Back on Fauchelevent’s quarters Valjean hears of all that has transpired and proposes what is to him the obvious solution. The only way for him to safely get out of this place without being caught is inside the coffin that was intended to house the now dead sister.
The plan itself goes something like this:
- Valjean will hide in a closet adjacent to the room with the coffin all night
- at 2 in the afternoon he will be nailed into the coffin
- at 3 the pallbearers will arrive to remove it / him
- he will be lowered into the grave and the initial dirt will be thrown on top
- at this point Fauchelevent will contrive to git his friend the cemetery worker drunk (it seems he has a known drinking problem)
- Fauchelevent will then come back and set Valjean free
- The two of them will bury the coffin together
It is certainly a plan, but there are many variables at play. Will it turn out ok? Will we run into any wrinkles? We’ll have to read on to find out!