"Exactly so. It sounds as if I tell you I went to school. Well, we both know this is not true. We use l'ecole to mean prison, sir."

She lowers her voice more and more as she explains so she is only just above a whisper. Eponine grins though. She loves to feel more intelligent than people. She loves having someone listen so intently.

"And there, you see? L'ecole we use for a women's prison, like la Madelonnettes, where no sentance is long. We use la College for La Force, where my Pa was, or the one where Ma is being held. They are bigger, with really bad sentances. La Madelonnettes has murderers but only on remand until there is space in La Force. 'Antan' means last year. So you see, it is a language to make us look innocent and to confuse Monsieur Javert."