In the last chapter we saw that in a most fortuitous turn of events Valjean and Cosette’s clandestine arrival coincided with the death and looming funeral of one of the sisters at the convent. It is Fauchelevent’s hope that this funeral will provide the needed cover to find a way to get them both out of the convent and back in.
One of the interesting things we learn here is that for years Fauchelevant has been allowing the convent to believe he is quite smple, even dumb and as a result he has learned to decode their complex system of communication via the bells. This means that he benefits from having information they don’t know he has.
Now he sits with the reverend moth, having been summoned to her, ostensibly to receive some assignment related to the funeral. He plans to use this to setup for the second half of the plan - asking for his “brother” to be hired on as his assistant. That friend will also bring his granddaughter who he cares for, enrolling her in the boarding school.
When the time comes and he makes his request the reverend mother doesn’t respond at all, instead she makes a baffling request of her own: can he quickly obtain a large crowbar?!
The chapter ends with these two requests floating in the air together, and the reader is left hoping that the one will end up servicing the other, for the sake of Valjean and Cosette.