“No one told me anything.” Celine shrugged and slipped the cosmetics back into her handbag. “Most of that was conjecture. Based on your appearance, your speech, and your familiarity with the possible reaction of the Ritz residents to my presence, as well as the needs of couture houses.”

“Conjecture?” Estelle repeated.

“Was I right?”

“Jesus.” This ice princess was disturbing. Estelle started walking, heading back toward the front of the basilica.

Celine fell into step beside her. “I need to become one of them too. Blend in. Just long enough to get what I came for. And I need you to help me do that.”

Estelle stopped. “You don’t need me. All you need is an empty Luftwaffe bed that requires warming,” she snapped. “You simply need to become a horizontal collaborator. That would seem like the obvious answer, no?”

Something flickered across Celine’s face, an emotion so fleeting that Estelle was unable to name it. “I’ve considered that. I’d prefer not to do so.”

Estelle regretted her impulsive words almost immediately but there was something about this particular agent that had her on edge. A cold intensity that Estelle wasn’t sure she could trust.

They had almost reached the top of the wide stone steps, still in the shadows of the low, overhanging branches. People were trudging up and down the expanse from the narrow street that snaked around the basilica, still more on the lower staircases below that fell away toward the city. Estelle scrutinized the crowds but saw nothing out of place. Still, she couldn’t shake the sense of disquiet that gripped her.

Estelle lowered her voice. “Look, I can provide you with introductions to these wives and mistresses and likely whatever officers or artists or industrialists you require. But I can’t get involved in whatever they’ve sent you here to do,” she said, shaking her head. “I have my own obligations and duties. I have people who depend on me, and I cannot afford the additional risk.”

Celine said nothing.

“I’m sorry. I truly am,” Estelle said. “There is a café in which you can find me at a certain time during the week. Vivienne will be able to tell you the specifics if you still wish me to make introductions. But beyond that, I can’t help you—” She stopped abruptly as her eye was caught by a man emerging from the center of the three massive archways.