The prioress，that pronounced prognosticator，immediately took a fancy to Cosette and gave her a place in the school as a charity pupil.
There is nothing that is not strictly logical about this.
It is in vain that mirrors are banished from the convent，women are conscious of their faces；now，girls who are conscious of their beauty do not easily become nuns；the vocation being voluntary in inverse proportion to their good looks，more is to be hoped from the ugly than from the pretty.
Hence a lively taste for plain girls.
The whole of this adventure increased the importance of good，old Fauchelevent；he won a triple success；in the eyes of Jean Valjean，whom he had saved and sheltered；in those of grave-digger Gribier，who said to himself：
'He spared me that fine'；with the convent，which，being enabled，thanks to him，to retain the coffin of Mother Crucifixion under the altar，eluded Caesar and satisfied God.There was a coffin containing a body in the Petit-Picpus，and a coffin without a body in the Vaugirard cemetery，public order had no doubt been deeply disturbed thereby，but no one was aware of it.
As for the convent，its gratitude to Fauchelevent was very great.Fauchelevent became the best of servitors and the most precious of gardeners.
Upon the occasion of the archbishop's next visit，the prioress recounted the affair to his Grace，making something of a confession at the same time，and yet boasting of her deed.On leaving the convent，the archbishop mentioned it with approval，and in a whisper to M.de Latil，Monsieur's confessor，afterwards Archbishop of Reims and Cardinal.
This admiration for Fauchelevent became widespread，for it made its way to Rome.We have seen a note addressed by the then reigning Pope，Leo XII.，to one of his relatives，a Monsignor in the Nuncio's establishment in Paris，and bearing，like himself，the name of Della Genga；it contained these lines：
'It appears that there is in a convent in Paris an excellent gardener，who is also a holy man，named Fauvent.'Nothing of this triumph reached Fauchelevent in his hut；he went on grafting，weeding，and covering up his melon beds，without in the least suspecting his excellences and his sanctity.Neither did he suspect his glory，any more than a Durham or Surrey bull whose portrait is published in the London Illustrated News，with this inscription：
'Bull which carried off the prize at the Cattle Show.'
BOOK EIGHTH.——CEMETERIES TAKE THAT WHICH IS COMMITTED THEM
Ⅸ CLOISTERED
Cosette continued to hold her tongue in the convent.
It was quite natural that Cosette should think herself Jean Valjean's daughter.
Moreover，as she knew nothing，she could say nothing，and then，she would not have said anything in any case.
As we have just observed，nothing trains children to silence like unhappiness.Cosette had suffered so much，that she feared everything，even to speak or to breathe.
A single word had so often brought down an avalanche upon her.
She had hardly begun to regain her confidence since she had been with Jean Valjean.
She speedily became accustomed to the convent.
Only she regretted Catherine，but she dared not say so.
Once，however，she did say to Jean Valjean：'Father，if I had known，I would have brought her away with me.'
Cosette had been obliged，on becoming a scholar in the convent，to don the garb of the pupils of the house.
Jean Valjean succeeded in getting them to restore to him the garments which she laid aside.This was the same mourning suit which he had made her put on when she had quitted the Thenardiers'inn.
It was not very threadbare even now.Jean Valjean locked up these garments，plus the stockings and the shoes，with a quantity of camphor and all the aromatics in which convents abound，in a little valise which he found means of procuring.He set this valise on a chair near his bed，and he always carried the key about his person.
'Father，'Cosette asked him one day，'what is there in that box which smells so good？'
Father Fauchelevent received other recompense for his good action，in addition to the glory which we just mentioned，and of which he knew nothing；in the first place it made him happy；next，he had much less work，since it was shared.
ly，as he was very fond of snuff，he found the presence of M.Madeleine an advantage，in that he used three times as much as he had done previously，and that in an infinitely more luxurious manner，seeing that M.Madeleine paid for it.
The nuns did not adopt the name of Ultime；they called Jean Valjean the other Fauvent.
If these holy women had possessed anything of Javert's glance，they would eventually have noticed that when there was any errand to be done outside in the behalf of the garden，it was always the elder Fauchelevent，the old，the infirm，the lame man，who went，and never the other；but whether it is that eyes constantly fixed on God know not how to spy，or whether they were，by preference，occupied in keeping watch on each other，they paid no heed to this.
Moreover，it was well for Jean Valjean that he kept close and did not stir out.
Javert watched the quarter for more than a month.
This convent was for Jean Valjean like an island surrounded by gulfs.
Henceforth，those four walls constituted his world.He saw enough of the sky there to enable him to preserve his serenity，and Cosette enough to remain happy.
A very sweet life began for him.
He inhabited the old hut at the end of the garden，in company with Fauchelevent.
This hovel，built of old rubbish，which was still in existence in 1845，was composed，as the reader already knows，of three chambers，all of which were utterly bare and had nothing beyond the walls.
The principal one had been given up，by force，for Jean Valjean had opposed it in vain，to M.Madeleine，by Father Fauchelevent.
The walls of this chamber had for ornament，in addition to the two nails whereon to hang the knee-cap and the basket，a Royalist bank-note of'93，applied to the wall over the chimney-piece，and of which the following is an exact facsimile：——
{GRAPHIC HERE}
