"His childhood, his family. A criminal record, such as it is; mostly prison escapes. Some petty theft, out of various desperation.-- All this before the first hundred pages are gone. Shall I go on?" Bahorel's not being flippant. The old man had acted as a friend to them. "He says he has no fear of the spy Javert; I believe him. But then there may be others he wishes to keep his past from, and for good reason." There are many reasons, after all, for a man in Fauchelevent's position to want privacy.