‘That’s true,’ I admitted. ‘But can any of us really claim to be operating purely from a love of art and history? I think the real reason I’m prepared to look past my colleague’s laziness, if that’s what it boils down to, is that chemical analysis and dates can’t tell us everything about an artefact. They can provide clues, but they can’t string a narrative together. I want to fill in those gaps, if I can. When someone stands in front of that gown, I want them to feel as if the person who wore it is still there in the room with them. Clothes are uniquely placed to teach us about the world and ourselves, don’t you think?’

It was a gamble. I gazed down at my clasped hands. The splash of water from the nearby fountain and the throb of car engines coming from the street seemed like a distant melody. Striped tulips swayed in their planter boxes. When I finally gathered the courage to look up, I saw that Jeanette’s playful expression had hardened into one of serious absorption. She stood and picked up her purse.

‘I can give you fifteen minutes. Come with me.’

I followed her across the courtyard and through a side door in the museum’s façade. After some hurried consultation with a uniformed guard and a few discreet phone calls, she waved me through a security barrier. ‘It usually takes a lot longer to get clearance, but the director’s away at a conference and the deputy director owes me a favour. I’ve told him you’re an international historian at the top of your game working on a television series funded by the World Heritage Committee about trailblazing Dutch women artists.’ She flashed me a grin. ‘Never let the truth stand in the way of a convincing lie.’

She led the way down a series of twisted corridors, her heels clicking on the marble floors, until we reached a service lift. After riding it up a few floors, we emerged at last into the public reception foyer of an exhibition space that had been sectioned off from the main gallery by portable panels.

‘Here we are.’ Jeanette slung her handbag into a drawer inside a tall podium. ‘Excuse the mess. Most of the paintings are already in position, but we’ve had some lighting issues to fix. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it’s utter chaos right until the last second.’

‘There’s always so much to do,’ I agreed. ‘It feels like an impossible dream, like it can’t possibly come together. And then it does.’