Les Miserables

Marius grows into a "handsome young man of medium height" (512) but remains poor. He attracts a great deal of female attention simply by walking down a street. Marius is unperturbed by this attention until, while walking through a public park, he sees Cosette walking with Valjean. The first time he sees her, he notes that she has "some promise perhaps of having quite attractive eyes" (513). Marius studies her and Valjean closely. Six months pass, and Marius again sees Cosette with Valjean in the park. Now a beautiful young woman, Marius is astonished by how much the "tall and beautiful" (514) Cosette has changed. He cannot stop thinking about this beautiful woman, and he returns to the park each day in the hope that he might see her again, even though he does not know her name. Speaking about her to Courfeyrac, he dubs her Lanoire, which is a reference to her penchant for dark clothes. In contrast, Valjean's white hair earns him the nickname Leblanc.

Walking through the park, Marius finds a handkerchief stitched with the letters UF. He assumes that the handkerchief belongs to his newfound love, and he decides that her "delightful name" (521) is Ursule. The handkerchief was actually dropped by Valjean. Dressing in better clothes, Marius returns to the park and hopes to catch Cosette's attention. He follows the young girl and the old man, though Valjean notices the young man's presence. He shoots Marius a harsh stare to suggest that he should stop, but Marius cannot help himself. One day, he follows Cosette and Valjean back to their home. He asks the building's porter for information about the old man and the young woman. The porter accuses him of being a police spy. A week later, Marius discovers that they have moved out of the building and left no new address.

Paris has a thriving criminal underworld which exists "beneath the structure of society" (525). The narrator describes how the city's crime is orchestrated by four ruffians: Montparnasse, Babet, Claquesous, and Gueulemer. These men are very different, but they work together, almost as though they are one "four-headed robber operating all over Paris" (529). Their alliance is dubbed Patron-Minette. Their specialty involves ambushing their targets. Any criminal who wants to execute a robbery must gain the approval of Patron-Minette. The four men then perfect the plan before it is carried out.

After several months of searching for Cosette, Marius admits defeat. He sinks into a mood of "dark dejection" (532), believing that he will never see her again. One day, he finds a bundle of letters on the street. Each letter is an outlandish, lying petition for charity. That night, Marius is visited by his "gaunt, sickly-looking, emaciated" (537) neighbor, Eponine Thénardier, who he knows as Eponine Jondrette. Eponine reveals that the letters belong to her and that they were written by her father. She has a letter for Marius, in which her father thanks him for paying the family's rent six months earlier and asks for more money. Marius realizes that her father takes advantage of "the charity of benevolent individuals" (538). Nevertheless, Eponine snaps Marius out of his despondency by reminding him that there are less fortunate people in the world. Marius studies Eponine: Her voice sounds like that of an old man. She is keen to show off her literacy, so she scribbles a note on a piece of paper, writing "The bashers are here" (539)—“bashers” is a slang term for the police. Marius takes pity on Eponine and gives her his last five francs. He does not realize that she is in love with him.

Eponine's visit sparks Marius's interest in the family next door. He discovers that a spyhole in his wall allows him to peek into the family's apartment. The "abject, dirty, fetid, squalid, dark, sordid" (541) apartment astonishes him. He watches as Eponine introduces her family to a wealthy philanthropist and a young girl. Marius is shocked: He recognizes the new arrivals as Leblanc and Ursula, making him feel as though "he had lost his soul and had just found it again" (549). He watches as the so-called Monsieur Jondrette claims to be an out-of-work actor while begging the philanthropist for financial help in his "charlatan's fairground patter" (550). Marius knows that the amount requested is far higher than the actual rent in the building, though the philanthropist promises to return soon with the money at six in the evening.

Later, Marius listens to the Thénardier family plot to rob and murder the philanthropist when he comes back with the money. They believe that they recognize him from some event in their past, and they are annoyed by his apparent success. Monsieur Thénardier recruits Patron-Minette to plot the robbery. Marius struggles to understand the real connections; he does not know about the history between Thénardier and Valjean. Struggling with how to react, he decides to tell the police about the "wretches" (560) who live next door. When he runs to the police station, he is met by Javert who has been promoted to police inspector. Javert is interested in Marius's story about a planned murder. He gives the young man two small pistols, telling him to fire the guns just when "the action has started" (564). This will signal Javert and his men to enter and arrest the criminals.

Marius returns home and waits in a state of trepidation. When the philanthropist returns with the money, he is ambushed by Patron-Minette. Thénardier asks whether Valjean can recognize him, but Valjean denies any knowledge of the former innkeeper. He insists that he is a "very poor man" (578). Monsieur Thénardier reveals his true identity, but Valjean insists that they have never met. Marius is shocked. He remembers the name Thénardier from his father's letter. He does not know whether he should save the individual he knows as Leblanc, as doing so would betray the man who saved the life of Marius's father. Valjean refuses the gang's demands for money. He insists that he has none. Under duress, the gang makes Valjean write a letter to Cosette, telling her to come immediately. However, the letter is returned with the claim that Valjean has given them a false address. The delay gives Valjean enough time to break free from his ropes. He stands defiantly in the room. As a sign of intimidation, he presses a burning hot poker into his arm. Despite the "sizzle of burning flesh" (588), Valjean does not react. Thénardier decides to kill Valjean. Just as Thénardier is about to stab Valjean, Marius decides to act. He grabs Eponine's note and pushes it through the crack in the wall. Thénardier reads the note, which tells him that the police are there. The innkeeper recognizes his daughter's handwriting. The criminals panic. They try to run, but Javert bursts into the room and calmly arrests them. In the ensuing chaos, Valjean slips away undetected. Javert is annoyed that he has allowed "the real prize" (593) to escape.