Page 2187 - les-miserables

must get out of this.’
‘That is true,’ said Jean Valjean.
‘Well, half shares then.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘You have killed that man; that’s all right. I have the
key.’
Thenardier pointed to Marius. He went on:
‘I don’t know you, but I want to help you. You must be a
friend.’
Jean Valjean began to comprehend. Thenardier took him
for an assassin.
Thenardier resumed:
‘Listen, comrade. You didn’t kill that man without look-
ing to see what he had in his pockets. Give me my half. I’ll
open the door for you.’
And half drawing from beneath his tattered blouse a
huge key, he added:
‘Do you want to see how a key to liberty is made? Look
here.’
Jean Valjean ‘remained stupid’—the expression belongs
to the elder Corneille—to such a degree that he doubted
whether what he beheld was real. It was providence appear-
ing in horrible guise, and his good angel springing from the
earth in the form of Thenardier.
Thenardier thrust his fist into a large pocket concealed
under his blouse, drew out a rope and offered it to Jean
Valjean.
‘Hold on,’ said he, ‘I’ll give you the rope to boot.’
‘What is the rope for?’

2187