He broke off, and said gently, "It is a pity!"
The tear did not fall, it was recalled, and Jean Valjean substituted a smile for it. Cosette took both the old man's hands in hers.
"Good Heaven!" she said, "your hands have grown colder. Can you be ill? Are you suffering?"
"I—no," Jean Valjean replied, "I am quite well. It is only—" He stopped.
"Only what?"
"I am going to die directly."
Marius and Cosette shuddered.
"Die!" Marius exclaimed.
"Yes; but that is nothing," said Jean Valjean.
He breathed, smiled, and added,—