“I don’t think you realize the stakes here,” Edith said, her voice soft with concern. “My dear friend, it won’t happen today or tomorrow, but rest assured, there will be a reckoning. You don’t want to be on the wrong side, do you?”

Inès felt a surge of fear. Was Edith warning her of something the underground had planned for Antoine? Or was it Antoine himself that Inès should be frightened of? “Yes, I know. I’m trying to make it right.”

“Then come with me to Reims. Talk to him. Tell him that you cannot do this anymore. I’m sorry, Inès, but he knows you’re my best friend, and I just can’t have someone like him angry with us, not with the work we’re doing. You have to fix this, put it behind all of us. I told him I would do my best to ensure you’d be at the bar tonight.”

Inès hesitated. “Yes, all right.” She pulled Edith down to the cellars with her, and together they told Michel that Edith had dropped by to surprise Inès and was hoping Inès might be able to come spend an evening with her in town.

“Of course,” Michel said, and Inès tried not to feel hurt by the relief on his face. “Inès is always so much happier after she returns from a night with you.”

Edith glanced at Inès. “Wonderful. I’ll drive her back tomorrow myself.”

“Say hello to Edouard for me,” Michel said cheerfully, and then he resumed his work.

As Edith and Inès ascended the stone steps and headed for the house, Edith reached for Inès’s hand, and for a moment, it felt just like old times. In the schoolyard in Lille, when they were both little girls, before the Germans had torn the Continent apart for the second time in a century, Edith used to fold her hand around Inès’s to tell her silently that everything would be all right.

“Do you still love him?” Edith asked a few minutes later as she watched Inès pack a small overnight bag.

“I don’t think I ever did, Edith. He was a distraction, something to make me forget how useless I am.”

“You’re not useless. But I wasn’t talking about Antoine. I was talking about Michel.”

“Oh,” Inès said. “Yes. Of course I love him. But I don’t think it’s the way a wife is supposed to love her husband. And I’m not sure he loves me at all.”

For once, Edith didn’t try to offer false comfort. “This war has put us all backward,” she said at last. “I think things will be better when the Germans go. I hope so, at least.”

“But will that ever happen?” Inès asked.

“For the sake of all that is right in the world,” Edith replied, “we have to believe it will.”

As they walked out of the house a few minutes later, Inès spotted Céline heading from her cottage toward the cellars. The other woman turned and waved, her growing belly on full display, and Edith gasped. “Inès! You didn’t tell me Céline was expecting a baby!” She didn’t wait for an answer before striding out to meet Céline halfway down the drive.

Inès had to force a smile as she hurried after Edith. “Yes, yes, we’re very happy for her and Theo.” Of course, the words were true, but she was ashamed to admit that the good news also made her feel a bit envious. Inès and Michel had not yet talked of having children, and though Inès imagined that they would one day, it felt like part of a far-off future she couldn’t imagine.

“Céline, congratulations!” Edith exclaimed, embracing the other woman as they met in the garden. Edith knew Céline only in passing, through Michel and Inès. “I had no idea!”

“Thank you,” Céline said, her cheeks turning a bit pink. Céline seemed to glow now, her happiness overriding the despair of the war. She shot Inès a small smile as Edith pulled away.

“When do you expect the baby to arrive?” Edith asked.

“Sometime in June, I think,” Céline said, her eyes darting quickly to Inès again.

“How wonderful,” Edith said softly. “Edouard and I have talked of having a baby, but in these times . . .” She trailed off.

“To be honest, I’m very afraid,” Céline said. “But if this is what God intended . . .”

“It’s joyous news,” Edith said firmly. “And you have been well?”

Céline nodded and smiled slightly. “My biggest problem is that I’m hungry all the time, and there’s never enough food.”

“I’ll see what I can do about getting you some extra rations.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean that!”

“I know. But let’s make sure this baby is as healthy as possible, shall we? There will be enough challenges awaiting when he or she is out of the womb.”

Céline hesitated. “Thank you. You are very kind.”

Inès clapped her hands. “All right, shall we go now to Reims, Edith?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Edith said. She smiled once more at Céline. “Congratulations again.”

“Thank you,” Céline said. She turned and continued on toward the entrance to the cellars as Inès and Edith got into Edith’s car.

“You don’t seem to like her,” Edith said as she pulled the car carefully down the drive, which was slick with ice.