Page 1289 - les-miserables

my child with her wound,— we shall all four be turned out
of here and thrown into the street, on the boulevard, with-
out shelter, in the rain, in the snow. There, sir. I owe for four
quarters—a whole year! that is to say, sixty francs.’
Jondrette lied. Four quarters would have amounted to
only forty francs, and he could not owe four, because six
months had not elapsed since Marius had paid for two.
M. Leblanc drew five francs from his pocket and threw
them on the table.
Jondrette found time to mutter in the ear of his eldest
daughter:—
‘The scoundrel! What does he think I can do with his five
francs? That won’t pay me for my chair and pane of glass!
That’s what comes of incurring expenses!’
In the meanwhile, M. Leblanc had removed the large
brown great-coat which he wore over his blue coat, and had
thrown it over the back of the chair.
‘Monsieur Fabantou,’ he said, ‘these five francs are all
that I have about me, but I shall now take my daughter
home, and I will return this evening,—it is this evening that
you must pay, is it not?’
Jondrette’s face lighted up with a strange expression. He
replied vivaciously:—
‘Yes, respected sir. At eight o’clock, I must be at my land-
lord’s.’
‘I will be here at six, and I will fetch you the sixty
francs.’
‘My benefactor!’ exclaimed Jondrette, overwhelmed. And
he added, in a low tone: ‘Take a good look at him, wife!’

1289