But misfortune, checked in one direction, attacks in another. While Eponine stands guard outside, Cosette gives Marius a piece of news that is the equivalent of a death sentence. Jean Valjean, alarmed by a sense that he is watched, has decided to take her to England. Confronted by this catastrophe, Marius makes a desperate resolution. He will go to see his grandfather and appeal to his pity. Had he seen M. Gillenormand recently, Marius might be more hopeful, for the old man has been undergoing a transformation. His self-righteousness has given place to sorrow, and he thinks about Marius with more affection and less bitterness. The sudden realization that their separation may be permanent has cut him to the heart.
Marius' unexpected visit provokes an immense longing for reconciliation which, alas, the old man cannot express. He greets Marius with his usual severity, and his grandson responds with constraint. Angry at himself for his inept behavior and at Marius for his obtuseness, he vehemently refuses him permission to marry. His answer is a long, bitter, sarcastic diatribe climaxed by an irrevocable "Never!"
In his distress, Marius cries out: "Father!" and this word proves the clue to the old man's heart. Abruptly he is transfigured, embraces Marius, seats him in an armchair, and listens with the deepest sympathy to his love story. But no amount of understanding can quite bridge the gap between the libertine eighteenth-century grandfather and the romantic nineteenth-century grandson. To the grandfather, Marius' love affair is only a youthful escapade, and he suggests that he make Cosette his mistress. Marius is deeply offended by this suggestion and leaves indignantly. M. Gillenormand, thunderstruck, believes that this time the rift is irreparable, and he sinks into an agony of grief that transcends tears.
