like a brother and sister were going to do so

Like a big brother, and Sister Simplice was going to do the same. As he rose from the table, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," said the bishop. The door opened. A strange and violent group appeared at the threshold. Three men were holding the collar of a fourth. The three men were gendarmes. The other was Jean Valjean. The gendarme who appeared to be leading the group was standing near the door. He entered and approached the bishop, giving a military salute. "Monsieur le Monseigneur—" he said. At these words, Jean Valjean, who seemed melancholy and dejected, raised his face in an air of astonishment. "Monsieur le Monseigneur!" he muttered. "So it is not the curé?... "Silence!" said the gendarme. "It is my lord the bishop." Meanwhile, Monseigneur Bienvenu approached as quickly as his age allowed. "Ah! Here you are!" he exclaimed, seeing Jean Valjean. "I am glad to see you. Well, but! I gave you the candlesticks too, they are made of silver like the others, and you might have two hundred francs for them. Why did you not carry them away with the cutlery?" Jean Valjean opened his eyes and gazed at the venerable bishop with an expression that no human tongue could describe.