Valjean reunites with Fauchelevent at the Petit-Picpus convent
A Forgotten Reunion is the 18th episode of the series. In it, Jean Valjean and Cosette evade the police, only to end up inside a convent, where they meet with Montreuil-sur-Mer's Fauchelevent.
Synopsis[]
The episode picks up where the previous one left off: Valjean and Cosette are cornered at a dead end in Paris, with Javert and his officers closing in. Unable to scale the walls holding Cosette, Valjean wraps his scarf around her and wishes he had a long rope. Cosette finds one along a streetlight, and Valjean begins to scale the wall, his teeth holding onto one end, and Cosette wrapped around the other. Suddenly, the footsteps of the police can be heard, and Valjean quickly climbs up over the wall, while Cosette hides in a hole at the corner of the alley. As the police arrive, they find the area deseted, and fail to notice Cosette, who, while their backs are turned, is slowly hoisted by Valjean pulling up the rope. Once Cosette is safely atop the structure, a breeze blows Valjean's hat off, but Cosette manages to catch it. Quietly, the duo slide down the rope to the other side of the wall. Valjean takes in his surroundings, seeing a fairly open area with a few buildings, trees, and a garden. As they walk along, Valjean's scarf (which Cosette was still wearing) gets caught on a branch and falls off. As they approach a window with steel bars, singing can be heard.
The two set up camp in a shack, and Cosette realizes Valjean's scarf is missing outside. Valjean notices Cosette's cheeks turning red, and places his hand on her forehead: she's very hot. Cosette assures she's just a bit hot due to all of the running, and Valjean wraps his coat around her. Valjean leaves to look for his scarf, while Cosette begs for him not to leave her alone, but her begs go in vain. As he searches, he comes upon a building and rubs his arm over the glass, revealing a group of hooded figures kneeling before a coffin, the room lit by candles. Unsure of his surroundings, he suddenly begins to hear the ringing of a bell. As he creeps closer, he finds a man tending to the garden. Valjean approches the man, who turns around and gasps in shock at seeing Valjean. Valjean grabs him by the collar and begs him for a place to stay, offering as much money as necessary; the man then addresses him as Monsieur Madeleine, causing Valjean to ask how he knows him and where exactly he is. The man replies that they are inside the Petit-Picpus convent, and it was due to Valjean's help that he ended up working there. The man reveals himself as Fauchelevent, the man Valjean rescued from the overturned wagon in Montreuil-sur-Mer. When the two return to the shack, Valjean asks of two requests for Fauchelevent: He cannot tell anyone he knows Valjean, and he must pretend that they are strangers. When Cosette wakes up, Fauchelevent introduces himself, after which Cosette asks about the bell wrapped around his leg. He undoes the bell, and notes that as the gardener of the convent, the ringing of the bell alerts the schoolgirls that he is nearby, so they can scatter before seeing him. Valjean asks to borrow the bell for a moment.
Meanwhile, outside the convent, a police officer notes to Javert that rarely anyone is able to get past the garden doors, and thus, Valjean couldn't have gotten inside. Noting a nearby streetlamp, however, Javert's eyes widen in realization, and eventually they find the cut rope used to hoist Cosette up and over the wall, and conclude Valjean is inside the convent. Javert orders his officers to surround the convent, and they comply. An officer knocks on the door to the convent and Mother Innocente emerges. Javert explains that a fugitive has entered the convent, and requests permission to search the grounds. Mother Innocente forbids it, as part of the strict rule of men being denied access into the convent, and requests them to leave. Javert complies, but requests that if she see anyone suspicious, she contact the authorities.
Back in the convent grounds post-sunrise, Valjean, now wearing the bell, locates his scarf. In the shed, meanwhile, Fauchelevent reassures Cosette that Valjean is safe. Eventually Valjean returns, and Fauchelevent allows them to stay with him; the only problem is that Cosette cannot simply grow up in the cramped shed. In order to live within the convent, Valjean and Cosette must leave the convent and re-enter. As they try to formulate a plan for Valjean to easily exit and enter the convent, the bells ring, and Fauchelevent heads to Mother Innocente's office. Once there, Mother Innocente informs Fauchelevent that one of the sisters, Sister Crucifixion, passed away earlier in the morning, and that her final wish was to be burried in the convent grounds (rather than France's law of burial outside the convent). Thus, a second coffin will arrive at the convent and be used as a fake to bury in the local graveyard outside of the convent, while the Sister's wish will still be fufilled. Once this task is complete, Fauchelevent will be able to ask Mother Innocente to allow Cosette to live and study in the convent. Valjean agrees to be transported out of the convent via the second coffin, and to be let out to re-enter the convent. As the plan starts to come to fruition, Cosette looks on nervously, while outside, the second coffin makes its way into the convent.
Trivia[]
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Quotes[]
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Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette Episode Guide |
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