De voormalig galeislaaf Jan Valjean komt na 19 jaar op vrije voeten. Zijn pogingen om een gerespecteerd onderdeel te worden van de samenleving staan voortdurend onder druk, onder andere door zijn eigen geweten wanneer een ander in zijn plaats wordt gearresteerd. Maar ook de onophoudelijke naspeuringen van politieagent Javert zorgen ervoor dat hij geen rustig leven kan leiden.

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE ROMANCES Of VICTOR HUGO Dttion LES MISERABLES VOLUME ONE CHAPTER II. M. MYRIEL BECOMES MONSEIGNEUB WELCOME. The Episcopal Palace of D adjoined the hospital. It was a spacious, handsome mansion, built at the beginning of the last century by Monseigneur Henri Puget, Doctor in Theology of the Faculty of Paris, and Abbe of Simore, who was Bishop of D in 1712. This palace was a true seigneurial residence: everything had a noble air in it, ? the episcopal apartments, the reception rooms, the bedrooms, the court of honor, which was very wide, with arcades after the old Florentine fashion, and the gardens planted with magnificent trees. In the dining-room, a long and superb gallery on the ground floor, Monseigneur Henri Puget had given a state dinner on July 29, 1714, to Messeigneurs Charles Brulart de Genlis, Archbishop, Prince of Em- brun; Antoine de Mesgrigny, Capuchin and Bishop of Grasse; Philip de Vendome, Grand Prior of France and Abbe of St. Honore" de Le"rins; Frangois de Ber- ton de Grillon, Baron and Bishop of Vence; Csesar de Sabran de Forcalquier, Bishop and Lord of Glandeve, and Jean Soanen, priest of the oratory, preacher in ordinary to the King, and Bishop and Lord of Senez. The portraits of these seven reverend personagesdecorated tht dining-room, and the memorable date, July 29, 1714, was engraved in golden letters on a white marble tablet. The hospital was a small, single-storeyed house with a little garden. Three days after his arrival the Bishop visited it, and when his visit was over asked the Director to be kind enough to come to his house. " How many patients have you at this moment ? " he asked. " Twenty-six, Monseigneur." " The number I counted," said the Bishop. " The beds are very close together," the Director co...