Les Misérables Ch. 62: An Entrance by Favor

Summary

He does not suspect it, but the mayor's name has filled a whole district for seven years, then two or three neighbouring ones: black jet revived, a hundred and forty communes indebted, linen at Boulogne, flax at Frévent. Arras and Douai envy the little town its mayor. The Councillor of Douai, who is presiding, knows the name. The usher bends over the armchair. The gentleman desires to be present. The President writes a few words and says, Admit him. The same usher who turned his back is now bowing to the earth. Will Monsieur do me the honour to follow me? The paper, near a light: The President of the Court of Assizes presents his respects. He crushes it, as though the words had a strange and bitter aftertaste.

A wainscoted cabinet, two wax candles, a green cloth. He is in the council-chamber; he has only to turn the copper handle and he will be behind the President's chair. The supreme moment has arrived. The threads of thought snap. With stupid tranquillity he surveys the room where so many lives have been broken, which is soon to ring with his name. He has eaten nothing for twenty-four hours and does not feel it. He reads, two or three times, an old letter of Pache under glass, without paying attention. He is thinking of Fantine and Cosette. Then his eyes fall on the brass knob. The glance grows terrified. Beads of perspiration burst among his hair.

At a certain moment he makes the gesture that says, who compels me to this? He wheels, opens the door he came in by, and flees down the long narrow corridor of lanterns like night tapers. He listens: no sound in front, no sound behind. He leans on the cold stone. He has heard within him all night and all day but one voice, which said, Alas. A quarter of an hour. He bows his head and retraces his steps, as though someone had overtaken him and were leading him back. The first thing he sees is the knob, round, polished, shining like a terrible star. He gazes as a lamb might gaze into the eye of a tiger. He does not hear the murmur of the adjoining hall. Suddenly he is near the door. He grasps the knob convulsively. The door opens. He was in the court-room.

In this chapter: Terms Key Quotes

Why This Matters

Put your hand on the knob you fled

A famous name can open a door you then spend a quarter of an hour running from. Madeleine crushes the President's respects, flees the brass handle, and comes back as if someone were leading him, until the door opens on the court.

This week, if a title has just bought you a room you cannot bear, put your hand on the knob you fled, and do not spend Alas as the last word.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: The usher

The same usher who turned his back now bows to the earth. Madeleine's name has filled a district for seven years; the paper of respects is a key the usher can understand. Rank, here, is a nervous system: a closed door becomes an honour the moment the costume is shown.

Continue this thoughtMadeleine as a Costume That Must Be Spoken

Coming Up in Chapter 63

He advances a pace, closes the door behind him, and remains standing. At the far end of a badly lighted hall, on a wooden bench between two gendarmes, sits a man. This man was the man.

PreviousPrevious Chapter NextNext Chapter

Original text

1,269 wordscomplete

Chapter 62

An Entrance by Favor

Although he did not suspect the fact, the mayor of M. sur M. enjoyed a sort of celebrity. For the space of seven years his reputation for virtue had filled the whole of Bas Boulonnais; it had eventually passed the confines of a small district and had been spread abroad through two or three neighboring departments. Besides the service which he had rendered to the chief town by resuscitating the black jet industry, there was not one out of the hundred and forty communes of the arrondissement of M. sur M. which was not indebted to him for some benefit.…

Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature

Buy atAmazon.com

Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Victor Hugo

Also by Victor Hugo

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Explores justice & fairness

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

Explores justice & fairness

Noli Me Tángere

José Rizal

Explores justice & fairness

Moral Dilemmas & Ethics Social Class & Status

Lessons from Les Misérables

Theme-by-theme analyses that connect this book to modern life skills.

Deep diving the literary elements.

An Entrance by Favor

Summary

Why This Matters