‘I am Madame Choux, the housekeeper, and you answer to me,’ she announced by way of greeting. ‘Madame said to expect you. Your uniforms are in your room. Lizette will show you where to go. Once you have changed come straight back down and I will explain your duties.’ She turned away, calling over her shoulder, ‘Lizette, take these two upstairs and show them where they will be sleeping.’

A small, dark-haired girl with wide, frightened eyes emerged from the scullery and, edging round the table, murmured, ‘It’s this way.’

They followed her up two flights of twisting stairs onto a landing that ran the length of the house. Halfway along she opened a door and said, ‘In here, but you’d better be quick, Madame Choux don’t like to be kept waiting.’

‘Thank you, Lizette,’ Agathe said with a smile. ‘You go back downstairs, we can find our own way down.’

‘Yes, miss,’ whispered the girl, recognising that the older of the newcomers was of higher status than she, and with that she scurried off down the stairs.

Annette and Agathe looked round the room that was to be their refuge for the next few weeks. It was small, with two metal bedsteads crammed in, side by side. A chest of drawers stood in a corner and there were hooks on the back of the door on which to hang clothes. In a pile on the single chair that stood in the other corner was a plain black dress, a starched apron and a white cap, clearly meant for Annette, and on one of the beds was another apron and a black lace cap. Both clearly denoted the standing of the wearer in the household.

Agathe took off her travelling cloak and, putting her bag on the bed where the apron lay, said, ‘Well, we’re at close quarters, Annette, but at least we have beds to sleep in and work to do to earn our bread.’ She reached for the apron and put it on over the plain stuff dress she was wearing, the one she’d always worn when keeping house for Father Lenoir. She glanced across at Annette, who remained standing pale-faced by the door, and said briskly, ‘Come along, Annette, change into your uniform. You’re lucky you have one provided and don’t have to buy your own, as many maids must do.’

For a moment Annette didn’t move and then – it was almost as if she had given herself a shake – she took off her outdoor shawl and hung it on the back of the door. Removing her skirt and bodice, she reached for the dress on the chair and struggled into it. At first she doubted she could do it up, but with help from Agathe and careful adjustment she managed to ease it over her stomach before tying the apron around her waist to disguise the bulge of her baby. It was a very snug fit, but it would have to do until she could loosen it further.