Bahorel shakes his head. "He tried to jail her. He had no right, none, not even by the wretched law-- she'd been assaulted, in view of witnesses! But she defended herself against it. Against a man of property. 'The sort of man who says: my fields, my woods, my peasants'." Hugo does have a flair for the right phrase, Bahorel could never deny that. "You know the kind-- they think everyone else exists for their comfort-- or their entertainment."
"And the dear Inspector agrees with such fellows. Oh, he lays his philosophy out all very pretty-- the mayor over the lawman, the factory-owner over the worker, the propertied classes over everyone-- that's his law, never mind what's on the books. That's his order, and the ones he counts low-born are meant to smile when then high-born kick them in the teeth, and if they bite the boot that's stamping on them, that's his idea of a crime!" Bahorel shakes his head. The reasoning behind that is for later. "--So of course he arrested her."
"At any rate-- Fauchelevent was mayor of the town then, and made Javert hold to the law. But the woman-- Fantine, her name was-- was weak, and the shock put her in the hospital." Bahorel twists the pen around in his fingers. There's a lot of story there, but what really matters to this moment...
"To be brief: in the end, Fauchelevent couldn't keep protecting her. And Javert went to her sickbed, and insulted her by profession, and terrorized her; and that shock finished her." Bahorel spins the pen apart at the cartridge. "--She had a child, both of them abandoned by the father. She was working for the child's sake. Javert knew it; and he made sure she died thinking her child orphaned and alone for good."
Bahorel laughs again, hard and jagged. "And if the good honest Inspector doesn't remember, I wouldn't be surprised, because he wasn't even there for her. Ending a woman's life was just a little accidental reward for him, in the commission of his duty."
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Date: 2015-08-19 02:56 pm (UTC)From:"And the dear Inspector agrees with such fellows. Oh, he lays his philosophy out all very pretty-- the mayor over the lawman, the factory-owner over the worker, the propertied classes over everyone-- that's his law, never mind what's on the books. That's his order, and the ones he counts low-born are meant to smile when then high-born kick them in the teeth, and if they bite the boot that's stamping on them, that's his idea of a crime!" Bahorel shakes his head. The reasoning behind that is for later. "--So of course he arrested her."
"At any rate-- Fauchelevent was mayor of the town then, and made Javert hold to the law. But the woman-- Fantine, her name was-- was weak, and the shock put her in the hospital." Bahorel twists the pen around in his fingers. There's a lot of story there, but what really matters to this moment...
"To be brief: in the end, Fauchelevent couldn't keep protecting her. And Javert went to her sickbed, and insulted her by profession, and terrorized her; and that shock finished her." Bahorel spins the pen apart at the cartridge. "--She had a child, both of them abandoned by the father. She was working for the child's sake. Javert knew it; and he made sure she died thinking her child orphaned and alone for good."
Bahorel laughs again, hard and jagged. "And if the good honest Inspector doesn't remember, I wouldn't be surprised, because he wasn't even there for her. Ending a woman's life was just a little accidental reward for him, in the commission of his duty."
...Yeah, Bahorel doesn't like Javert much.