Page 1067 - les-miserables

The house was pointed out to him. He rang; a woman
with a little lamp in her hand opened the door.
‘M. Pontmercy?’ said Marius.
The woman remained motionless.
‘Is this his house?’ demanded Marius.
The woman nodded affirmatively.
‘Can I speak with him?’
The woman shook her head.
‘But I am his son!’ persisted Marius. ‘He is expecting
me.’
‘He no longer expects you,’ said the woman.
Then he perceived that she was weeping.
She pointed to the door of a room on the ground-floor;
he entered.
In that room, which was lighted by a tallow candle
standing on the chimney-piece, there were three men,
one standing erect, another kneeling, and one lying at full
length, on the floor in his shirt. The one on the floor was
the colonel.
The other two were the doctor, and the priest, who was
engaged in prayer.
The colonel had been attacked by brain fever three days
previously. As he had a foreboding of evil at the very begin-
ning of his illness, he had written to M. Gillenormand to
demand his son. The malady had grown worse. On the very
evening of Marius’ arrival at Vernon, the colonel had had
an attack of delirium; he had risen from his bed, in spite of
the servant’s efforts to prevent him, crying: ‘My son is not
coming! I shall go to meet him!’ Then he ran out of his room

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