Page 1052 - les-miserables

While he was growing up in this fashion, the colonel
slipped away every two or three months, came to Paris
on the sly, like a criminal breaking his ban, and went and
posted himself at Saint-Sulpice, at the hour when Aunt Gil-
lenormand led Marius to the mass. There, trembling lest the
aunt should turn round, concealed behind a pillar, motion-
less, not daring to breathe, he gazed at his child. The scarred
veteran was afraid of that old spinster.
From this had arisen his connection with the cure of
Vernon, M. l’Abbe Mabeuf.
That worthy priest was the brother of a warden of Saint-
Sulpice, who had often observed this man gazing at his
child, and the scar on his cheek, and the large tears in his
eyes. That man, who had so manly an air, yet who was weep-
ing like a woman, had struck the warden. That face had
clung to his mind. One day, having gone to Vernon to see
his brother, he had encountered Colonel Pontmercy on the
bridge, and had recognized the man of Saint-Sulpice. The
warden had mentioned the circumstance to the cure, and
both had paid the colonel a visit, on some pretext or other.
This visit led to others. The colonel, who had been extremely
reserved at first, ended by opening his heart, and the cure
and the warden finally came to know the whole history, and
how Pontmercy was sacrificing his happiness to his child’s
future. This caused the cure to regard him with venera-
tion and tenderness, and the colonel, on his side, became
fond of the cure. And moreover, when both are sincere and
good, no men so penetrate each other, and so amalgamate
with each other, as an old priest and an old soldier. At bot-

1052 Les Miserables