That does get a laugh, short and disbelieving. "You'd say this is all a matter of practicalities? Fine; let us speak of the practicalities. You must know I'm a criminal many times over, by the laws of the King. And yet I stayed ahead of the chain. It was not by carelessness! I could give you names, passwords, people who would help hide the identity of a man who stood at the barricade-would you take the aid, and stay with your daughter?" It's a sincere offer; Bahorel's dearest friends may be at Milliways, but many more still live on Valjean's side of the door.

"Let us pretend it is only a matter of practicality; then you are still making a mistake. You are no more a convict than you were before her marriage; nothing there has changed. Yet you did not leave her, to wander off, to hide yourself; you would say, she needed you then, she does not now. You think her marriage will shield her? And you tell me I am being foolish, and that love counts for nothing to the law, as if I were the one forgetting!" He shakes his head, sharp.

"Monsieur, Marius Pontmercy is a criminal; he fought at the barricade with all of us. The King who grants amnesty today may change his mind tomorrow. We have both seen the Emperor and the kings change; we have known the law to change. A man may be a hero or a criminal, day to day. The day may yet come when he is the one under suspicion, and she will look for help, and find--what? It is because the law is dangerous that you must stay close; because you are a convict that you must trust her, as she must trust you, and hold close! If your fear is for what the law may cost her, you must see-- to draw away is the worst thing you could do."

He pauses, watching Valjean for any response.