“Don’t worry about that,” Céline said. “There are many things here he has no idea about.” She felt a surge of guilt. “It is just that we need to move quickly.”

Edith considered this. “All right. Where shall we put them?”

“There’s a room in our cellars that’s nearly impossible to find.”

“The cave where we’ve hidden the wine?” Inès asked.

“No, not that one. Theo knows about it, remember? We can’t hide the Cohns anywhere that he might stumble upon them. There’s another hidden cave, too, farther back.”

Inès looked confused, and Céline realized too late that she was about to give away one of Michel’s secrets, the small room within a cave down several twisting halls where he sometimes met with other résistants—and where he even occasionally rendezvoused with Céline. But there was no time to worry about that; they needed to get the Cohns belowground before Theo saw what they were doing.

“Very well. There’s an entrance to the cellars through our house,” Inès said. “We’ll just need to move the armoire. Come on.”

Edith and the Cohns tumbled out of the car. “Thank you,” Rachel whispered, touching Céline’s hand briefly as they all headed inside, and Céline forced a smile at the other woman. She glanced once more down the drive to her own cottage, but there were no lights on inside, no sign that Theo had seen anything.

Inside the house, Edith helped Inès push the armoire aside while Céline grabbed a lamp, and then the five of them made their way quickly down the narrow stone steps. Céline led them through the maze of chalky tunnels in silence until they reached the cave that concealed the small room behind the brick wall.

“How did you know about this place?” Inès asked her as the Cohns and Edith ducked inside, and Céline averted her gaze before shrugging.

“I have helped Michel hide some things here,” she said.

“I wish he had trusted me,” Inès muttered.

“He does trust you,” Céline said quickly, but as she and Inès stared at each other in silence, she had the feeling they both knew the words were a lie.

“This place is incredible,” Edith said.

“Michel put it in before the Occupation,” Céline said. “Just in case.”

“But when?” Inès asked, an edge to her voice. “We were all here with him, helping him to prepare.”

“I don’t know,” Céline lied, aware that this wasn’t the time to point out that Inès had spent much of the first half of 1940 working on her hair and makeup, rather than readying the Maison Chauveau for what to Céline had seemed inevitable.

“Well,” Inès said, turning to the Cohns, “as you can see, you will be safe here until Edith can move you.”

“Thank you,” Samuel said, looking Inès in the eye before turning to nod at Edith, and then, finally, Céline. “Truly. I don’t know how to tell you how much this means. I know you’re all putting yourselves in harm’s way for us. I promise, we will repay you someday.”

“That’s not necessary,” Edith said.

“We must stand up to the Germans,” Inès said with a confidence Céline had never heard before from her.

On the way out of the caves, after promising the Cohns they would be back later in the day to bring them some food, Inès took Céline’s hand and squeezed it once. Edith walked ahead of them, and Céline had the strangest sense that she seemed angry.

“Thank you,” Inès whispered to Céline. “I didn’t mean to involve you. I had assumed Michel would be here.”

“It’s no problem.” Céline pulled her hand away. “I wanted to help. But tell me, how have you suddenly become involved with hiding people?” She knew the words sounded accusatory, but she couldn’t reconcile the Inès she’d always known with this new woman who had arrived today with a show of impassioned heroics. It made her uneasy.

“The Cohns came to Edith while I was visiting her. Edith didn’t want to send them here, but she had no other options.” Inès cleared her throat. “I persuaded her it would be all right.”

“Oh.” Céline was still confused. Since when was Edith assisting fleeing Jews? It all made Céline feel disoriented, and despite herself, she wondered at Inès’s motives. Of course, it was clear Inès really wanted to help the Cohns, but why? So she could feel involved in something important? So she could prove to Michel that she was on his side after so many months of flitting to and from Reims like she didn’t have a care in the world?

But maybe that wasn’t it at all. Céline felt a surge of guilt for her rush to judgment. Maybe the war had really made Inès a better person, and Céline hadn’t noticed the transformation.

“Céline,” Edith said a few minutes later, after Inès and Céline had walked her to her car. “I’m very sorry to bring this situation to your door. It isn’t fair of us to put you at additional risk. We simply didn’t have another option.”

“Edith, I’m very grateful to you for helping people like the Cohns,” she said carefully. “And I want to help, too. I know Michel will feel the same way.”