Cosette thought him mad, and obeyed. He could not breathe, and laid his hand on his heart to check its beating. He walked up and down with long strides, and embraced Cosette. "Oh, Cosette!" he said, "I am a wretch." Marius was amazed, for he was beginning to catch a glimpse of some strange, lofty, and sombre figure in this Jean Valjean. An extraordinary virtue appeared to him, supreme and gentle, and humble in its immensity, and the convict was transfigured into Christ. Marius was dazzled by this prodigy, and though he knew not exactly what he saw, it was grand. In an instant the hackney coach was at the gate. Marius helped Cosette in, and followed her. "Driver," he cried, "No. 7, Rue de l'Homme Armé." "Oh, how glad I am!" said Cosette. "Rue de l'Homme Armé; I did not dare speak to you about Monsieur Jean, but we are going to see him." "Your father, Cosette! your father more than ever. Cosette, I see it all. You told me that you never received the letter I sent you by Gavroche. It must have fallen into his hands, Cosette, and he came to the barricade to save me. As it is his sole duty to be an angel, in passing he saved others: he saved Javert. He drew me out of that gulf to give me to you; he carried me on his back through that frightful sewer. Ah! I am a monstrous ingrate! Cosette, after having been your providence, he was mine. Just imagine that there was a horrible pit, in which a man could be drowned a hundred times, drowned in mud, Cosette; and he carried me through it. I had feinted; I saw nothing, I heard nothing, I could not know anything about my own adventures. We are going to bring him back with us, and whether he is willing or not he shall never leave us again. I only hope he is at home! I only hope we shall find him! I will spend the rest of my life in revering him. Yes, it must have been so, Cosette, and Gavroche must have given him my letter. That explains everything. You understand." Cosette did not understand a word. "You are right," she said to him. In the mean while the hackney coach rolled along. CHAPTER V. A NIGHT BEHIND WHICH IS DAY. At the knock he heard at his door Jean Valjean turned round. "Come in," he said feebly. The door opened, and Cosette and Marius appeared. Cosette rushed into the room. Marius remained on the threshold, leaning against the doorpost. "Cosette!" said Jean Valjean, and he sat up in his chair, with his arms outstretched and opened, haggard, livid, and sinister, but with an immense joy in his eyes. Cosette, suffocated with emotion, fell on Jean Valjean's breast. "Father!" she said. Jean Valjean, utterly overcome, stammered, "Cosette! She--you--Madame! It is thou! Oh, my God!" And clasped in Cosette's arms, he exclaimed,-- "It is you! You are here; you forgive me, then!" Marius, drooping his eyelids to keep his tears from flowing, advanced a step, and muttered between his lips, which were convulsively clenched to stop his sobs,-- "Father!"