‘We’re well enough,’ she replied, ignoring his second question with a twitch of her lips. ‘The apartment isn’t large, but we are comfortable. We have plenty to fill our days, and you know, I don’t think I’d like to be a lady of leisure.’

‘What about Hélène?’

‘She’s no longer a lady of leisure, either. She certainly does her share. We’ve had to be realistic, Pierre. Aunt Agathe gave us money to tide us over, but it won’t last for ever, so we’ve had to find some means of support.’

‘Madame Sauze said to tell you that she has made arrangements for you to draw money from Monsieur Colet if you need to.’

Annette smiled. ‘How like her,’ she said. ‘Please thank her for us, but say we’ve enough to be going on with. I’ve actually managed to get us some sewing work from a dressmaker with a workshop nearby. I collect the work and bring it home, so they have no idea that it’s a lady who’s doing it. It’s just plain sewing, but it’s something Hélène does well and I’m getting better at. It doesn’t pay much, but we don’t need a lot.’

‘So she’s earning your livings!’

‘Yes, she’s teaching me to sew and I’m teaching her to cook,’ said Annette, which made Pierre laugh.

‘Are you indeed? And is she any good at it?’

‘She will be,’ Annette replied. ‘Anyone can learn to cook if you show them how.’

Their coffee and pastries arrived, and once Pierre knew they would not be interrupted any further he said, ‘I’ve lots to tell, there have been developments.’

‘What sort of developments?’ demanded Annette.

‘Simon has dismissed his staff and moved back into Gavrineau with his parents. He’s back in the separate wing where he was before.’

‘Does that mean he’s given up looking for us?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe. I doubt it some. Her disappearance on the eve of her wedding was a great blow to his pride. He wasn’t left waiting at the Mairie with his family, but everyone is talking about what happened, so he might as well have been. I’ve a shrewd suspicion that he’s employing someone to find her.’

‘But why? Surely he doesn’t want to marry her any more.’

‘Who can tell with a man like that? He considered that she belonged to him and he’s not the man to give up anything he owns.’

‘You can’t own a person,’ stated Annette.

‘I think you can try,’ replied Pierre, ‘if you’re a man like Simon Barnier. Perhaps he thinks she’ll eventually come back to Belair in disgrace. If she did, she would be completely ostracised. Maybe that’s what he’s hoping for: her public disgrace.’

‘I doubt if she’ll do that. What do her parents think?’

‘Her father is so angry and ashamed that he has disowned her. He has forbidden her name to be mentioned at Belair.’

‘And Madame?’

‘Madame, I think, has sympathy for her. She has seen the other side of Monsieur Barnier and I think she’s quite happy for her daughter to remain in hiding. I think she guesses that Madame Sauze probably knows where you are, but she hasn’t asked her. I think it’s the reason we’ve come back to Paris for a while. Madame was tired of apologising for Hélène’s disappearance. She’s brought Miss Louise with her and will be staying in the Avenue Ste Anne for a time. Monsieur will come occasionally, he has work to do in the city, but I think neither of them wants to be at Belair just now.’