By the time Éponine and Marius had arrived at Rue Plumet, where Cosette lived, the rain had ceased, but the sky was still covered with a thick blanket of grey clouds.
Éponine willed herself not to cry as she watched her true love and her childhood friend talk. The longing in their eyes as they looked at one another was very familiar to her - it was exactly the way she looked at Marius every time she saw him. But of course he didn't realise that.
Cosette's father suddenly called her in and Marius walked away from the gate, a content smile on his face. He didn't even notice Éponine as he walked past her.She watched him right up until he disappeared around the edge of the building, and she didn't hear a tall red-haired man, followed by four or five others, walk up behind her.
"Go home, Éponine, you're not needed in this. We're enough here without you," Monsieur Thénardier grabbed his daughter's shoulder, causing her to jump. Éponine tried her best to keep her father away from Cosette and her papa, but to no avail. Finally, she resorted to screaming in the hope that they would hear and could escape. This earned her a slap across the cheek, and Montparnasse grabbed hold of her, covering her mouth with one hand and stopping her flailing arms with the other. She bit his hand, and he roared and let go of her, but she felt another hand collide with her already stinging cheek, making her fall to the ground. A firm pressure from Brujon's boot held her down. She turned her face away, nursing her sore cheek and trying to stop the tears threatening to appear.
"They've gone, Monsieur!" Babet called, after Claquesous had broken the door down and they had searched the whole house. Thénardier cursed and Éponine allowed herself a small smile, knowing she had indeed warned them and allowed them to escape.
She had nothing against Cosette, even though Marius loved her more. That wasn't her fault. And Éponine certainly didn't want to help Thénardier con Cosette's father. She hated her family's business. She wanted nothing more than to run away, to escape her parents, to never be involved in one of her father's crimes ever again.
YOU ARE READING
In The Rain
FanfictionWhat will happen if the events on the barricade go slightly differently? When an unlikely pair are drawn to one another? Or will it be too late? ENJONINE I'm not Victor Hugo (or any deceased French guy!) so unfortunately I don't own these characters...
