_]
MLLE. Madame, do you not understand?
[_Madame steps to a cupboard, gets the remaining silver plates, and
places them on the table._]
BISHOP (_gayly, turning to Jean_). To table then, my friend! To
table!
[_Jean remains for a moment, standing doggedly apart; then he steps over
to the chair awaiting him, jerks it back, and sinks into it, without
looking up._]
SCENE III
TIME: _Daybreak the next morning._
PLACE: _The Bishop's dining room._
* * * * *
[_The room is dark, except for a faint light that comes in through
window curtains._ JEAN VALJEAN _creeps in from the alcove. He
carries his knapsack and cudgel in one hand; in the other, his shoes. He
opens the window overlooking the garden; the room becomes lighter. Jean
steps to the mantel and lifts a silver candlestick._]
JEAN (_whispering_). Two hundred francs--double what I have
earned in nineteen years!
[_He puts it in his knapsack; takes up the other candlestick; shudders,
and sets it down again._]
No, no, he is good--he called me "sir"--
[_He stands still, staring before him, his hand still gripping the
candlestick. Suddenly he straightens up; speaks bitterly._]
Why not? 'Tis easy to give a bed and food! Why doesn't he keep men from
the galleys? Nineteen years for a loaf of bread!
[_Pauses a moment, then resolutely puts both candlesticks into his bag;
steps to the cupboard and takes out the silver plates and the ladle, and
slips them into the bag.
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