CHAPTER XIII--THE SOLUTION OF SOME QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THEMUNICIPAL POLICE

  Javert thrust aside the spectators, broke the circle, and set outwith long strides towards the police station, which is situated at theextremity of the square, dragging the wretched woman after him. Sheyielded mechanically. Neither he nor she uttered a word. The cloud ofspectators followed, jesting, in a paroxysm of delight. Supreme miseryan occasion for obscenity.

  On arriving at the police station, which was a low room, warmed by astove, with a glazed and grated door opening on the street, and guardedby a detachment, Javert opened the door, entered with Fantine, and shutthe door behind him, to the great disappointment of the curious, whoraised themselves on tiptoe, and craned their necks in front of thethick glass of the station-house, in their effort to see. Curiosity is asort of gluttony. To see is to devour.

  On entering, Fantine fell down in a corner, motionless and mute,crouching down like a terrified dog.

  The sergeant of the guard brought a lighted candle to the table. Javertseated himself, drew a sheet of stamped paper from his pocket, and beganto write.

  This class of women is consigned by our laws entirely to the discretionof the police. The latter do what they please, punish them, as seemsgood to them, and confiscate at their will those two sorry things whichthey entitle their industry and their liberty. Javert was impassive; hisgrave face betrayed no emotion whatever. Nevertheless, he was seriouslyand deeply preoccupied. It was one of those moments when he wasexercising without control, but subject to all the scruples of a severeconscience, his redoubtable discretionary power. At that moment he wasconscious that his police agent's stool was a tribunal. He was enteringjudgment. He judged and condemned. He summoned all the ideas which couldpossibly exist in his mind, around the great thing which he was doing.The more he examined the deed of this woman, the more shocked he felt.It was evident that he had just witnessed the commission of a crime.He had just beheld, yonder, in the street, society, in the person of afreeholder and an elector, insulted and attacked by a creature who wasoutside all pales. A prostitute had made an attempt on the life of acitizen. He had seen that, he, Javert. He wrote in silence.

  When he had finished he signed the paper, folded it, and said to thesergeant of the guard, as he handed it to him, "Take three men andconduct this creature to jail."

  Then, turning to Fantine, "You are to have six months of it." Theunhappy woman shuddered.

  "Six months! six months of prison!" she exclaimed. "Six months in whichto earn seven sous a day! But what will become of Cosette? My daughter!my daughter! But I still owe the Thénardiers over a hundred francs; doyou know that, Monsieur Inspector?"

  She dragged herself across the damp floor, among the muddy boots of allthose men, without rising, with clasped hands, and taking great strideson her knees.

  "Monsieur Javert," said she, "I beseech your mercy. I assure you thatI was not in the wrong. If you had seen the beginning, you would haveseen. I swear to you by the good God that I was not to blame! Thatgentleman, the bourgeois, whom I do not know, put snow in my back. Hasany one the right to put snow down our backs when we are walking alongpeaceably, and doing no harm to any one? I am rather ill, as you see.And then, he had been saying impertinent things to me for a long time:'You are ugly! you have no teeth!' I know well that I have no longerthose teeth. I did nothing; I said to myself, 'The gentleman is amusinghimself.' I was honest with him; I did not speak to him. It was at thatmoment that he put the snow down my back. Monsieur Javert, good MonsieurInspector! is there not some person here who saw it and can tell youthat this is quite true? Perhaps I did wrong to get angry. You know thatone is not master of one's self at the first moment. One gives way tovivacity; and then, when some one puts something cold down yourback just when you are not expecting it! I did wrong to spoil thatgentleman's hat. Why did he go away? I would ask his pardon. Oh, my God!It makes no difference to me whether I ask his pardon. Do me the favorto-day, for this once, Monsieur Javert. Hold! you do not know that inprison one can earn only seven sous a day; it is not the government'sfault, but seven sous is one's earnings; and just fancy, I must payone hundred francs, or my little girl will be sent to me. Oh, my God!I cannot have her with me. What I do is so vile! Oh, my Cosette! Oh, mylittle angel of the Holy Virgin! what will become of her, poor creature?I will tell you: it is the Thénardiers, inn-keepers, peasants; and suchpeople are unreasonable. They want money. Don't put me in prison! Yousee, there is a little girl who will be turned out into the street toget along as best she may, in the very heart of the winter; and you musthave pity on such a being, my good Monsieur Javert. If she were older,she might earn her living; but it cannot be done at that age. I am not abad woman at bottom. It is not cowardliness and gluttony that have mademe what I am. If I have drunk brandy, it was out of misery. I do notlove it; but it benumbs the senses. When I was happy, it was onlynecessary to glance into my closets, and it would have been evident thatI was not a coquettish and untidy woman. I had linen, a great deal oflinen. Have pity on me, Monsieur Javert!"

