Just about this time there were a lot of Rose Queens being crowned on the outskirts of Paris, and it occurred to Madame Husson that it might be a good idea for Gisors to have one of its own. She told the abbé Malou about her idea and he immediately drew up a list of candidates. Now Madame Husson had in service with her an elderly maid called Françoise, who was equally strict in her views. As soon as the priest had gone, her mistress called her and said: “Now look, Françoise, here’s a list of the girls Monsieur le curé recommends for their virtue. Try and find out what other people think of them, will you?”

Françoise applied herself to the task with vigour. She gathered together every scrap of gossip and tittle-tattle she could find and every hint of suspicion, however small. In case she should forget any details, she wrote them all down in her household expense book where, having adjusted her spectacles on her thin nose, Madame Husson would read:

Malvina Lavesque seen out last ear with Mathurin Poilu.

Rosalie Vatinel seen with Césaire Piénoir in Riboulet wood by Madame Onésine, laundress and presser on twentieth july at dusc.

Joséphine Durdent tho not believed to have fallen nonobstant in corraspondance with the Oportun boy now in servise in Rouen and he send her by diligence a present of a bonnet.

No girl emerged from this rigorous inquiry intact. Françoise asked everybody – neighbours, tradesmen, the infant-school teacher and the sisters at the convent school. She sniffed out the smallest scrap of information. And since there isn’t a girl in the world totally untouched by gossip, not a single young girl could be found in the entire district with no hint of scandal attached to her name.

Madame Husson, however, was determined that the Rose Queen of Gisors, like Caesar’s wife, should be entirely above suspicion. She was staggered and appalled by what she read in her maid’s expense book and began to despair of ever finding a suitable girl. The catchment area was enlarged to include a greater number of neighbouring villages. Still no one could be found. The Mayor was consulted. His own protégées also failed the test as did those of Dr Barbesol, despite the rigorously scientific nature of his assurances.

Then one day on her return from the shops Françoise said to her mistress: “You know, Madame, if you want to crown somebody local, it’s going to have to be Isidore.”

This set Madame Husson thinking.