Chapter SixMelita dressed herself, putting on a thin riding habit.
She did not light the candles, but felt her way round the room.
By the time she was nearly ready the sky had lightened and the stars had disappeared.
Very soon it would be dawn.
She moved on tiptoe along the passage to Eugénie’s room.
The maid slept only a little way from Rose-Marie so that she could hear the child if she awoke in the night and needed her.
Melita was too frightened to knock on the door in case the sound of it should disturb Madame Boisset, who would discover what she was about to do.
Instead she turned the handle very gently. By the faint light coming from the door she could see Eugénie sleeping in a narrow wooden bedstead.
She touched her shoulder and the maid awoke immediately.
“Don’t make a nois
