Page 375 - les-miserables
P. 375

M. Madeleine’s chamber. He paid no heed to the portress’s
         words,  but  went  to  bed  and  to  sleep.  Towards  midnight
         he woke up with a start; in his sleep he had heard a noise
         above his head. He listened; it was a footstep pacing back
         and forth, as though some one were walking in the room
         above  him.  He  listened  more  attentively,  and  recognized
         M.  Madeleine’s  step.  This  struck  him  as  strange;  usually,
         there was no noise in M. Madeleine’s chamber until he rose
         in the morning. A moment later the cashier heard a noise
         which resembled that of a cupboard being opened, and then
         shut again; then a piece of furniture was disarranged; then
         a pause ensued; then the step began again. The cashier sat
         up in bed, quite awake now, and staring; and through his
         window-panes he saw the reddish gleam of a lighted win-
         dow reflected on the opposite wall; from the direction of the
         rays, it could only come from the window of M. Madeleine’s
         chamber. The reflection wavered, as though it came rath-
         er from a fire which had been lighted than from a candle.
         The shadow of the window-frame was not shown, which in-
         dicated that the window was wide open. The fact that this
         window was open in such cold weather was surprising. The
         cashier  fell  asleep  again.  An  hour  or  two  later  he  waked
         again. The same step was still passing slowly and regularly
         back and forth overhead.
            The reflection was still visible on the wall, but now it was
         pale and peaceful, like the reflection of a lamp or of a can-
         dle. The window was still open.
            This is what had taken place in M. Madeleine’s room.


                                                       375
   370   371   372   373   374   375   376   377   378   379   380