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P. 2404
CHAPTER IV
A BOTTLE OF INK WHICH
ONLY SUCCEEDED
IN WHITENING
That same day, or to speak more accurately, that same
evening, as Marius left the table, and was on the point of
withdrawing to his study, having a case to look over, Basque
handed him a letter saying: ‘The person who wrote the letter
is in the antechamber.’
Cosette had taken the grandfather’s arm and was stroll-
ing in the garden.
A letter, like a man, may have an unprepossessing exte-
rior. Coarse paper, coarsely folded—the very sight of certain
missives is displeasing.
The letter which Basque had brought was of this sort.
Marius took it. It smelled of tobacco. Nothing evokes a
memory like an odor. Marius recognized that tobacco. He
looked at the superscription: ‘To Monsieur, Monsieur le
Baron Pommerci. At his hotel.’ The recognition of the to-
bacco caused him to recognize the writing as well. It may be
2404 Les Miserables
