“Are you insane?” he hissed urgently. “That’s my hiding place. That’s just for you and me.”

“It was a trap. He’s been shot. We have to hide him,” Thomas answered.

Luc moaned.

“You don’t understand. They’ll know my hiding place.”

“Not if we’re quick. We left them back at the bottom of the hill. They’ve hardly started searching yet. Open the back door, for God’s sake.”

“Oh, brother, you’ve just killed me,” Luc told him.

But Thomas took no further notice.

“We’ll need a lamp,” he said.

It was a long night. At about midnight, the police rapped on the door of the house. Luc, half asleep, opened the door. He seemed puzzled, and asked them what it was all about. They searched the house, went into the garden at the back, opened the shed. But Luc had done a good job. There was no sign of people hiding or of any disturbance to the place at all. After searching the other buildings nearby, the police abruptly left.

For Thomas and Max, alone with Charlie in the cave, the hours passed slowly. They hadn’t taken Charlie all the way down to the chamber at the end, but found a place around the first bend where there was enough room for him to lie comfortably. Some of the food supplies that Luc had stored were stacked just a few feet away.

Max had looked carefully at the wound in Charlie’s back. Charlie was shivering a little.

“Can we get a doctor?” Thomas asked.

“Difficult now. Maybe in the morning,” said Max.

“I just thought …”

“I was in the war in Spain,” said Max quietly. “I saw a lot of people get hit. Just trust me.”

A little after midnight, Charlie’s mind seemed to wander. He started murmuring. He said the name of Louise. Then Esmé. Then he grew quiet. He was breathing with difficulty.

“Mon ami,” said Max, “you know who I am?”

“Yes, Max,” said Charlie.

“We were betrayed tonight. Could it have been Corinne?”

“Never. She would never …”

“One can never be sure, Charlie. What if the Gestapo threatened her family?”

“She came from England. She’s no family here, except for her son, Esmé.”

“Where’s he?”

“Down in the country with his grandparents. The Germans think they’re Vichy.” He paused. “Max, I’d better tell you I’m his father.”

“Ah.” Max considered. “She wouldn’t betray the father of her son. No, I don’t believe that. But if she didn’t betray us deliberately, then she must have been used. Someone planted the information on her.” He nodded. “I have to warn her, Charlie. I’d better do it fast.”

“Yes. Don’t be seen.”

“I’ll take care. But remember, Charlie, Corinne’s your contact. We just get the messages at the safe house. You’ll have to tell me who she really is.”

“Madame Louise. She owns L’Invitation au Voyage.”

“Ah. I know of it, of course. It might have been one of her girls, then.”

“Perhaps … Or someone else.”