Page 137 of The Last Library of Paris

‘Gosh,’ I said, still convinced Parrish was the culprit, but understanding that we’d never know for sure. ‘They could have just asked.’

Frances smiled. ‘But I’d have said no.’

‘Whatever the reason, we need to get you all out of here as quickly as we can,’ Archie said. ‘We can take you back to Lisbon with us. There is one train going back tomorrow morning, but if we miss that, we’ll be stuck here. What time is curfew?’

‘Nine o’clock,’ said Frances.

‘If we get to the station before that, we can spend the night there. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s safer than being here. Do you all have passports?’

‘I’m not leaving,’ said Guy stubbornly. ‘I need to find Alain.’

Archie looked at him. ‘That’s up to you,’ he said. ‘Sylvie?’

‘No one knows I work in the library,’ said Sylvie. ‘I didn’t tell anyone.’

‘Why not?’ said Lara, clearly amused.

‘None of their business.’ Sylvie smiled suddenly. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. ‘So I can just go home.’

‘Really?’ said Archie doubtfully.

‘Oui.’ Sylvie nodded, her face stern once more.

‘Fair enough,’ Archie said. ‘Frances, my concern is that your name might be on a watch list. If you travel on your own passport, it could raise alarm.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘But we don’t have the time or the contacts to get you fake papers.’

Frances smiled. ‘Frances Reed isn’t my real name,’ she said.

I blinked at her. ‘Pardon me?’

‘Well, it is my real name. But my first name is Dorothy. It’s a family name. My middle name is Frances, after Grover Cleveland’s first lady. My mom thought she was wonderful and she thought my grandmother – another Dorothy – was awful. So she named me Dorothy, but she called me Frances.’

Archie laughed. ‘And Reed? Is that your real name?’

‘Reed was my maiden name,’ Frances said. ‘I was married a long time ago and my passport is in that name. Officially I’m Dorothy Frances Johnson.’

I desperately wanted to ask what had happened to Frances’s husband, but I resisted.

‘Do you have your passport here?’ I said. ‘Here in the library?’

‘It’s in my bag,’ Frances said, pointing. ‘I like to keep it with me, along with my identity card, just in case.’

‘Perfect,’ said Archie. ‘We can get you a ticket at the station.’

‘Will that be easy?’ I asked, remembering how chaotic it had been in Lisbon.

‘I can be very persuasive,’ he said, with a grin. ‘Right, let’s get going, shall we? We should make sure there are no signs that anyone’s been down here. We don’t want the Germans to know you’ve been under their noses the whole time. I’d rather they thought you were miles away by now.’

‘All right,’ said Frances, taking charge. ‘Guy, up you get. We need to fold these beds away. And Sylvie, can you clear the rubbish? Archie, would there be space in one of your suitcases for a few bits and pieces?’

‘I think we can manage that,’ said Archie. ‘Lara, yours seemed to be fairly empty.’

‘It’s upstairs,’ Lara said. ‘I’ll fetch it.’

There was a bustle of activity, and people coming and going. And in the hubbub I noticed Guy reach out and take a cap from the side, and slip out of the room. Intrigued, I watched. He ducked behind a crate of books as Lara came back downstairs with the suitcase.

‘Just need to check something,’ I muttered vaguely when she looked at me standing there, doing nothing as far as she could tell.

As Lara went back into the little room, Guy emerged and headed up the stairs. I followed quietly, wondering where he was going.