The moment Didier closed the door behind him, Hélène went straight upstairs, retreating to the sanctuary of her room, and locked herself in. She flung herself down on her bed in a depth of despair too deep for tears. She had seen the look in Simon’s eyes as he’d held her face in his hands. He had been enjoying her fear, and that was the most frightening thing of all.

Chapter 39

Annette went into the kitchen, where Agathe was discussing the preparations for the wedding breakfast with Madame Paquet. Agathe took one look at Annette’s face and brought her conversation to a close, saying, ‘I’m sure it will be perfect, Adèle. I rely on you entirely.’

‘Aunt Agathe, I need to talk to you for a moment.’ Seeing how serious Annette looked, Agathe led her into her sitting room and closed the door.

‘You look worried,’ she said. ‘What on earth’s happened?’

‘I am worried, Aunt. We’ve just been to the Garden House with Monsieur Barnier…’ She hesitated, trying to find the words to explain.

‘And…?’ prompted Agathe.

‘And something happened while we were there.’

‘Something? What something?’

Annette explained how she had been told to wait outside while Monsieur Barnier showed Hélène round the house that was going to be her home.

‘He’s dismissed all the servants who waited on old Madame Barnier and he’s hired a whole new staff. Hélène won’t know any of them, except me.’

‘That usually happens when a bride moves into her new home,’ Agathe pointed out. ‘Even if the old servants were still there, she wouldn’t know them, would she?’

‘No,’ agreed Annette cautiously, ‘but surely a new bride should have some say in the hiring of those who will wait on her.’

‘Perhaps Monsieur Barnier simply wanted to save her the trouble of engaging new servants.’

Annette shook her head. ‘No, Aunt, I think he has chosen them to spy on her.’

‘That’s a serious accusation,’ Agathe warned her. ‘You must be careful what you say.’

‘I’m only saying it to you,’ Annette said. ‘But that’s not all. Something happened while we were there. I was waiting downstairs in the porch as instructed while he took her upstairs to show her her bedchamber. They had been up there for some time when Hélène suddenly screamed. Such a scream! I rushed upstairs to see what had happened, but by the time I got to them they were coming back along the landing and Monsieur Barnier was scolding her for screaming at the sight of a spider.’

‘Perhaps she had…?’ suggested Agathe mildly.

‘That scream was not about a spider, Aunt, it was a scream of pure terror. You should have seen her face.’

‘But what could he have done with you standing in the hall downstairs?’

‘Almost anything,’ replied Annette. ‘He had certainly hit her, the mark of his hand was red on her cheek. He’s a monster and she shouldn’t be marrying him.’

‘Well,’ said Agathe with a sigh, ‘there’s nothing we can do about that.’