Les Misérables Part 4, Book 15 Summary

In the Rue de L'Homme-Armé

  • Back in the safe house, Valjean is walking around and thinking about going to England with Cosette. Part of him wonders whether he's being overly cautious, but in the end, he decides to go to England with Cosette for just a few months.
  • While walking around his house, Jean Valjean wanders into Cosette's room and accidentally finds a copy of a letter she has sent to Marius. Sensing the love and affection in the letter, Jean Valjean feels his whole world crumbling. His little girl is in love!
  • To clear his head, Jean Valjean goes out into the street and sits on the curb. This happens to be the time when Gavroche comes by with the letter for Cosette. Valjean receives it on her behalf and reads it. He's dumbfounded to find that it's from Cosette's lover, Marius, and that this dude is on the barricade fighting the French army.
  • Without telling Cosette about the letter Valjean heads for the barricade, dressed in his best National Guard uniform.
  • Meanwhile, Gavroche steals a man's handcart on his way back to the barricade. It's okay though, because he leaves the guy an I.O.U. on behalf of "The French Revolution." A French soldier asks what he's doing, but Gavroche rams the cart into the guy's stomach and runs away.