As soon as she saw the document, Joséphine was sure that her husband was no longer living, but perhaps he was not quite dead either. At night, this vertiginous ambiguity drove her mad. Her husband wandered somewhere between life and death, between heaven and limbo, between the memories she had of him and that empty space beside her in the bed. It was dreadful. His body was nowhere, but everywhere.

On the other hand, the document the mayor had received put things into perspective for all those who had received no news of their father or son. At least they could tell themselves that no news was good news. The worst thing about it was that Joséphine did not pray; she never called on God to reaffirm her soul, never went to Mass, and sought no other solace than the cold comfort of her secular books. That was to say she was utterly alone. Joséphine may have been a beautiful woman with slender white hands, a large house with a grand gate, but as of two days ago no one even thought of envying her – quite the opposite. Instead they avoided her.

No doubt Joséphine knew nothing about lions, but everyone was waiting for her to go up and find out what type of animal flesh the German found to nourish his beasts, when down below they would soon run out of everything. They were waiting for her to honour her promise, which she did the day after the meeting without telling anyone. Right in the middle of the afternoon she saddled her horse, a stallion everyone was afraid of because he was so jittery, but who was as docile as a lamb in her hands. No one saw her start up the steep path and then embark on the impossible climb that went all the way to the top of the mountain. It was mad to set off when the sun was at its strongest. The women were working in the fields and spotted her between the trees. Her graceful silhouette could be glimpsed as she followed the steep twisting track upwards. The women stood up to get a better look at her. They exchanged glances but did not say a word. The higher she climbed the more she was hidden by the trees, until she disappeared from view completely. Then the women felt a little ashamed that they had left the widow to sacrifice herself.