The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Twenty-Two

At eleven in the morning, my head is still busy from the night before, and I haven't been able to wipe the smile from my face.

"You look very happy this morning, Miss!" Maggie chirps as I pass her in the front hallway.

"I am, thank you, Maggie", I smile as I strap my bonnet to my head. "How are you this morning?"

"Very good, thank you, Ma'am", she curtseys. I look at her and playfully raise an eyebrow until she realises. "I mean, Juliette", she giggles. I smile, and turn toward the door, beginning to make my way out of the front door, but Maggie's voice stops me. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" I turn back around to face her.

"There was a gentleman on the estate last night –" She answers excitedly.

"There was?" I reply, trying my best to act like I don't already know.

"– black trousers, burgundy jacket, darkish blonde hair", she carries on.

"Really?" I ask, trying to sound clueless – I don't do it very well, but enough to drive Maggie from the scent.

"Left around 2am they say. Just hanging around the stables he was. Very strange..." She shakes her head.

"Well..." I try to think of something to say. "I'll keep a look out!" I answer confidently.

"Yes! Look after yourself!" Maggie warns. "Wouldn't want you running into any funny business out there. Goodness knows what he was doing here so late last night..." She bites her lip.

"You look after yourself too...and I'm sure it was nothing", I smile encouragingly, trying to let her know that it really wasn't anything for her to worry about. "I'll see you later, Maggie", I smile warmly.

"Same as yesterday?" She winks.

"Yes...please...not a word to Grandfather or Auntie", I whisper. "Thank you!" I say gratefully, and she nods giving a knowing smile. I open the door, closing it quickly and quietly behind me before scurrying down our long carriage-path toward the gates. Surprisingly, my brother is hiding behind the gate and there to greet me.

"Marius? What are you doing here?" I ask, confused.

"Are you disappointed?" He jokingly acts offended.

"No...not at all. I just assumed you'd be busy..." I shrug as we start to walk. "I mean, I didn't see you again last night...you left in such a hurry and didn't come back..."

"Yeah...I'm sorry about that..." He mutters, sheepishly putting his hands in his pockets, trying to sound and look apologetic. And as much I want to be annoyed at him, I can't be, and I know that I need to know every detail.

"So, who is she?" I ask playfully as I link my arm through his.

"Cosette..." He sighs. "Cosette Valjean. Monsieur Jean Valjean's daughter".

"Cosette Valjean?" I pause to think. "Nope, don't know her".

"Well, you will", Marius beams.

"Will I?" I smirk. "When?" I ask jokingly. He pauses in thought.

"When the time is right", he answers as he nods decisively.

"That's if it lasts –" I state.

"It will!" He answers quickly, cutting me off. "She's the one, Juliette...I'm sure of it..." He sounds so sure. I look at his face, and I can tell that he means it. I can tell that he's smitten. And I can tell that nothing I say or do will change his mind, and so I just have to be supportive and go with it.

"Where did you meet her?"

"In the street –" He replies quickly.

"Because that's where you go to find a wife, clearly –" I scoff.

"And then I saw her again –" He continues, ignoring my comment.

"How did you find her?"

"My friend, Eponine, found her for me..." This confession stops me in my tracks. Poor Eponine...I can imagine how painful this must be for her, and I feel a pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach that her love for Marius remains unrequited.

"So...Eponine knows?" I ask quietly, trying not to let on about what I know.

"Why does that matter?"

"...I don't know..." And that pang of guilt returns. I could have said something to Marius right now, explaining what I meant, pleading with him to talk to Eponine about her feelings...but I didn't. And I feel awful.

"And how do you know Eponine?"

"We met in the street..." I shrug. "See...I can meet people in the street too!"

"It's not a competition! Calm yourself!" He jokes. "But anyway...Eponine took me to Cosette's house last night –"

"You went to her house?!" I exclaim.

"Well...I didn't actually go in her house. Her Father didn't know I was there –"

"Ooooh sneaky!" I interject.

"– So we just spoke through her gate –" He continues without missing a beat.

"...You spoke through her gate?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah...she was in her garden, and I was in the street...so we talked through the gaps in the gate..." He answers as if there's nothing weird about that at all.

"Oh Marius..." I sigh and shake my head as I smile. "You can't marry a girl that you met through a gate –"

"I didn't meet her through a gate...I met her in the street!"

"Well did you talk to her in the street?"

"No..."

"Well then!"

"You don't understand, Juliette. It doesn't matter that I've only seen her twice...It's enough to know that she is the one I'm meant to be with –"

"How can you know for sure?"

"I just know...Look, one day, you'll understand...You'll meet someone, and everything will just click, it'll all just fall into place...and you'll know...and then you'll understand how I feel..."

"...No...Marius...I understand..."

"You do?"

"I do..."