[The young man seems to find nothing amiss, leading Jean Valjean to wonder if he had simply been imagining things. The trek had quite exhausted him after all. He looks into the crackling fire.]

Your mother told me you were quite young still when you went abroad. In this land I suppose even the smallest bits of familiarity seem dear, especially when you have just arrived.

[Moreover, while Fergus may have been adopted, this does not diminish his bond with Claire, not in Jean Valjean’s eyes. His own daughter is adopted, and she comprises the whole of his world.]