He re-entered the judges room, and the first thing that caught his eye was the polished brass door-handle, shining like a baleful star. He stared at it as a lamb might stare at a beast of prey. He could not take his eyes off it. At intervals he moved a step nearer to the door. Had he listened he would have heard a confusing murmur of voices coming from the adjoining room; but he did not listen, and heard nothing.
Suddenly, and without knowing how it happened, he found himself standing at the door. He seized the handle with a convulsive movement and the door opened.
He was in the court-room.
This is how our chapter ends, and the run up to it is more of Madeleine’s internal meltdown as he stands on the precipice of this defining moment.
The language that Hugo uses is arresting. Madeleine is described as unable to think, all of his faculties fleeing him as he faces this existential dread. He is depicted as reading a letter on the wall multiple times absentmindedly while his actual thoughts are fixated on Fantine and Cosette. He has come all this way, fought past all the deterrences, and here, literally standing outside the door to the courtroom he cannot bring himself to go in.
He runs. He literally runs out of the judges chambers and down the winding halls. As he stops to catch his breath the silence is oppressive. There is no escaping this kind of situation. He runs again and then leans against the wall, filled with dread. After 15 minutes of this turmoil he begins the slow walk back to the chamber and the chapter ends with the quotation above.
Some might argue tha this is all superfluous - why belabor the point? I think it is essential though, and I’m glad Hugo has drawn it out this way over multiple chapters. First in Madeleine’s room, then on the journey, then in Arras and the receiving area of the court, and now finally in the judges chambers. These locations are where the real battle is being fought, a battle in the mind, heart and soul of Madeleine, a battle of conscience that must be resolved one way or the other for good.
This hearkens back to the initial internal battle that Madeleine fought when first presented with his fork in the road on the heals of Myriel’s profligate mercy and grace. If that was a moment that started Madeleine’s journey toward a better way, this is the battle where his ultimate commitments are being tested. It seems good and right that we’re sitting with him in it.