Les Misérables, Book 8: The Twilight Fades, Chapter 2 summary
Book 8: The Twilight Fades, Chapter 2 of 365 · 4 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 2, Jean Valjean visits Cosette daily while formal names and Marius’s absence make their relationship more distant, and the household treats his behavior as eccentricity. Cosette remains loving but grows less affectionate, while his tears reveal how painfully he maintains the separation himself.
What happens
- Jean Valjean returns, and Cosette accepts their formal manner of speaking with less joy than before.
- The household accepts his daily visits as eccentric behavior, while Marius arranges to be absent.
- The narrator compares hidden despair to a monster beneath apparently calm water.
- Weeks pass as Cosette enjoys married life, Toussaint leaves, and Jean Valjean continues visiting.
- Cosette questions his changing identity, while he stays nearby and gradually lengthens his visits.
- When Cosette calls him father, Jean Valjean insists on Jean and hides his tears.
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In this chapter
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Why does Toussaint leave the household?
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