‘It is a little – difficult,’ Emilie said at length. ‘My niece and I are here for a holiday. We wish to have a quiet time and would remain – incognito.’

‘I am sure your wishes will be respected, Madame,’ the clerk said, but there was the light of curiosity in his eyes.

‘Yes, incognito,’ Emilie repeated. ‘That is the right word.’ She dipped the pen in the ink and in a strong, bold hand wrote ‘Madame – ’. Then again she hesitated until finally with a little laugh she added a name. ‘I am Madame Secret,’ she said, ‘at least for my stay here in this charming holiday resort.’

‘It is as Madame wishes,’ the clerk said, but Emilie noticed that once again he glanced towards the jewel case with its embossed coronet in Jeanne’s hands.

But Emilie still hesitated.

‘My niece – ’ she said at last and wrote another name. Mistral glanced at what her aunt had written. The bold, large handwriting was easily decipherable. Emilie had written Mademoiselle Fântóme.

The suite into which they were shown was delightful. It consisted of a large room for Emilie, a smaller one for Mistral, a sitting room with a balcony connecting the two. Emilie had instructed a lawyer in Paris to write for the best apartments that the hotel could command, and while he had obeyed her, giving no name but saying only that a client of his would be arriving in Monte Carlo on the 28th February, Emilie had not anticipated anything so comfortable from what she remembered as an untended, straggling orange grove.

It was late in the evening when they arrived and despite the disappointment in Mistral’s face she had insisted on dining upstairs.

‘I do not wish you to be seen until our trunks are unpacked,’ she said. ‘When we appear, we must be dressed in our best so that people will notice us.’

‘But, Aunt Emilie, I thought you said that you wished to be incognito?’ Mistral asked bewildered.

Emilie looked at her in a strange way, and then said abruptly ‘Do not ask so many questions, Mistral. I am tired. Tomorrow I will explain things to you – at least those which it is important for you to know, but tonight I shall retire early. I wish to be alone.’

‘But of course, Aunt Emilie, I understand,’ Mistral said. ‘You must be very tired after such a long journey. Indeed I am tired myself, but more with excitement than anything else. I cannot tell you how I long to see Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean. I wish it was not so dark.’

She went to the open, uncurtained window, staring out into the deep purple twilight. Emilie called her back almost irritably.

‘Go and help Jeanne with the unpacking, child, and do not show yourself at the window.’

‘Yes, Aunt Emilie.’