Page 36 of Daughters of Paris

As she walked home with Fleur after the long morning, she was still thinking about the unspoken accusation.

‘Do you think they were talking about themarché noir, or suggesting the woman was sleeping with a German?’

Fleur looked sceptical. ‘No one would sleep with the enemy just for stockings, would they?’

‘Maybe if they were very good nylon or silk,’ Colette said, giving a laugh.

‘Talking of which, I need to spend tonight darning and mending. Would you like to come join me and listen to the radio?’ Fleur asked.

‘I can’t,’ Colette answered. ‘I’m going to see Josette.’

Fleur narrowed her eyes. ‘Has she started going to the clubs with Sophie? Will you go too?’

‘She goes, but I won’t,’ Colette answered. After her initial horror, Josette had resigned herself to sharing a roof with Germans. Her descriptions of evenings spent listening to music and talking to the soldiers staying at the hotel were hard to resist. Though so far Colette had managed, her resolve was weakening more and more over the dark, rainy months.

‘I’m just going to the hotel. I haven’t been since it was occupied so I’m a little nervous.’

‘Then don’t go.’ Fleur still looked disapproving but Colette ignored her. She missed their friendship.

That night she nervously entered the hotel and was relieved to see Josette was waiting at the reception desk. As they walked through the foyer to the staircase, she tried not to stare too openly at the soldiers who relaxed in the salon and dining room. Some played cards. Some read. One was playing the piano and another was singing.

‘They look like normal men,’ she remarked.

‘They are. They are away from home, some for the first time, and they know no one wants them here. I think some of them are quite lonely.’

‘I can understand that,’ Colette said thoughtfully. She’d felt lost in England when she had arrived, despite being welcomed by Edith who she already knew.

A young man caught Josette’s eye and waved.

‘That’s Franz. Before the war he used to give tennis lessons.’

She waved back. Franz blushed to the roots of his ash-blonde hair. He had a sweet smile that looked out of place on someone who was currently oppressing an entire country. Colette tried to imagine him goose-stepping past the morning queues at theboulangeriebut couldn’t. Holding a tennis racket, yes, but a rifle, not at all.

‘He promises that if he is still stationed here next spring, he will play doubles with Sophie and I.’

‘Next year! But surely the war will be over by then,’ Colette said. She’d been wondering whether she could be invited to play tennis, but the prediction brought her crashing down with a thud.

‘I don’t know if the war is going to end that soon but until it does, I’m going to make the best of it,’ Josette said, gathering Colette’s arm in hers and leading her upstairs.

Sophie was delighted to see Colette. ‘I’ve missed you! You haven’t come dancing with me for so long. Say you will come. They still serve champagne but who knows for how long. Everything feels so much faster paced because most people must be home before the curfew at nine.’

‘Perhaps,’ Colette said.

Most people.

She narrowed her eyes. That suggested not everyone and she wondered who was exempt and why.

In the warmth of Sophie’s greeting it was hard not to be charmed and the thought of cold champagne was tempting. Colette missed dancing. Her evenings now consisted of listening to the radio then watching Delphine mix cocktails while Louis pored over his newspapers. Colette read Louis’ newspapers avidly now, from cover to cover. She could name people and places she had never heard of until recently. Thanks to her time in England, she was also able to translate the BBC radio broadcasts for the family. It felt good to be useful, but it was dull.

‘You don’t sound convinced.’

‘The Metro always seems to be delayed nowadays. What if we can’t get home again and we’re arrested?’

‘Don’t be a mouse. No one is going to arrest us if the Metro is at fault.’ Sophie lit a cigarette and took a long drag. The rationing had not affected her supply, it appeared. Colette darkly wondered what the women in the food queues would have to say about it. ‘Some of the senior officers here have a car so we never have to use the Metro, and of course we never get stopped. Did Josette tell you we have some officers now? It’s so much nicer. If you come with us next Saturday night, then you will only have to do one station on the Metro from here and then walk home.’

‘I’m not sure. I could ask Fleur to come with us,’ Colette suggested.

Sophie pursed her lips.

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