Page 1260 - les-miserables

named Father Mabeuf who lives in the direction of Auster-
litz, sometimes when I have been strolling in that quarter. It
is very becoming to you to have your hair tumbled thus.’
She tried to render her voice soft, but only succeeded in
making it very deep. A portion of her words was lost in the
transit from her larynx to her lips, as though on a piano
where some notes are missing.
Marius had retreated gently.
‘Mademoiselle,’ said he, with his cool gravity, ‘I have here
a package which belongs to you, I think. Permit me to re-
turn it to you.’
And he held out the envelope containing the four let-
ters.
She clapped her hands and exclaimed:—
‘We have been looking everywhere for that!’
Then she eagerly seized the package and opened the
envelope, saying as she did so:—
‘Dieu de Dieu! how my sister and I have hunted! And it
was you who found it! On the boulevard, was it not? It must
have been on the boulevard? You see, we let it fall when we
were running. It was that brat of a sister of mine who was so
stupid. When we got home, we could not find it anywhere.
As we did not wish to be beaten, as that is useless, as that is
entirely useless, as that is absolutely useless, we said that we
had carried the letters to the proper persons, and that they
had said to us: ‘Nix.’ So here they are, those poor letters!
And how did you find out that they belonged to me? Ah!
yes, the writing. So it was you that we jostled as we passed
last night. We couldn’t see. I said to my sister: ‘Is it a gentle-

1260 Les Miserables