Valjean listens as if to a magnificent symphony, and a tear comes to his eyes. Then, sorrowfully, he announces he is dying. Cosette and Marius, heartbroken, refuse to accept the truth. Valjean, however, in the spirit of abnegation that has characterized his whole life, exhorts them to accept the wisdom of God's decision and urges them to look forward to their future happiness.
The doctor arrives and confirms the verdict. Valjean settles his earthly and spiritual affairs and, with an unexpected renewal of strength, walks to the wall, takes down the crucifix, and sits down again. He reassures Marius as to the legitimacy of his wealth and requests an anonymous tombstone; and his last moments are filled with happy memories. He evokes Cosette's childhood, their humble pleasures, their adventures. He tells Cosette about her mother and asks her to forgive the Thénardiers. In the presence of the two people he loves, he dies happy.
In the Père-Lachaise cemetery, there is a neglected and anonymous tombstone. Time, vegetation, and the elements are slowly destroying it. Only an unusual epitaph in pencil gives it a transitory distinction:
He sleeps. Although fate was very strange to him,
He lived. He died when he lost his angel;
It happened simply, as naturally as
The night falls when the day goes away.
