To mention the name was to deliver the whole "affair" into their hands, and to tell them more about it than there was any need of their knowing.
He went on:--
"Sign.
What is your name?"
"Urbain Fabre," said the prisoner.
Thenardier, with the movement of a cat, dashed his hand into his pocket and drew out the handkerchief which had been seized on M. Leblanc. He looked for the mark on it, and held it close to the candle.
"U. F. That''s it.
Urbain Fabre.
Well, sign it U. F."
The prisoner signed.
"As two hands are required to fold the letter, give it to me, I will fold it."
That done, Thenardier resumed:--
"Address it, `Mademoiselle Fabre,'' at your house.
I know that you live a long distance from here, near Saint-Jacquesdu-Haut-Pas, because you go to mass there every day, but I don''t know in what street. I see that you understand your situation.
As you have not lied about your name, you will not lie about your address.
Write it yourself."
The prisoner paused thoughtfully for a moment, then he took the pen and wrote:--
"Mademoiselle Fabre, at M. Urbain Fabre''s, Rue Saint-Dominique-D''Enfer, No. 17."
Thenardier seized the letter with a sort of feverish convulsion.
"Wife!" he cried.