Page 108 of Daughters of Paris

Fleur twisted the cup in her hands and smiled bleakly. ‘I’m not the one you should be giving that advice to.’

Ah, so it was like that, was it? Colette said nothing but promised herself that if the opportunity arose, she would indeed pass on her thoughts to Laurent.

Four days after Sébastien left, the bookshop door opened and a man walked in. He was not a soldier but wore a uniform of some sort. An official. Colette gripped hold of her book. The visitor might just be a customer or on another matter but Sébastien had warned her there would be repercussions for his disappearance. The warning meant she had already considered how to respond.

‘Good afternoon, may I help you?’ Fleur asked politely. ‘We are closing in half an hour.’

Just the right combination of politeness and confidence, Colette thought approvingly. After all, what did either of them have to hide?

‘I am looking for Fräulein Nadon. Is this you?’

‘It’s me.’ Colette laid her book face down on the table. Knowing Fleur’s opinion of people who did that, she thought better of it and inserted a hairpin into the page. ‘Is there something the matter? Are my parents ill?’

‘I am not here to discuss your parents. My name is Herr Gersdorf. I am looking for the whereabouts of Sébastien Guyon.’

Colette pushed her bottom lip out. ‘Well, if you find him, please let me know. I haven’t seen him for almost a week.’

‘Really?’ The man looked unconvinced.

Colette and Fleur exchanged a worried glance.

‘We can’t help you, I’m afraid,’ Fleur said. ‘Have you looked at the Café Morlaix?’

‘We tried his place of work. A customer said he often spends time with you here. You are his lover, we understand,’ he said, turning back to Colette.

Colette flushed. It wasn’t a secret, but she wondered which of the patrons had given them up. She couldn’t blame them. Under threat from this rather sinister-looking man most people would do what they could to be rid of him. She stood and patted her belly.

‘You could say that,’ she said bitterly.

‘He is the father of your child?’

‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Colette scowled. ‘What has he done?’

‘He is missing. He was supposed to report for STO two days ago and he did not. He is now viewed as a fugitive.’

‘No, oh no!’ Colette sank onto her chair and dropped her head onto the table. Fleur ran over and began to fuss around her.

‘Are you faint? Do you need water? This is terrible. How can you surprise her with this information?’

This last question was addressed to the visitor.

‘Men are such snakes,’ Colette sobbed.

‘You did not know this?’ Herr Gersdorf hadn’t been affected by Fleur’s recriminations.

‘No, I didn’t,’ Colette answered plaintively. ‘He never tells me anything. We argued last week when he had drunk too much, and I haven’t seen him since. I thought he must be sleeping off his bad head somewhere. Have you checked the prisons? Please will you help us find him?’

Now Herr Gersdorf did look slightly taken aback. Presumably he was not used to being asked on behalf of French women to help find missing men.

‘Naturally, we investigated all departments for his whereabouts. He is not anywhere in our system.’

A chill ran down Colette’s back.Our system.Such a mild term for what it represented. Interrogation and torture. She began to cry. It was easy to do. The tension combined with her racing mood in late pregnancy and the loss of Sébastien gave her plenty to cry about.

‘Have you checked the brothels? Why am I so unfortunate? I should have listened to mymaman. She cautioned me against men, but I was too stupid. He promised me that when the baby came, he would marry me. And now he’s run off and I’ll never see him again. Oh what am I to do?’ She dropped her head onto the table again and began to wail. Her heart thumped painfully and the baby rolled over, pressing uncomfortably on her bladder as it had a habit of doing lately. She let out a moan and sat up.

Their interrogator appeared unmoved. ‘I would like to search your apartment. I will do it now.’

He walked to the door, clapped his hands and two soldiers walked in. Young men, both with carefully neutral expressions. Herr Gersdorf spoke rapidly to them in German. They walked into the back room, weapons at the ready but returned shortly and gave their report. No fugitive there.

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