Les Miserables Page #3

Do you know what you've done to me?

Do you know what you've done?

Oh, go on! Have me arrested!

What do I care?

- You won't stop me. I'll kill him!

- No, no. Wait!

Stand back,Javert.

What is it? Step aside.

- What do you mean?

- You and your charities.

You and your noble deeds!

Why don't your charities begin

in your own factory?

You throw me out. You ruin my chance

of ever getting another job.

- And for what? For nothing!

- I haven't the slightest idea

what you're talking about.

I wasn't respectable enough

for your spotless factory...

with its lying gossips.

They told you I had a child I daren't own,

so you threw me out without a chance to explain.

What does it matter to you?

You don't know what it is to be hungry,

what it is to be out of work.

I don't care for myself,

but it's cost me my child.

You-

[ Spits ]

- Come here!

- No, no. Wait,Javert! Wait!

- There's no case against her yet.

- No case?

- [ Coughing ]

- An assault on an official's a prison offense.

- You needn't bother. I'll handle it.

- First we must investigate.

Investigate? No, a breach of the law

has already been committed.

- I make no charge.

- That makes no difference. The law demands it.

What's the law got to do with a woman

who's out of her mind with grief?

- Monsieur Madeleine-

- From what I've heard,

this is not a case for the law.

It's a case for justice.

Whatever is wrong will be put right,

law or no law.

Would you-Andre, call the doctor.

- Order my carriage.

- Yes, Monsieur le Maire.

Well, Monsieur Madeleine

has no respect for the law, it seems.

[ Laughing ]

- When did he first come here?

- About five years ago.

- Where did he come from?

- From Marseilles, I think.

- Came from Lyons, didn't he?

- No.

Now I come to think of it,

we always thought he-

Well, that's funny.

Where did he come from?

It doesn't matter.

It's of no importance.

I- I was just wondering.

Monsieur Madeleine...

I was mad to attack you.

I didn't know what I was doing.

I could only think of my little girl.

Would it make you happier

if you had her with you?

Oh, monsieur.

More than anything in the world.

Then you shall have her.

What was the name of that inn?

The Brave Sergeant, at Montfermeil.

It has a sign.

A sergeant on a white horse.

On a white horse.

Heave! Heave.

[ Groans ]

[ Shouts ]

Got caught, apparently,

trying to fix the axle.

Wheels slipped and sank in the mud.

The cart's crushing him.

[ Grunting ]

- Well, tip the cart over.

- Can't. Crush his feet as it tips.

Then we must lift it.

I'm going to get underneath.

I'll use my back as a jack.

- No, you'll be crushed!

- We can't leave him there.

All of you, heave when I shout.

Heave!

Heave! Heave!

[ Grunting ]

Pull him out! Pull him out.

- [ Groaning ]

- Pull him out.

- All right.

- [ Panting ]

[ Grunts ]

Well, that was amazing,

Monsieur Madeleine. Amazing.

I didn't know anybody could do that.

You must be stronger than I thought.

- That must weigh almost a ton.

- [ Clears Throat ]

Do you know,

the only men I've ever seen...

with muscles of the back

developed enough to do a thing like that...

were those who served a term

in the galleys.

They get it just there...

from the oars.

A wonderful effort, Monsieur Madeleine.

Wonderful.

You'll go to Lyons.

Make all inquiries, get me the fullest

details of the past career of-

Monsieur Madeleine?

You'll do the same at Marseilles.

I want full, detailed...

accurate information.

[ Cheering, Chattering ]

[ Chattering Continues ]

[ Crowd Laughing ]

- Water for my horse and a bed for the night.

- We have no room.

Put me where you will, but I stay.

I charge 40 sous in advance.

[ Coins Clattering ]

Where is that little brat?

Cosette! Cosette!

Get water for his horse!

Quick! Get it! And hurry back.

Let me help you.

- How old are you?

- Eight, I think.

Don't you know?

Don't you have birthdays?

No. The others do.

- What's your name?

- Cosette.

- Is that woman your mother?

- Oh, no.

My mother isn't like her.

- Where is your mother?

- She's far away.

And your father?

My father's in heaven.

You're a very lovely little girl, Cosette.

Doesn't it seem strange to you that your mother

should go so far away and leave you?

She didn't want to leave me.

Really, she didn't.

But, you see, my mother is very poor.

She has to work so she can send money

to pay for my keep.

Sometimes you're very lonely

for her, hmm?

Yes. I am.

Cosette! Bring a bucket

full of water here! Quick!

Oh, please. Please, let's hurry!

She'll beat me.

She'll beat you?

We'll see about that.

Until you're well enough

to look after her yourself...

my housekeeper will see

that she has everything she wants.

Oh, Monsieur Madeleine.

You give everything.

It's nothing. Nothing at all.

She's ready. She looks lovely

and doesn't know it.

She's so thrilled with her new dress...

but terrified that she'll do

the wrong thing at table.

- [ Laughing ]

- [ Chuckling ] Ah, don't laugh at her.

- Treat her like a grown-up.

- [ Door Opens ]

[ Sobbing ]

Crying? You're not unhappy?

No. No.

[ Crying ]

It isn't that...

kind of crying.

- I move here.

- And I move here and here and here.

- You win. You win.

- InspectorJavert is here.

He wants to talk with you privately.

I asked him if I could take a message...

but he said it concerns you only.

He spoke in such a peculiar way.

[ Cosette ]

Will you finish the game with me?

Good evening.

I'm, uh, sorry to disturb you at this hour,

Monsieur Madeleine...

but I have a duty-

an urgent duty to perform.

- Yes?

- As soon as I was sure, I had to act at once.

Monsieur Madeleine,

a criminal act's been committed.

An agent of the government's committed a crime,

a crime against a magistrate.

- Who is the agent?

- It is I.

- Who is the magistrate?

- You.

You must prefer charges against me.

You have the right.

Charges?

I, who demand justice for others,

must demand it for myself.

You see, uh...

I, uh, denounced you

to the prefect of police.

As a mayor having encroached

upon the police?

As a former convict.

Well?

Uh, after that trouble

with the woman Fantine...

I began to ferret out your past by studying

the records of escaped criminals...

and, by an exhaustive process

of elimination...

I finally became convinced that you were

an ex-convict named Jean Valjean...

who had failed to report for parole.

- What was that name?

-Jean Valjean.

Although I had

no positive identification...

I was so sure you were the man,

I reported you to the prefect.

What, uh-What answer did you get?

Oh, that I was mad.

I must have been mad

to have made such a mistake.

Worse, I was a fool...

for the real Valjean's been found.

Yes, they arrested him

last week at Arras.

He goes by another name,

Champmathieu.

Well...

I made the mistake.

I allowed a personal grievance

to interfere with my duty.

I must be dismissed.

Oh, no. No, you did your duty.

It's your place to suspect.

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