Thence arose for his wall the flaring sign，and for his inn the name which it bore in the neighborhood，of'the cabaret of the Sergeant of Waterloo.'
He was a liberal，a classic，and a Bonapartist.
He had subscribed for the Champ d'Asile.It was said in the village that he had studied for the priesthood.
We believe that he had simply studied in Holland for an inn-keeper.This rascal of composite order was，in all probability，some Fleming from Lille，in Flanders，a Frenchman in Paris，a Belgian at Brussels，being comfortably astride of both frontiers.As for his prowess at Waterloo，the reader is already acquainted with that.
It will be perceived that he exaggerated it a trifle.Ebb and flow，wandering，adventure，was the leven of his existence；a tattered conscience entails a fragmentary life，and，apparently at the stormy epoch of June 18，1815，Thenardier belonged to that variety of marauding sutlers of which we have spoken，beating about the country，selling to some，stealing from others，and travelling like a family man，with wife and children，in a rickety cart，in the rear of troops on the march，with an instinct for always attaching himself to the victorious army.
This campaign ended，and having，as he said，'some quibus，'he had come to Montfermeil and set up an inn there.
This quibus，composed of purses and watches，of gold rings and silver crosses，gathered in harvest-time in furrows sown with corpses，did not amount to a large total，and did not carry this sutler turned eating-house-keeper very far.
Thenardier had that peculiar rectilinear something about his gestures which，accompanied by an oath，recalls the barracks，and by a sign of the cross，the seminary.
He was a fine talker.He allowed it to be thought that he was an educated man.
Nevertheless，the schoolmaster had noticed that he pronounced improperly.[12]
[12]Literally'made cuirs'；i.
e.，pronounced a t or an s at the end of words where the opposite letter should occur，or used either one of them where neither exists.
He composed the travellers'tariff card in a superior manner，but practised eyes sometimes spied out orthographical errors in it.Thenardier was cunning，greedy，slothful，and clever.
He did not disdain his servants，which caused his wife to dispense with them.This giantess was jealous.
It seemed to her that that thin and yellow little man must be an object coveted by all.
Thenardier，who was，above all，an astute and well-balanced man，was a scamp of a temperate sort.
This is the worst species；hypocrisy enters into it.
It is not that Thenardier was not，on occasion，capable of wrath to quite the same degree as his wife；but this was very rare，and at such times，since he was enraged with the human race in general，as he bore within him a deep furnace of hatred.
And since he was one of those people who are continually avenging their wrongs，who accuse everything that passes before them of everything which has befallen them，and who are always ready to cast upon the first person who comes to hand，as a legitimate grievance，the sum total of the deceptions，the bankruptcies，and the calamities of their lives，——when all this leaven was stirred up in him and boiled forth from his mouth and eyes，he was terrible.Woe to the person who came under his wrath at such a time！
In addition to his other qualities，Thenardier was attentive and penetrating，silent or talkative，according to circumstances，and always highly intelligent.
He had something of the look of sailors，who are accustomed to screw up their eyes to gaze through marine glasses.
Thenardier was a statesman.
Every new-comer who entered the tavern said，on catching sight of Madame Thenardier，'There is the master of the house.'A mistake.
She was not even the mistress.
The husband was both master and mistress.
She worked；he created.
He directed everything by a sort of invisible and constant magnetic action.A word was sufficient for him，sometimes a sign；the mastodon obeyed.Thenardier was a sort of special and sovereign being in Madame Thenardier's eyes，though she did not thoroughly realize it.She was possessed of virtues after her own kind；if she had ever had a disagreement as to any detail with'Monsieur Thenardier，'——which was an inadmissible hypothesis，by the way，——she would not have blamed her husband in public on any subject whatever.
She would never have committed'before strangers'that mistake so often committed by women，and which is called in parliamentary language，'exposing the crown.'Although their concord had only evil as its result，there was contemplation in Madame Thenardier's submission to her husband.That mountain of noise and of flesh moved under the little finger of that frail despot.
Viewed on its dwarfed and grotesque side，this was that grand and universal thing，the adoration of mind by matter；for certain ugly features have a cause in the very depths of eternal beauty.
There was an unknown quantity about Thenardier；hence the absolute empire of the man over that woman.
At certain moments she beheld him like a lighted candle；at others she felt him like a claw.
This woman was a formidable creature who loved no one except her children，and who did not fear any one except her husband.She was a mother because she was mammiferous.
But her maternity stopped short with her daughters，and，as we shall see，did not extend to boys.
The man had but one thought，——how to enrich himself.
He did not succeed in this.
A theatre worthy of this great talent was lacking.
Thenardier was ruining himself at Montfermeil，if ruin is possible to zero；in Switzerland or in the Pyrenees this penniless scamp would have become a millionaire；but an inn-keeper must browse where fate has hitched him.
It will be understood that the word inn-keeper is here employed in a restricted sense，and does not extend to an entire class.
In this same year，1823，Thenardier was burdened with about fifteen hundred francs'worth of petty debts，and this rendered him anxious.