Apart from that he frequented the American Club, where I was denied entry. I knew that he was a leader among the anti-Dreyfusards, a friend of Degas and of Monet. One of my first tasks should be to find out when and where his funeral would be held. Surely his old friend Monet would come to Paris for the funeral. Perhaps other friends would be there to chat and reminisce about him. With some sort of plan now in my head, I finally fell asleep.

***

I was awoken by a tap on my door and Celeste came in, bearing a cup of tea on a tray. “A fine summer day, madame,” she said. “Your friends say you prefer tea in the morning to coffee.” She set down the tray. “If you have laundry to be done, this is the time to give it to me.”

“I’m afraid my baby’s clothes get extremely dirty,” I said, but she waved this aside. “No problem, madame. I will take them when I come back for your tray.”

It seemed odd to have someone waiting on me again, and I couldn’t help thinking about little Aggie and her willingness to do the laundry. I pictured her scrawny form bent over the washboard as she scrubbed away. Poor young thing. She never had a chance to enjoy life.

Liam awoke and finding himself in a strange room, cried for me. I took him into bed with me and nursed him, bringing a feeling of peace to both of us. When I took him down to breakfast he was delighted to find his aunts from across the street waiting to play with him and didn’t complain at all when I slipped out. It was indeed a lovely day. The yellow stone glowed against a blue sky. It was the sort of day for picnics by the river, strolls though the gardens, shopping on the Boulevard Haussmann. But instead I turned onto the Rue François Premier and made for Reynold Bryce’s ground-floor apartment on the circle at the far end of the street, close to the river. I was relieved to find no policeman standing outside, but then wondered if that meant that the place was now locked up and the housekeeper would not be there either. What would happen to her? I wondered. Had Reynold Bryce left a provision for her in his will? Ah, that would be another avenue to pursue, if I could find out who his lawyer was. He was a wealthy man. To whom had that wealth been left?