  She spoke thus, rent in twain, shaken with sobs, blinded with tears,her neck bare, wringing her hands, and coughing with a dry, short cough,stammering softly with a voice of agony. Great sorrow is a divine andterrible ray, which transfigures the unhappy. At that moment Fantine hadbecome beautiful once more. From time to time she paused, and tenderlykissed the police agent's coat. She would have softened a heart ofgranite; but a heart of wood cannot be softened.

  "Come!" said Javert, "I have heard you out. Have you entirely finished?You will get six months. Now march! The Eternal Father in person coulddo nothing more."

  At these solemn words, _"the Eternal Father in person could do nothingmore,"_ she understood that her fate was sealed. She sank down,murmuring, "Mercy!"

  Javert turned his back.

  The soldiers seized her by the arms.

  A few moments earlier a man had entered, but no one had paid any heedto him. He shut the door, leaned his back against it, and listened toFantine's despairing supplications.

  At the instant when the soldiers laid their hands upon the unfortunatewoman, who would not rise, he emerged from the shadow, and said:--

  "One moment, if you please."

  Javert raised his eyes and recognized M. Madeleine. He removed his hat,and, saluting him with a sort of aggrieved awkwardness:--

  "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor--"

  The words "Mr. Mayor" produced a curious effect upon Fantine. She roseto her feet with one bound, like a spectre springing from the earth,thrust aside the soldiers with both arms, walked straight up to M.Madeleine before any one could prevent her, and gazing intently at him,with a bewildered air, she cried:--

  "Ah! so it is you who are M. le Maire!"

  Then she burst into a laugh, and spit in his face.

  M. Madeleine wiped his face, and said:--

  "Inspector Javert, set this woman at liberty."

  Javert felt that he was on the verge of going mad. He experienced atthat moment, blow upon blow and almost simultaneously, the most violentemotions which he had ever undergone in all his life. To see a woman ofthe town spit in the mayor's face was a thing so monstrous that, in hismost daring flights of fancy, he would have regarded it as a sacrilegeto believe it possible. On the other hand, at the very bottom of histhought, he made a hideous comparison as to what this woman was, and asto what this mayor might be; and then he, with horror, caught a glimpseof I know not what simple explanation of this prodigious attack. Butwhen he beheld that mayor, that magistrate, calmly wipe his face andsay, _"Set this woman at liberty,"_ he underwent a sort of intoxicationof amazement; thought and word failed him equally; the sum total ofpossible astonishment had been exceeded in his case. He remained mute.

  The words had produced no less strange an effect on Fantine. She raisedher bare arm, and clung to the damper of the stove, like a person whois reeling. Nevertheless, she glanced about her, and began to speak in alow voice, as though talking to herself:--

  "At liberty! I am to be allowed to go! I am not to go to prison for sixmonths! Who said that? It is not possible that any one could have saidthat. I did not hear aright. It cannot have been that monster of amayor! Was it you, my good Monsieur Javert, who said that I was to beset free? Oh, see here! I will tell you about it, and you will let mego. That monster of a mayor, that old blackguard of a mayor, is thecause of all. Just imagine, Monsieur Javert, he turned me out! allbecause of a pack of rascally women, who gossip in the workroom. If thatis not a horror, what is? To dismiss a poor girl who is doing herwork honestly! Then I could no longer earn enough, and all this miseryfollowed. In the first place, there is one improvement which thesegentlemen of the police ought to make, and that is, to prevent prisoncontractors from wronging poor people. I will explain it to you, yousee: you are earning twelve sous at shirt-making, the price falls tonine sous; and it is not enough to live on. Then one has to becomewhatever one can. As for me, I had my little Cosette, and I was actuallyforced to become a bad woman. Now you understand how it is that thatblackguard of a mayor caused all the mischief. After that I stamped onthat gentleman's hat in front of the officers' café; but he had spoiledmy whole dress with snow. We women have but one silk dress for eveningwear. You see that I did not do wrong deliberately--truly, MonsieurJavert; and everywhere I behold women who are far more wicked than I,and who are much happier. O Monsieur Javert! it was you who gave ordersthat I am to be set free, was it not? Make inquiries, speak to mylandlord; I am paying my rent now; they will tell you that I amperfectly honest. Ah! my God! I beg your pardon; I have unintentionallytouched the damper of the stove, and it has made it smoke."

