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fever from the burn on my arm. Cosette nursed me with care. Everyday she brought me food. And everyday she read to me. I loved books about travel.
    Cosette didn’t ask me how I got the burn. She knew, from our years of secrets, when
not
to ask questions.
    I thought life would return to the way it had been. Memories of the young man in the garden would grow dim with time. How happy I was at this thought. I felt reborn!
    But things were not going to be like before. Everything was changing. Winter was giving birth to spring. And new ways were replacing the old.
    â€œI want you to walk in our garden,” Isaid to Cosette one April morning. “You never go there.”
    â€œI will, Father,” she replied. “Spring is such a wonderful time.” She was happy again, and so was I.
    I took my walks at night. That was the only time I felt safe enough to go into the streets. Just the same, I dressed as a workman. I felt even safer in my disguise.
    One night I saw Thénardier in the street. He wasn’t in prison after all. What was worse, the family lived in our part of the city—too close for comfort.
    The next day I told Cosette we were moving. She grew sad. Her happiness of the last few weeks vanished. The garden had been good for her, but not for the reason I thought.
    In the morning I found an address scratched on the stone wall. The letters were fresh.
    They read: 16 RUE DE LA VERRERIE.
    â€œThis must be that young man’s address,” I thought. “He is seeing Cosette behind my back. And he knows we are moving, so he gives her his address.”
    That night I watched from my bedroom window. The lovers met in the garden. They greeted one another with such joy.
    Now I knew why Cosette was so happy. She had been meeting her lover every night!
    I discovered later that Thénardier’s daughter Eponine knew the streets of Paris well. She had found our place and told Marius.
    We couldn’t move somewhere else in the city. We had to leave the country. We would move to England!

At the Barricade
    In that year of 1832 there was unrest in every quarter of Paris. People were speaking against the government. Students were planning revolution.
    It was rumored that the popular leader, General Lamarque, was near death. He was the only man in the government who cared about the poor. When he died, Paris would explode.
    Cosette and I would spend one last week at our apartment in Paris. Then we would board a ship and sail for England.
    Cosette said she didn’t want to leave France. Still, she helped me pack our few belongings.
    Then General Lamarque died. On June 5, 1832, his funeral procession made its way through the streets of Paris. The spark was struck. The powder keg was set to blow.
    On the evening of that same day, I wandered back to the house on Rue Plumet. I wanted to take a last walk in our garden. A street boy called to me. He had a note for Cosette. It was from her lover. I opened it and read it.
    My grandfather will not agree to our marriage. We have no maney, so we cannot be together. I have gone to the barricades to
die for the revalution. When you read this, my soul will be very near and smiling at you. Remember me. I have you.
    Marius Pantmercy
    So my enemy would soon be dead. I didn’t have to do a thing and he would be gone from my life! I put the letter in my pocket. I didn’t want Cosette to know where Marius was.
    But my heart was heavy. Now I knew how much they loved each other. Though they couldn’t marry, their hearts would always be one.
    From the date on the letter, I saw that Marius intended Cosette to read it the next morning. Perhaps there was still time.
    I changed into my old National Guard uniform. I left the house fully armed, headed for Marius’s barricade.
    How could I know that I would meet two enemies there? One enemy wanted mydaughter. The other wanted my freedom.
    Yes, Javert was at the barricade. Our paths would cross once more.
    The