nne.

In less than a month, little Cosette, in that Thebaid of the Rue de
Babylone, was not only one of the prettiest, but one of the "best
dressed" women in Paris, which means a great deal more.

She would have liked to encounter her "passer-by," to see what he would
say, and to "teach him a lesson!" The truth is, that she was ravishing
in every respect, and that she distinguished the difference between a
bonnet from Gerard and one from Herbaut in the most marvellous way.

Jean Valjean watched these ravages with anxiety. He who felt that
he could never do anything but crawl, walk at the most, beheld wings
sprouting on Cosette.

Moreover, from the mere inspection of Cosette's toilet, a woman
would have recognized the fact that she had no mother. Certain little
proprieties, certain special conventionalities, were not observed by
Cosette. A mother, for instance, would have told her that a young girl
does not dress in damask.

The first day that Cosette went out in her black damask gown and mantle,
and her white crape bonnet, she took Jean Valjean's arm, gay, radiant,
rosy, proud, dazzling. "Father," she said, "how do you like me in this
guise?" Jean Valjean replied in a voice which resembled the bitter voice
of an envious man: "Charming!" He was the same as usual during their
walk. On their return home, he asked Cosette:--

"Won't you put on that other gown and bonnet again,--you know the ones I
mean?"

This took place in Cosette's chamber. Cosette turned towards the
wardrobe where her cast-off schoolgirl's clothes were hanging.

"That disguise!" said she. "Father, what do you want me to do with it?
Oh no, the idea! I shall never put on those horrors again. With that
machine on my head, I have the air of Madame Mad-dog."

Jean Valjean heaved a deep sigh.

From that moment forth, he noticed that Cosette, who had always
heretofore asked to remain at home, saying: "Father, I enjoy myself more
here with you," now was always asking to go out. In fact, what is the
use of having a handsome face and a delicious costume if one does not
display them?

He also noticed that Cosette had no longer the same taste for the back
garden. Now she preferred the garden, and did not dislike to promenade
back and forth in front of the railed fence. Jean Valjean, who was shy,
never set foot in the garden. He kept to his back yard, like a dog.

Cosette, in gaining the knowledge that she was beautiful, lost the grace
of ignoring it.