  M. Madeleine listened to her with profound attention. While she wasspeaking, he fumbled in his waistcoat, drew out his purse and openedit. It was empty. He put it back in his pocket. He said to Fantine, "Howmuch did you say that you owed?"

  Fantine, who was looking at Javert only, turned towards him:--

  "Was I speaking to you?"

  Then, addressing the soldiers:--

  "Say, you fellows, did you see how I spit in his face? Ah! you oldwretch of a mayor, you came here to frighten me, but I'm not afraid ofyou. I am afraid of Monsieur Javert. I am afraid of my good MonsieurJavert!"

  So saying, she turned to the inspector again:--

  "And yet, you see, Mr. Inspector, it is necessary to be just. Iunderstand that you are just, Mr. Inspector; in fact, it is perfectlysimple: a man amuses himself by putting snow down a woman's back, andthat makes the officers laugh; one must divert themselves in some way;and we--well, we are here for them to amuse themselves with, of course!And then, you, you come; you are certainly obliged to preserve order,you lead off the woman who is in the wrong; but on reflection, since youare a good man, you say that I am to be set at liberty; it is forthe sake of the little one, for six months in prison would prevent mysupporting my child. 'Only, don't do it again, you hussy!' Oh! I won'tdo it again, Monsieur Javert! They may do whatever they please to menow; I will not stir. But to-day, you see, I cried because it hurt me.I was not expecting that snow from the gentleman at all; and then as Itold you, I am not well; I have a cough; I seem to have a burning ballin my stomach, and the doctor tells me, 'Take care of yourself.' Here,feel, give me your hand; don't be afraid--it is here."

  She no longer wept, her voice was caressing; she placed Javert's coarsehand on her delicate, white throat and looked smilingly at him.

  All at once she rapidly adjusted her disordered garments, dropped thefolds of her skirt, which had been pushed up as she dragged herselfalong, almost to the height of her knee, and stepped towards the door,saying to the soldiers in a low voice, and with a friendly nod:--

  "Children, Monsieur l'Inspecteur has said that I am to be released, andI am going."

  She laid her hand on the latch of the door. One step more and she wouldbe in the street.

  Javert up to that moment had remained erect, motionless, with his eyesfixed on the ground, cast athwart this scene like some displaced statue,which is waiting to be put away somewhere.

  The sound of the latch roused him. He raised his head with an expressionof sovereign authority, an expression all the more alarming inproportion as the authority rests on a low level, ferocious in the wildbeast, atrocious in the man of no estate.

  "Sergeant!" he cried, "don't you see that that jade is walking off! Whobade you let her go?"

  "I," said Madeleine.

  Fantine trembled at the sound of Javert's voice, and let go of the latchas a thief relinquishes the article which he has stolen. At the soundof Madeleine's voice she turned around, and from that moment forth sheuttered no word, nor dared so much as to breathe freely, but her glancestrayed from Madeleine to Javert, and from Javert to Madeleine in turn,according to which was speaking.

  It was evident that Javert must have been exasperated beyond measurebefore he would permit himself to apostrophize the sergeant as hehad done, after the mayor's suggestion that Fantine should be set atliberty. Had he reached the point of forgetting the mayor's presence?Had he finally declared to himself that it was impossible that any"authority" should have given such an order, and that the mayor mustcertainly have said one thing by mistake for another, without intendingit? Or, in view of the enormities of which he had been a witness for thepast two hours, did he say to himself, that it was necessary to recur tosupreme resolutions, that it was indispensable that the small shouldbe made great, that the police spy should transform himself into amagistrate, that the policeman should become a dispenser of justice, andthat, in this prodigious extremity, order, law, morality, government,society in its entirety, was personified in him, Javert?

  However that may be, when M. Madeleine uttered that word, _I_, as wehave just heard, Police Inspector Javert was seen to turn toward themayor, pale, cold, with blue lips, and a look of despair, his whole bodyagitated by an imperceptible quiver and an unprecedented occurrence, andsay to him, with downcast eyes but a firm voice:--

  "Mr. Mayor, that cannot be."

  "Why not?" said M. Madeleine.

  "This miserable woman has insulted a citizen."

  "Inspector Javert," replied the mayor, in a calm and conciliating tone,"listen. You are an honest man, and I feel no hesitation in explainingmatters to you. Here is the true state of the case: I was passingthrough the square just as you were leading this woman away; there werestill groups of people standing about, and I made inquiries and learnedeverything; it was the townsman who was in the wrong and who should havebeen arrested by properly conducted police."

