‘Will she see me, do you think?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Annette. ‘She doesn’t know you’re here, and she doesn’t know… well, about your wife. You have to understand she was devastated when you wrote and told her you were married. It was only the second letter she’d had from you since you’d left.’

‘I know. My sister Frances was intercepting our letters, both the ones Hélène wrote to me and the ones I wrote her. Frances has admitted that now and I have all the letters she took.’

‘She didn’t take the one saying you were married,’ pointed out Annette. ‘Why was that?’

‘I didn’t know that she was taking them, but I posted that one myself.’ He looked at her worried face. ‘I had been going to suggest that you bring her to the hotel, where we could meet in private, but clearly we can’t do that now. Simon Barnier will suspect I’m up to something and have the hotel watched.’

‘Well, you can’t come to the apartment for the same reason,’ Annette told him firmly. ‘I’m not even going to tell you where it is, in case you’re tempted to come and bring your shadow with you.’

‘That’s fair enough for the moment,’ Rupert agreed. ‘Look, Annette, you’ve been a good friend to Hélène, and so I’m going to trust you even more than before.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bundle tied up in brown paper. ‘These are all the letters that Frances stole. She didn’t read them, they were still sealed when I got them back. I’ve opened them and when they are read in order, they tell the whole sorry story. Please will you go home to Hélène and tell her that I’m here in Paris? Tell her that Kitty, the girl I married, died with our child in February. Tell her… no, I’ll tell her that myself. Please give her the letters so that she can see I was begging her to write. Ask her to read them all and then ask her if she will let me come to her.’

Annette hesitated and then reached for the bundle and tucked it into her bag. ‘I’ll tell her what you say,’ she promised. ‘I have to get back to the stall now, but if you come and find me tomorrow I’ll tell you.’ She stood up and went on, ‘Don’t come near me again today – if you’re being followed we can’t risk them transferring the follower to me.’

‘Don’t worry, Annette.’ Rupert tried to sound reassuring. ‘I promise you, no one followed me this morning.’

‘Make sure no one does when you come tomorrow,’ warned Annette.

When she had gone, the precious bundle of letters in her bag, Rupert ordered more coffee and waited for her to get safely back to the market stall. When he left the café, he found Parker waiting for him outside.

‘You saw that girl I was with?’ Rupert asked.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘When she leaves the market later today, I want you to follow her and see where she goes. I want to know where she lives, and make sure no one else is tailing her. I’m going back to the hotel now.’