Marius ascended the stairs of the hovel with slow steps; at the moment when he was about to re-enter his cell, he caught sight of the elder Jondrette girl following him through the corridor. The very sight of this girl was odious to him; it was she who had his five francs, it was too late to demand them back, the cab was no longer there,the fiacre was far away. Moreover, she would not have given them back.As for questioning her about the residence of the persons who had just been there, that was useless; it was evident that she did not know, since the letter signed Fabantou had been addressed "to the benevolent gentleman of the church ofnot grasp, and as though a prey to vertigo. All that had taken place since the morning,the appearance of the angel, her disappearance, what that creature had just said to him, a gleam of hope floating in an immense despair,-- this was what filled his brain confusedly.
All at once he was violently aroused from his revery.
He heard the shrill, hard voice of Jondrette utter these words,which were fraught with a strange interest for him:--
"I tell you that I am sure of it, and that I recognized him."
Of whom was Jondrette speaking? Whom had he recognized? M. Leblanc? The father of "his Ursule"? What! Did Jondrette know him? Was Marius about to obtain in this abrupt and unexpected fashion all the information without which his life was so dark to him? Was he about to learn at last who it was that he loved, t?郤TIFY">She raised her dull eyes, in which a sort of gleam seemed to flicker vaguely, and said:--
"Monsieur Marius, you look sad. What is the matter with you?"
"With me!" said Marius.
"Yes, you."
"There is nothing the matter with me."
"Yes, there is!"
"No."
"I tell you there is!"
"Let me alone!"
Marius gave the door another push, but she retained her hold on it.
"Stop," said she, "you are in the wrong. Although you are not rich, you were kind this morning. Be so again now. You gave me something to eat, now tell me what ails you. You are grieved, that is plain. I do not want you to be grieved.What can be done for it? Can I be of any service? Employ me.I do not ask for your secrets, you need not tell them to me,but I may be of use, nevertheless. I may be able to help you,since I help my father. When it is necessary to carry letters,to go to houses, to inquire from door to door, to find out an address,to follow any one, I am of service. Well, you may assuredly tell me what is the matter with you, and I will go and speak to the persons;sometimes it is enough if some one speaks to the persons, that suffices to let them understand matters, and everything comes right. Make use of me."
An idea flashed across Marius' mind. What branch does one disdain when one feels that one is falling? He drew near to the Jondrette girl.
"Listen--" he said to her.
She interrupted him with a gleam of joy in her eyes.
"Oh yes, do call me thou! I like that better."
"Well," he resumed, "thou hast brought hither that old gentleman and his daughter!"
"Yes."
"Dost thou know their address?"
"No."
"Find it for me."
The Jondrette's dull eyes had grown joyous, and they now became gloomy.
"Is that what you want?" she demanded.
"Yes."
"Do you know them?"
"No."
"That is to say," she resumed quickly, "you do not know her,but you wish to know her."
This them which had turned into her had something indescribably significant and bitter about it.
"Well, can you do it?" said Marius.
"You shall have the beautiful lady's address."
There was still a shade in the words "the beautiful lady" which troubled Marius. He resumed:--
"Never mind, after all, the address of the father and daughter. Their address, indeed!"
She gazed fixedly at him.
"What will you give me?"
"Anything you like."
"Anything I like?"
"Yes."
"You shall have the address."
She dropped her head; then, with a brusque movement, she pulled to the door, which closed behind her.
Marius found himself alone.
He dropped into a chair, with his head and both elbows on his bed, absorbed in thoughts which he could not grasp, and as though a prey to vertigo. All that had taken place since the morning,the appearance of the angel, her disappearance, what that creature had just said to him, a gleam of hope floating in an immense despair,-- this was what filled his brain confusedly.
All at once he was violently aroused from his revery.
He heard the shrill, hard voice of Jondrette utter these words,which were fraught with a strange interest for him:--
"I tell you that I am sure of it, and that I recognized him."
Of whom was Jondrette speaking? Whom had he recognized? M. Leblanc? The father of "his Ursule"? What! Did Jondrette know him? Was Marius about to obtain in this abrupt and unexpected fashion all the information without which his life was so dark to him? Was he about to learn at last who it was that he loved, who that young girl was? Who her father was? Was the dense shadow which enwrapped them on the point of being dispelled? Was the veil about to be rent? Ah! Heavens!
He bounded rather than climbed upon his commode, and resumed his post near the little peep-hole in the partition wall.
Again he beheld the interior of Jondrette's hovel.
