“She broke the stopper of the sherry bottle. Deliberately. She smashed it down in the hearth. She’d have broken more things if I hadn’t stopped her. You remember that Lalique vase we used to have on the mantelpiece? She broke that too, a while back.”

“But I thought you didn’t know what happened to that stopper.”

“I didn’t want to talk about it. I’m still feeling shaken. She stubbed out a cigarette on the couch too. Look.” She pointed.

“I’ve never seen her smoking.” Robert walked across to the couch and touched the black scorch mark.

“You’ve never seen her eat either. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t do it.”

He went to the fireplace and started peering, as though looking for shards of glass. Evidence.

“I think I’ll go to my shoe room. I’d like to be alone for a while.”

“You’re lying to me.” His voice was flat. Resigned. “You’ve been lying to me for a long time.”

Genevieve swallowed. “Why should I lie? She was a silly girl, prone to hysteria. Good riddance, I say. I’ll find a replacement soon enough.”

“I’m not just talking about the maid!” His fist crashed down on the mantelpiece.

“Darling…”

“Tell me the truth for once. Are you having an affair?”

“No.” She could barely get the word out.

“You were seen, damn it! Harry’s wife saw you!”

The Luxembourg Gardens…That woman…

He sat down and put his head in his hands.

“I was, but it’s over,” she said quietly. “I won’t be seeing him again.”

“I loved you so much.” He rubbed at his face. “But how can I go on loving you? I can’t believe anything you’re saying to me.”

Genevieve sat alone in her shoe room, her eyes red sore and dry as sandpaper. She was thinking about a game that the little boy downstairs played if he saw you in the lift or the hallway. He thought that if he covered his eyes with his hands, he was hidden. He couldn’t see you and therefore you couldn’t see him. He was invisible.

She wished she too could cover her eyes and vanish.

She was sitting on the floor, barefoot, her back to the wall. In front of her were two pairs of shoes. Red Genoese velvet, the buckles set with tiny diamonds. And two beasts facing each other to fight or mate. Gold heels with a G and a P intertwined in mirror writing.

The door opened. Genevieve kept her eyes on the shoes.

“Genevieve…”

“These are fiddly to clean.” She picked up one of the red shoes. “One should tease the velvet with the softest of brushes and polish the glass with a little newspaper, taking care not to smear newsprint on the fabric. The diamonds should be left well alone or one might loosen their settings.”

“There’s something I need to know.”