came at the hour when he knew that his son would be brought to mass. The little one never suspected that his father was there. Perhaps he did not even know that he had a father, poor innocent! The father kept behind a pillar, so that he might not be seen. He gazed at his child and he wept. He adored that little fellow, poor man! I could see that. This spot has become sanctified in my sight, and I have contracted a habit of coming hither to listen to the mass. I prefer it to the stall to which I have a right, in my capacity of warden. I knew that unhappy gentleman a little, too. He had a father-in-law, a wealthy aunt, relatives, I don't know exactly what all, who threatened to disinherit the child if he, the father, saw him. He sacrificed himself in order that his son might be rich and happy some day. He was separated from him because of political opinions. Certainly, I approve of political opinions, but there are people who do not know where to stop. Mon Dieu! a man is not a monster because he was at Waterloo; a father is not separated from his child for such a reason as that. He was one of Bonaparte's colonels. He is dead, I believe. He lived at Vernon, where I have a brother who is a cure, and his name was something like Pontmarie or Montpercy. He had a fine sword-cut, on my honor."

"Pontmercy," suggested Marius, turning pale.

"Precisely, Pontmercy. Did you know him?"

"Sir," said Marius, "he was my father."

The old warden clasped his hands and exclaimed:--

"Ah! you are the child! Yes, that's true, he must be a man by this time. Well! poor child, you may say that you had a father who loved you dearly!"

Marius offered his arm to the old man and conducted him to his lodgings.

On the following day, he said to M. Gillenormand:--

"I have arranged a hunting-party with some friends. Will you permit me to be absent for three days?"

"Four!" replied his grandfather. "Go and amuse yourself."

And he said to his daughter in a low tone, and with a wink, "Some love affair!"

Disclaimer:
Contents of this page are indexed from the Internet. All actions are under your responsability. Email us to report illegal contents or external links and we'll remove them immediately.

Please check the description for download links if any or do a search to find alternative books.

Can't Download?
Please search mirrors if you can't find download links for "Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER V THE UTILITY OF GOING TO MASS, IN ORDER TO BECOME A REVOLUTIONIST" in "Description" and someone else may update the links. Check the comments when back to find any updates.

Search Mirrors
Maybe some mirror pages will be helpful, search this book at top of this page or click here to find more info.

1. Ebooks list page : 93
2. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER VII SOME PETTICOAT
3. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER III REQUIESCANT
4. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER IV END OF THE BRIGAND
5. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER I AN ANCIENT SALON
6. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER VI THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING MET A WARDEN
7. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER II ONE OF THE RED SPECTRES OF THAT EPOCH
8. Les Miserables Volume 3 Marius, BOOK THIRD.--THE GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON CHAPTER VIII MARBLE AGAINST GRANITE
9. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER III MARIUS ATTACKED
10. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER II MARIUS, EMERGING FROM CIVIL WAR, MAKES READY FOR DOMESTIC WAR
11. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER VIII TWO MEN IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND
12. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER I IN WHICH THE TREE WITH THE ZINC PLASTER APPEARS AGAIN
13. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER VII THE EFFECTS OF DREAMS MINGLED WITH HAPPINESS
14. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER V DEPOSIT YOUR MONEY IN A FOREST RATHER THAN WITH A NOTARY
15. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER VI THE TWO OLD MEN DO EVERYTHING, EACH ONE AFTER HIS OWN FASHION, TO RENDER COSETTE HAPPY
16. Les Miserables 5 Jean Valjean, BOOK FIFTH.--GRANDSON AND GRANDFATHER CHAPTER IV MADEMOISELLE GILLENORMAND ENDS BY NO LONGER THINKING IT A BAD THING THAT M. FAUCHELEVENT SHOULD HAVE ENTERED WITH SOMETHING UNDER HIS ARM