  Javert retorted:--

  "This wretch has just insulted Monsieur le Maire."

  "That concerns me," said M. Madeleine. "My own insult belongs to me, Ithink. I can do what I please about it."

  "I beg Monsieur le Maire's pardon. The insult is not to him but to thelaw."

  "Inspector Javert," replied M. Madeleine, "the highest law isconscience. I have heard this woman; I know what I am doing."

  "And I, Mr. Mayor, do not know what I see."

  "Then content yourself with obeying."

  "I am obeying my duty. My duty demands that this woman shall serve sixmonths in prison."

  M. Madeleine replied gently:--

  "Heed this well; she will not serve a single day."

  At this decisive word, Javert ventured to fix a searching look on themayor and to say, but in a tone of voice that was still profoundlyrespectful:--

  "I am sorry to oppose Monsieur le Maire; it is for the first time in mylife, but he will permit me to remark that I am within the bounds of myauthority. I confine myself, since Monsieur le Maire desires it, to thequestion of the gentleman. I was present. This woman flung herselfon Monsieur Bamatabnois, who is an elector and the proprietor of thathandsome house with a balcony, which forms the corner of the esplanade,three stories high and entirely of cut stone. Such things as there arein the world! In any case, Monsieur le Maire, this is a question ofpolice regulations in the streets, and concerns me, and I shall detainthis woman Fantine."

  Then M. Madeleine folded his arms, and said in a severe voice which noone in the town had heard hitherto:--

  "The matter to which you refer is one connected with the municipalpolice. According to the terms of articles nine, eleven, fifteen, andsixty-six of the code of criminal examination, I am the judge. I orderthat this woman shall be set at liberty."

  Javert ventured to make a final effort.

  "But, Mr. Mayor--"

  "I refer you to article eighty-one of the law of the 13th of December,1799, in regard to arbitrary detention."

  "Monsieur le Maire, permit me--"

  "Not another word."

  "But--"

  "Leave the room," said M. Madeleine.

  Javert received the blow erect, full in the face, in his breast, likea Russian soldier. He bowed to the very earth before the mayor and leftthe room.

  Fantine stood aside from the door and stared at him in amazement as hepassed.

  Nevertheless, she also was the prey to a strange confusion. She had justseen herself a subject of dispute between two opposing powers. She hadseen two men who held in their hands her liberty, her life, her soul,her child, in combat before her very eyes; one of these men was drawingher towards darkness, the other was leading her back towards the light.In this conflict, viewed through the exaggerations of terror, these twomen had appeared to her like two giants; the one spoke like her demon,the other like her good angel. The angel had conquered the demon, and,strange to say, that which made her shudder from head to foot wasthe fact that this angel, this liberator, was the very man whom sheabhorred, that mayor whom she had so long regarded as the author of allher woes, that Madeleine! And at the very moment when she had insultedhim in so hideous a fashion, he had saved her! Had she, then, beenmistaken? Must she change her whole soul? She did not know; shetrembled. She listened in bewilderment, she looked on in affright, andat every word uttered by M. Madeleine she felt the frightful shades ofhatred crumble and melt within her, and something warm and ineffable,indescribable, which was both joy, confidence and love, dawn in herheart.

  When Javert had taken his departure, M. Madeleine turned to her and saidto her in a deliberate voice, like a serious man who does not wish toweep and who finds some difficulty in speaking:--

  "I have heard you. I knew nothing about what you have mentioned. Ibelieve that it is true, and I feel that it is true. I was even ignorantof the fact that you had left my shop. Why did you not apply to me? Buthere; I will pay your debts, I will send for your child, or you shall goto her. You shall live here, in Paris, or where you please. I undertakethe care of your child and yourself. You shall not work any longer ifyou do not like. I will give all the money you require. You shall behonest and happy once more. And listen! I declare to you that if allis as you say,--and I do not doubt it,--you have never ceased to bevirtuous and holy in the sight of God. Oh! poor woman."

  This was more than Fantine could bear. To have Cosette! To leave thislife of infamy. To live free, rich, happy, respectable with Cosette; tosee all these realities of paradise blossom of a sudden in the midst ofher misery. She stared stupidly at this man who was talking to her, andcould only give vent to two or three sobs, "Oh! Oh! Oh!"

  Her limbs gave way beneath her, she knelt in front of M. Madeleine, andbefore he could prevent her he felt her grasp his hand and press herlips to it.

  Then she fainted.

  BOOK SIXTH.--JAVERT