Then I started to feel my way around the weapon, figuring out how it fitted together. It was a very different beast from the Enfields I’d used in the war. The sight, as I had already discovered, was mounted over the receiver instead of the butt-stock, which was itself unusually long and sleek. Hard to transport something this size. How had it been brought into the country? Diplomatic bag?

I spent several minutes sorting through all the thoughts that came to me. When my eyes had fully adjusted to the dark and I thought I could see how the rifle worked, I began a field-strip.

I detached the magazine, then lowered the safety and emptied the cartridge chamber. Then the sight. The eyepiece was still a little wet, so I took hold of a corner of curtain and dried it as best I could. Finally, I detached the cheek plate, followed by the receiver cover and retracting mechanism . . .

‘What you are doing?’

I looked up to see Isabelle staring at me from the bed.

‘Good morning,’ I said. ‘I’m cleaning the rifle. There’s been a power cut.’

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. ‘It is what time?’

I told her. She picked her damp dress from the floor and slipped it over her head with a shudder. It was a shame to watch her body vanish beneath the fabric - I had an urge to get up and help her take it back off.

I placed the rifle back in its case and walked over to the bed.

‘I’m sorry about last night,’ I said, seating myself beside her.

She pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled, her teeth gleaming in the soft bluey-greyness of the room. ‘You have nothing to be sorry about.’

‘Not that,’ I said. ‘Earlier, when I made all those accusations. Mistaking you for a spy.’

She tilted her head up sharply. ‘Why do you say that?’

It was my turn to smile. ‘Last time I checked, French intelligence still insists its agents have basic driving skills.’

She punched me in the shoulder. ‘Connard!’ But it was said with affection. ‘Did you also search my clothes for transmitters after I fell asleep?’ I didn’t react, and she punched me again.

‘What story did they give you?’ I asked. ‘They didn’t say it was your chance to help la patrie, I hope?’