Meanwhile, I pretend to believe in his boat, moored, he says, in the Port de l’Arsenal. Its existence (even fictional) makes him a man of property, a man of pride who, far from accepting charity from me in the shape of food parcels and loose change, is actually doing us all a favour by staying close by to watch over Vianne.

‘Been to check on the boat today?’

He shook his head. ‘Later, perhaps.’

This is another fiction I pretend to believe. That he goes over to the Arsenal every day to check on his boat. Of course I know he does no such thing. But I rather like to see him squirm. ‘If Thierry won’t see sense,’ I said, ‘it’s a comfort to think that Vianne and the kids could stay with you on the boat for a while. At least till they find another place – never easy at this time of year—’

He glared at me. ‘That’s not what I want.’

I gave him my sweetest smile. ‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘It’s just nice to know there’s the option, that’s all. So how are you set for tomorrow, Roux? Need any clothes washing?’

Once more he shook his head, and I wondered how he’d managed so far. There’s a laundrette round the corner, of course, and some public showers off the Rue Ganeron. That’s probably where he goes, I thought. He must think I’m an imbecile.

Still, I need him – for a little longer. After tomorrow it won’t matter any more. After that he can go to perdition any way he likes.

‘Why are you doing this, Zozie?’ It’s a question he has asked before, with a growing suspicion that only increases with every attempt I make at seduction. Some men are just like that, I think – impervious to my kind of charm. Still, it rankles. He owes me so much, and scarcely a word of gratitude—

‘You know why I’m doing it, Roux,’ I said, allowing a trace of asperity to enter my voice. ‘I’m doing it for Vianne and the kids. For Rosette, who deserves a father. For Vianne, who has never got over you. And – I’ll admit it – for myself, because if Vianne goes, I go, and I’ve come to like that chocolaterie, and I don’t see why I should have to leave.’

That convinced him. I knew it would. A suspicious type like Roux mistrusts anything close to altruism. Well, he would – Roux, who acts out of self-interest – who is only here now because he sees some profit in it for himself; some share in Vianne’s lucrative business, perhaps, now that he knows Rosette is his child—