Page 2322 - les-miserables

wearing mourning for her, and, above all, to see that she
was properly clothed, and that she was warm. He thought
of that forest of Montfermeil; they had traversed it together,
Cosette and he; he thought of what the weather had been, of
the leafless trees, of the wood destitute of birds, of the sun-
less sky; it mattered not, it was charming. He arranged the
tiny garments on the bed, the fichu next to the petticoat, the
stockings beside the shoes, and he looked at them, one after
the other. She was no taller than that, she had her big doll
in her arms, she had put her louis d’or in the pocket of that
apron, she had laughed, they walked hand in hand, she had
no one in the world but him.
Then his venerable, white head fell forward on the bed,
that stoical old heart broke, his face was engulfed, so to
speak, in Cosette’s garments, and if any one had passed up
the stairs at that moment, he would have heard frightful
sobs.

2322 Les Miserables