Éponine snorted emphatically, which was not terribly decorous but she didn't care.

"Good heavens, no, though I'd hardly have blamed you if you did! But that's the thing, you see." She started to pace, her hands curling into loose fists and uncurling again repeatedly, but looked at him as if he'd just accomplished some impossible feat. There was a touch of envy in her voice. "Look where you've landed, and likely without cheating your way there."