Page 2277 - les-miserables

consulted her in the matter of consent to Marius’ marriage.
He had acted impetuously, according to his wont, having, a
despot-turned slave, but a single thought,—to satisfy Mar-
ius. As for the aunt,—it had not even occurred to him that
the aunt existed, and that she could have an opinion of her
own, and, sheep as she was, this had vexed her. Somewhat
resentful in her inmost soul, but impassible externally, she
had said to herself: ‘My father has settled the question of the
marriage without reference to me; I shall settle the question
of the inheritance without consulting him.’ She was rich,
in fact, and her father was not. She had reserved her deci-
sion on this point. It is probable that, had the match been a
poor one, she would have left him poor. ‘So much the worse
for my nephew! he is wedding a beggar, let him be a beg-
gar himself!’ But Cosette’s half-million pleased the aunt,
and altered her inward situation so far as this pair of lovers
were concerned. One owes some consideration to six hun-
dred thousand francs, and it was evident that she could not
do otherwise than leave her fortune to these young people,
since they did not need it.
It was arranged that the couple should live with the
grandfather— M. Gillenormand insisted on resigning to
them his chamber, the finest in the house. ‘That will make
me young again,’ he said. ‘It’s an old plan of mine. I have
always entertained the idea of having a wedding in my
chamber.’
He furnished this chamber with a multitude of elegant
trifles. He had the ceiling and walls hung with an extraor-
dinary stuff, which he had by him in the piece, and which

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