Shivering while they waited to see if anything happened – and with the excuse that, if challenged, they would say they had wanted some fresh air – they decided they were being silly, after no one followed them out. ‘The evening’s spoilt now. I’d rather go home, Sibbie. We could tell Madame that we were too tired to enjoy it.’

‘Good idea. We’ll fetch our coats and have one more check, as we do so.’

They laughed at themselves as they saw that the two men they’d been afraid of were dancing with other girls. ‘Ha, it’s getting to us, girl. But even though there’s no threat now, I still think I’d like to go. I feel unnerved. Come on, let’s ride back by the river, I love that route. And in this moonlight it’ll be lovely.’

‘No, Sibbie, I just want to go home. I don’t feel safe.’

‘But that is the safest way, Marjie. I know it takes longer, but we miss the checkpoint on the main route. If the feeling we have is right and there is something amiss, the gendarmes may have been alerted.’

‘Yes, you’re right. By the river it is, then. Sibbie, what’s spooking you in particular?’

‘Madame. I haven’t said anything, but I feel there’s something not quite right.’

‘That’s exactly how I feel. Why this dance? She’s never suggested that we go out before, and she was so insistent. She seems to know too much, too.’

As they rode by the river, the sound of the lapping water in the quietness of the evening further enhanced their wariness. They rode their bicycles in silence, cutting behind the cathedral and through a dark, narrow street to reach the shop.

‘That’s odd, Sibbie, there isn’t a light in the place. Madame didn’t say she was going out, did she?’

‘No, let’s pull up a mo.’

They stood on the deserted pavement, looking around them. Nothing seemed untoward, and yet everything felt sinister. Marjie felt the muscles in her stomach contract. ‘I don’t like it, Sibbie.’

‘No, neither do I. I think we should go in the back way.’ Sibbie’s whisper held her fear, and her head bobbed this way and that. Every shadow seemed to hold danger. ‘If we creep up the fire escape and get in through the attic room, then we can get to our room and lock the door. At least then, if anything happens, we can be ready to defend ourselves.’

Marjie’s unease increased as they reached the back gate and saw dim rays of light coming through the broken slats of the attic-window shutters. Leaning their bikes against the wall, they signalled to each other the code for arming themselves.