[He thinks that it is not rebellion to defy the law when the law is unjust. It is less a defiance and more a compliance with the law of God, whose forgiveness Jean Valjean received on the condition that he live honestly and righteously - and to him, it would be dishonest to ignore the suffering of one who stands before him, when he knows precisely this brand of debasement.
Seeing how she fits herself into his work, he continues the deception by affecting a harsh tone and crying aloud:]
Quiet, you!
[In such a fashion, they blend into the scene that unfolds around them and thus they are paid little attention. Jean Valjean is swift in his work, keen from his experience in the way that a knife is made keen by the sharpening block. What he has drawn from his pocket, and what he now obscures with his coat sleeve, is a convict's dearest possession: a large coin that is hollowed out in the center to accommodate a tiny saw, with which he files through the ropes that bind her.]
no subject
Seeing how she fits herself into his work, he continues the deception by affecting a harsh tone and crying aloud:]
Quiet, you!
[In such a fashion, they blend into the scene that unfolds around them and thus they are paid little attention. Jean Valjean is swift in his work, keen from his experience in the way that a knife is made keen by the sharpening block. What he has drawn from his pocket, and what he now obscures with his coat sleeve, is a convict's dearest possession: a large coin that is hollowed out in the center to accommodate a tiny saw, with which he files through the ropes that bind her.]