‘I’m okay,’ I said.

‘You look . . .’

He didn’t go further, but his thick brows hunched together and his gaze travelled from the empty glass in my hand to the bottle in my other. In the end it was my clothing he remarked on.

‘Is that blood on your dress?’

I looked down. My dress had dried, but the stain that darkened the front of it was unmistakable. He strode into the room, filling up the space, and I could smell the sweet scent of hay on him. Had he been feeding Cosette?

‘Where is André?’ I asked.

‘He has gone to the doctor in Nîmes. For x-rays.’

‘Is he worse?’

‘He says not. I have to believe him. He tells me little.’ His head swayed from side to side, a habit he’d picked up from his bulls. ‘Louis drove him in my truck.’

‘Papa, I saw a man die today.’

A low curse. ‘Who?’

I put down the glass and brandy bottle. ‘An American airman in the street in Serriac. There was an anti-nuclear demonstration of workers from Marseille and fights broke out. It was like a . . .’ I paused. ‘. . . a war.’

He turned away. ‘You know nothing of war, girl.’

‘Papa, please.’ I went to him, close enough to see that the sinews at the side of his neck were taut as bowstrings. ‘I know about fifty-three people,’ I said softly, ‘shot in a barn during the First World War.’

He made a sound. A cough. As though he’d been punched in the chest.

‘Please, Papa, tell me about it. Tell me what happened and why it’s important to Mayor Durand.’

‘One of these days I’ll kill that bastard,’ he growled into his beard.

‘Papa, everything is twisted in a maze of lies and secrets that lead me in all the wrong directions. Please, Papa. Talk to me. I need to know what happened.’

‘Eloïse, you need to know nothing.’

I delved into my bag, pulled out the envelope from Mayor Durand’s desk and held it out to my father. For a fleeting second I thought he was not going to take it, but he did and eased out the yellowed newspaper cutting from inside. I heard him inhale, a gust of air. That was all. For two minutes we stood without a word until slowly his voice rumbled up from somewhere deep in his chest.