<blockquote>Fantine’s first taste of a lemon came when she was a child of perhaps eight. It was a cold day in February, though not bitterly cold; there was no snow on the ground; still, for a child with neither mother nor father to put woolen coats about her and sturdy shoes on her feet, the chill was sufficient. It had driven her inside a tavern. She was allowed to stay despite her empty pockets because she was quiet and because she was charming, and because the tavern was not very full.</blockquote>