Page 2247 - les-miserables

find another face, and that his grandfather’s true attitude
would be unmasked. Then there would be an unpleasant
scene; a recrudescence of family questions, a confrontation
of positions, every sort of sarcasm and all manner of objec-
tions at one and the same time, Fauchelevent, Coupelevent,
fortune, poverty, a stone about his neck, the future. Violent
resistance; conclusion: a refusal. Marius stiffened himself in
advance.
And then, in proportion as he regained life, the old ul-
cers of his memory opened once more, he reflected again
on the past, Colonel Pontmercy placed himself once more
between M. Gillenormand and him, Marius, he told him-
self that he had no true kindness to expect from a person
who had been so unjust and so hard to his father. And with
health, there returned to him a sort of harshness towards
his grandfather. The old man was gently pained by this. M.
Gillenormand, without however allowing it to appear, ob-
served that Marius, ever since the latter had been brought
back to him and had regained consciousness, had not once
called him father. It is true that he did not say ‘monsieur’ to
him; but he contrived not to say either the one or the other,
by means of a certain way of turning his phrases. Obviously,
a crisis was approaching.
As almost always happens in such cases, Marius skir-
mished before giving battle, by way of proving himself. This
is called ‘feeling the ground.’ One morning it came to pass
that M. Gillenormand spoke slightingly of the Convention,
apropos of a newspaper which had fallen into his hands,
and gave vent to a Royalist harangue on Danton, Saint-Juste

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