“Cosette.”
The man seemed to feel an electric shock. He looked at her again, then he took his hands from her shoulders, raised the pail, and began to walk again.
After a moment he asked, “Little one, where do you live?”
“At Montfermeil, if you know it?”
Again there was a pause, then he began again: “Who is it, then, who has sent you at this hour to bring water from this wood?”
“It’s Madame Thénardier.”
“What does she do, your Madame Thénardier?”
“She takes care of me,” said the child. “She keeps the inn.”
“The inn?” said the man. “Well, I am going to sleep there to-night. Show me the way.”
“We are going there now,” said the child.