Page 1564 - les-miserables

self, in which the isolated heart of a young girl resembles
the tendrils of the vine which cling, as chance directs, to the
capital of a marble column or to the post of a wine-shop:
A rapid and decisive moment, critical for every orphan, be
she rich or poor, for wealth does not prevent a bad choice;
misalliances are made in very high circles, real misalli-
ance is that of souls; and as many an unknown young man,
without name, without birth, without fortune, is a marble
column which bears up a temple of grand sentiments and
grand ideas, so such and such a man of the world satisfied
and opulent, who has polished boots and varnished words,
if looked at not outside, but inside, a thing which is reserved
for his wife, is nothing more than a block obscurely haunt-
ed by violent, unclean, and vinous passions; the post of a
drinking-shop.
What did Cosette’s soul contain? Passion calmed or
lulled to sleep; something limpid, brilliant, troubled to a
certain depth, and gloomy lower down. The image of the
handsome officer was reflected in the surface. Did a souve-
nir linger in the depths?— Quite at the bottom?—Possibly.
Cosette did not know.
A singular incident supervened.

1564 Les Miserables