ok in his eyes which she could not see.
Cosette, in her retreat, encountered a tree and leaned against it. Had it not been for this tree, she would have fallen.
Then she heard his voice, that voice which she had really never heard, barely rising above the rustle of the leaves, and murmuring:--
"Pardon me, here I am.
My heart is full.
I could not live on as I was living, and I have come.
Have you read what I placed there on the bench?
Do you recognize me at all?
Have no fear of me. It is a long time, you remember the day, since you looked at me at the Luxembourg, near the Gladiator.
And the day when you passed before me?
It was on the 16th of June and the 2d of July.
It is nearly a year ago.
I have not seen you for a long time.
I inquired of the woman who let the chairs, and she told me that she no longer saw you. You lived in the Rue de l''Ouest, on the third floor, in the front apartments of a new house,--you see that I know!
I followed you. What else was there for me to do?
And then you disappeared. I thought I saw you pass once, while I was reading the newspapers under the arcade of the Odeon.
I ran after you.
But no.
It was a person who had a bonnet like yours.
At night I came hither. Do not be afraid, no one sees me.
I come to gaze upon your windows near at hand.