Combeferre nods. It may be laudable for Fauchelevent to see good in the spy, as it was for him to spare the spy at the barricade. But as much as Combeferre may feel sympathy for that, the spy is still a threat to them. And, more importantly, to their friends and allies still living.
"He did give us that last uniform at the barricade," Combeferre says. "I suspect he will be amenable to an appeal on behalf of those of our sympathies, who will go on to play a role in 1848. Their lives and liberty, their families...I believe he will feel charitably to them, regardless of his disinterest in their politics."
He believes this based on what he's read in the novel. Highly embroidered it may be, even altered in many details, but the charitable impulse--that is a consistent feature throughout the book, and tallies with what Combeferre saw in the old eccentric at the barricade, and with what he's heard of Fauchelevent since. Combeferre believes in Fauchelevent's charity because he knows things he has no real right to know. There's a twinge of guilt that accompanies this; still, it would be foolish to ignore such a weapon. And information is a weapon--the greatest weapon--even as it is a balm and a light.
Combeferre doesn't like that thought much. It turns his greatest passion to violent ends. He sits down, and rests his chin on his hands.
no subject
"He did give us that last uniform at the barricade," Combeferre says. "I suspect he will be amenable to an appeal on behalf of those of our sympathies, who will go on to play a role in 1848. Their lives and liberty, their families...I believe he will feel charitably to them, regardless of his disinterest in their politics."
He believes this based on what he's read in the novel. Highly embroidered it may be, even altered in many details, but the charitable impulse--that is a consistent feature throughout the book, and tallies with what Combeferre saw in the old eccentric at the barricade, and with what he's heard of Fauchelevent since. Combeferre believes in Fauchelevent's charity because he knows things he has no real right to know. There's a twinge of guilt that accompanies this; still, it would be foolish to ignore such a weapon. And information is a weapon--the greatest weapon--even as it is a balm and a light.
Combeferre doesn't like that thought much. It turns his greatest passion to violent ends. He sits down, and rests his chin on his hands.
"Let us hope so, anyway," he finishes.