Alexandre Dumas on a childhood anectdote of the Hugos in colonized Spain

(as a warning, there's a brief mention of physical violence and an implication of rape)

(context is the school (the seminaire des Nobles*) was attended only by spanish nobles supporting Joseph bonaparte (only 25 students were left, before the napoleonic invasion it hosted 300) Victor was refered to as Count, that made him very proud. Victor was 9, Eugène was 10, and Abel Hugo was 12.)(Adèle Hugo also tells this story in her bio of Vic)

"there was a boy who was exceptionaly, not a noble, but nevertheless he wasn't the less remarkable figure at the college. He was a young officer, 15 years old, he was named Lillo**, was made a prisoner at the site of Badajoz. He had fought like a demon, killed a french grenadier, and could only be caught after a heroic defense. He was going to be executed (shot) but, by chance, Marshal Soult passed by, was informed, learnt what all that was about and sent him to Madrid with the order to be sent to the College. The order was executed: Lillo was sent to the college, only that in the capacity of both student and prisonner. This child, who had had the title of sous-lieutenenant, who had commanded men, who had roamed the country side with his (harnois, military equipment) on his back, took the college discipline badly for it was abounding in jesuitic silliness, to which, excepting in the common dormitory, where everyone had their private alcove, he was submitted like the others.

Thus he lived, how it was allowed, solitary, and nursing a rage in the bottom of his heart. In his interactions with the other young people, he was cold, melancoly and haughty.

there's no need to say that the three Frenchmen (the Hugos) where object of his private hatred, and that at every instant he held a grudge, (edit: thanks @gavroche-le-moineau for the heads up on “avoir maille à partir avec”!!) him, a soldier of Ferdinand VII, against one or the other of the three sons, and sometimes with the three sons of general joseph. One day, facing Eugene, he refered to Napoleon as Napoladrón (napoleon the thief) ; it must be said that this was the name given almost daily to the victor of Austerlitz.

The insult stinged Eugène, who hit back with this verbal riposte: Lillo had been found when taken prisoner, between the legs*** of the french grenadiers.

Lillo had a compass in his hand; he did not stop to look for another weapon, he flung himself over Eugène, and hit him violently in the cheek.

The injury, or rather, the cut (blessure ou plutot la déchirure) was an inch and a half long. Eugène wanted to duel him, Lillo wanted nothing less, but the professors intervened and separated the young man and the child.

The next day, Lillo had disapeared, and neither Victor nor his brothers never knew what became of him. I can still hear Victor's low voice the day he told me this story: -He was right, this young man: he was defending his country…. but children can't understand that!

*actually both Adele and Dumas say he went to de college des nobles, when the hugos actually attended el Real Colegio de San Antonio Abad (?) nobody knows why the name of the school was changed in both retellings of the story. so it might have been Romantizized, possibly by Hugo.

**Adéle calls the boy Lino, and in fact a Lino Fabrat is listed as a student in the college in 1811

***Eugène seems too young at 10, to be implying Lillo/Lino was raped by the soldiers, but he might be repeating innocently (or not that innocently, the Hugos had seen their share of crimes of war as children in Spain) something he had heard from others

(i was able to get those footnotes thanks to this article -in spanish- about why Hugo includes Badajoz in les mis)(it is extremely interesting and well researched, reveals a lot of how Victor reworked actual events and characters into his fictions)