"Then we shall have to find new skills, I am terribly sure," she said fondly. "Already I have been learning to make pretty letters." This was important to her. She could write and she could read, but her handwriting was miserable. Now, under Jehan's tutelage, she was learning cursive.

At his admittance, Eponine moves back slightly in her chair, a twinkle in her eye. "A good reason to have it! Oh, you are a clever man, Athos, and I am growing quite fond of you. That is as good a thing to hope for as ever."