马吕斯一步一步慢慢地走上了老屋的楼梯，他正要回到他那冷清清的屋子里去时，忽然看见容德雷特大姑娘从过道里跟在他后面走来。他见了那姑娘，不禁心里有气，把他五法郎拿走的正是她，向她讨还吧，已经太迟，那辆出租马车早已不在原处，那辆轿车更是走得很远了，并且她也未必肯还。至于向她打听刚才来的那两个人的住址，也不会有什么用处，首先她自己就不知道，因为签着法邦杜名字的那封信上是写着给“圣雅克·德·奥·巴教堂的行善的先生”的。
马吕斯走进他的屋子，反手把门关上。
门关不上，他回转身，看见有只手把住了那半开着的门。
“什么事？”他问，“是谁呀？”
是那容德雷特姑娘。
“是您？”马吕斯又说，声音几乎是狠巴巴的，“老是您！您要什么？”
她仿佛在想着什么，没有回答。她已不象早晨那种大模大样的样子。她不进门，只站在过道中的黑影里，马吕斯能从半开着的门口望见她。
“怎么了，您怎么不回答？”马吕斯说。“您来干什么？”
她抬起一双阴郁的眼睛望着他，那里似乎隐隐约约也有了一点神采，她对他说：
“马吕斯先生，看您的神气不快乐。您心里有什么事？”
“我？”马吕斯说。
“对，您。”
“我没有什么。”
“一定有！”
“没有。”
“我说您一定有！”
“不要找麻烦！”
马吕斯又要把门推上，她仍把住不让。
“您听我说，”她说，“您不必这样。您虽然没有钱，但是今天早上您做了个好人。现在您再做个好人吧。您已给了我吃的，现在把您的心事告诉我。您有苦恼，看得出来。我不愿意您苦恼。要怎样才能使您开心呢？我能出点力吗？利用我吧。我不想知道您的秘密，您用不着告诉我，但我究竟是有用处的。我既然能帮助我父亲，我也一定能帮助您。假使要送什么信，跑什么人家，挨门挨户去问什么的，打听谁的住址呀，跟踪个什么人呀，我都干得了。对吗？您可以放心把您的事告诉我，我可以去传话。有时要个人传话，只要把话告诉他便够了，事情也就办通了。让我来替您出点力吧。”
马吕斯心里忽然有了个主意。人在感到自己要摔倒时，还能藐视什么样的树枝吗？
他向容德雷特姑娘靠近一步。
“你听我……”他对她说。
她立刻打断了他的话，眼里闪出了快乐的光。
“呵！对呀，您对我说话，称‘你’就得了。我喜欢您这样做！”
“好吧，”他又说，“刚才是你把那老先生和他女儿带来这儿的？”
“是的。”
“你知道他们的住址吗？”
“不知道。”
“你替我找吧。”
容德雷特姑娘的眼睛曾由抑郁转为快乐，这会儿又从快乐转为阴沉。
“您要的就是这个？”她问。
“是的。”
“您认识他们吗？”
“不认识。”
“就是说，”她连忙改口，“您不认识她，但是您想要认识她。”
她把“他们”改为“她”，这里有一种说不出的耐人寻味的苦涩。
“别管，你能办到吗？”
“替您把那美丽的小姐的住址找到吗？”
在“那美丽的小姐”这几个字里又有一股使马吕斯感到不快的味道。他接着说：
“反正都一样！那父亲和女儿的住址，他们的住址，就得了！”
她定定地望着他。
“您给我什么报酬？”
“随你要什么，全可以。”
“随我要什么，全可以？”
“是的。”
“我一定办到。”
她低下了头，继而以急促的动作，突然一下把门带上了。
又剩下马吕斯孤孤单单一个人。
他坐进一张椅子，头和两肘靠在床边，沉陷在理不清的万千思绪里，只感到晕头转向，不能自持。这一天从清早便陆续不断发生的事，天使的忽现忽灭，这姑娘刚才跟他说的话，飘浮在茫茫苦海中的一线微光，一点希望，这一切都零乱杂沓地充塞在他的脑子里。
一下子他又突然从梦幻中警觉过来。
他听到容德雷特响亮生硬的声音在说着这样几句话，使他感到非常奇特，和他大有关系：
“告诉你，我准没有看错，我已认清了，是他。”
容德雷特说的是谁？他认清了谁？白先生？“他的玉秀儿”的父亲吗？怎么！容德雷特早就认识他？马吕斯难道竟能这样突如其来地，出人意料地了解到一切情况，使他不再感到自己的生命凄清黯淡吗？他难道终于能知道他爱的是谁？那姑娘是谁？她父亲是谁？把他们掩蔽起来的那么厚的一层黑影难道已到了消散的时候？幕罩即将撕裂？啊！天呀！
他不是爬上那抽斗柜，而是一纵身便到了柜上，他又守在隔墙上面那个小洞的旁边了。
容德雷特那个洞窝里的情况重新展现在他眼前。