In her distress, Fantine decides to return to her hometown, Montreuil, taking with her her little girl, who is now two or three years old. On her way, she becomes acquainted with Mme. Thénardier, an innkeeper's wife who is watching her two little daughters play at her doorstep. Misled by Mme. Thénardier's obvious affection for her children and unwilling to expose herself and Cosette to the shame that will result if she returns home an unmarried mother, Fantine entrusts her daughter to Mme. Thénardier.
It is an unfortunate decision. Mme. Thénardier is a vile and brutal creature whose affections are limited to her husband and her two daughters. Her husband is even worse than she. For him, Cosette is nothing but an object for exploitation. He makes increasingly difficult financial demands on her mother and treats the child like a servant. Ill-fed, cold, and ragged, she becomes ugly and hostile.
