Page 126 of Daughters of Paris

Laurent left Paris on the seventh of September. The weather had turned wet and Fleur met him under the archways of the Palais Garnier. The once vibrant and brightly lit opera house was, like all buildings, boarded up to prevent any escaping light. The performance would soon end, as dictated by curfew, and then he would leave her. When the audience flowed out, Laurent would blend in among them, making his way to the railway station. He was to go by train from the Gare Saint-Lazare to a destination he would not name, be met by a courier, and escorted to a safe house. From there, Laurent Renou would cease to exist and another man would travel onwards, eventually to be taken by plane to Britain. He did not yet know the name he would travel under.

He was dressed in a smart suit with a silk tie, beneath a fine wool coat, suitable for a night at the opera. He looked impossibly handsome and Fleur couldn’t stop looking at him. If she never saw him again, she knew she’d have this memory fixed in her mind for all time. They held each other tightly, to any observer a couple snatching a few moments of intimacy with nothing better on their minds than keeping out of the rain.

‘Are you sure you won’t change your mind? It’s not too late to come with me,’ Laurent said.

Fleur bit her lip. The temptation was great, but it was too late, whatever he said. Only one set of papers would be waiting. One set of clothes. One seat in an aeroplane.

‘You know I can’t.’

He nodded, not really expecting a different answer to the question he had asked a dozen times. ‘I hope Colette realises how much you care for her.’

‘I’ll make sure she does.’ Fleur smiled, though it was forced.

The doors beside them opened and the audience began to leave the building. Chattering and bidding each other goodnight, they could have no suspicion of the farewell that was taking place.

Their time was up.

They exchanged a look of undiluted grief.

‘I’ll wait,’ Fleur whispered. ‘When this is all over you could come back.’

‘Don’t wait.’ Laurent took Fleur’s hands and clasped them tightly. His eyes were watery. ‘I don’t know if I’ll get back there alive and I won’t be able to let you know either way. I don’t want you to spend your life waiting for something that might never be able to happen. I want to think of you being happy. Marrying, having children, being happy.’

Fleur’s eyes filled. ‘I’ll never forget you.’

‘I should hope not. I’m very memorable,’ he said, smiling.

He bent and kissed her softly on the lips. She closed her eyes, savouring the last touch. The pressure of his lips lifted and he spoke quietly, his breath like a feather on her cheek.

‘Goodbye, my dearest. Whatever happens to me, I’ll carry you in my heart for ever.’

She felt his absence before she opened her eyes and when she turned to look for him, she saw him walking alongside a group, nodding and giving the impression that he was a part of a conversation. He caught her looking and his eye flickered in a brief wink. Her spirits lifted a little. He was clever and brave. If any man could reach safety, that man would be Laurent.

She made her way home. Colette was alone.

‘I suggested Sophie should spend the night at the hotel seeing Josette. I thought you would like an empty house. How do you feel?’

‘Thank you.’ Fleur sagged onto the sofa and kicked off her shoes. ‘I feel like I’m lost. I feel like he ripped out my heart and carried it away with him.’

‘Will you keep doing what you’ve been doing?’

Fleur sniffed and wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks. ‘Laurent wants me to. Elouard too, especially now he has lost a man.’ She looked at Colette through filmy eyes. By now, Laurent would be far away from the city, on a train steaming through the countryside toward an unknown destination. Could there be any harm in telling Colette the truth now, if Fleur did not even know herself the direction he was travelling in? If anyone came searching, they’d lie as they had done when Sébastien had gone.

No, she’d wait a few more hours just to be on the safe side.

In the morning, she made coffee and sat opposite Colette at the table.

‘Laurent is going to Britain. Because that is where he comes from. I didn’t know until the night in July he came here and told me.’

Predictably, Colette was shocked and fascinated. Fleur shared as much as she could, save for the fact that Laurent had invited her to go with him and that she had declined for Colette’s sake. That was her choice and not a burden she wanted to place on her friend. She was weary to the bone and heartsore when she finished.

‘How have you managed all these months? Not knowing where Sébastien is or even if he is alive? How do you find the strength to get out of bed every day and keep living?’

Colette wrapped her arms around Fleur. ‘I do it because I have to for Louise. And I can only do that because you have given me the strength to keep going. I couldn’t have done it without you and now I am here for you. I don’t know if our men will ever come back to us but we have each other and we always will. We are luckier than some. We have a house, we have food, and we have friendship. That is more than many people can hope for, even without a war going on. We have each other and we always will.’

Fleur leaned against Colette, feeling slightly less distraught. ‘You’re right. Together we can survive anything.’

Months passed and there was no word from Laurent. If Elouard had heard anything he did not share the information with Fleur.

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