You’re asleep, but at my age the nights are long.’

She fell silent, then said anxiously, ‘Can’t you hear the cries?’

‘No, no … let’s go home, faster. You’re ill.’

They weren’t sure where they were. Hélène was shivering with the cold; every now and again she thought she recognised a street or a monument through the fog; a tall statue on its pedestal appeared in the mist; they were drawing closer to the Neva, but the fog was getting heavier and heavier; they had to hold on to the walls as they walked.

‘If only you’d listened to me,’ Hélène said angrily. ‘Now we’re lost …’

But Mademoiselle Rose walked with strange rapidity and blind confidence; out of habit Hélène held on to her governess’s otter-skin muff with its artificial violets sewn on to the fur.

‘Do you recognise this road? I can’t see a thing. Mademoiselle Rose! Answer me! What are you thinking about?’

‘What are you saying, Lili? Talk louder, I can’t hear you …’

‘The fog is muffling our voices …’

‘The fog and the cries. It’s funny that you can’t hear the cries … They’re far away, very far away, but so clear … Are you tired, my poor darling? But that doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, let’s hurry up, hurry up,’ she said again anxiously.

‘Oh, but why?’ Hélène said bitterly. ‘It’s not as if anyone is waiting for us. They couldn’t care less. She’s with her Max. Oh, how I hate her …’

‘Now, now!’ Mademoiselle Rose said quietly. ‘You mustn’t say that. It isn’t nice …’

She started walking again extremely quickly.

‘But where are you going?’ Hélène asked. ‘Think for a moment. You can’t even see. I’m sure we’re getting further and further away from the house.’

‘I know where I’m going,’ Mademoiselle Rose said impatiently. ‘Don’t worry about it. Follow me. We’ll soon be able to rest.’

Suddenly she pulled her hand free, leaving Hélène holding the muff; she took a few steps forward, must have turned at the corner of the street and was immediately engulfed by the fog; she disappeared like a ghost, like a dream.

Hélène rushed after her, shouting, ‘Wait for me, I’m begging you! Where are you going? You’ll get yourself killed! There’s gunfire on that side of the road! Oh, wait for me, wait for me, I beg you. I’m afraid! You’re going to get hurt!’

She could see nothing; the fog was all around her; she thought she could make out a shape in the distance; she rushed towards it, but it was a soldier who pushed her aside.

‘Help!’ she cried. ‘Help me! Did you see a woman go by here?’

But the soldier was drunk and a child’s voice begging for help was common in those times. He walked away, holding on to the walls. Then she thought she had perhaps run too fast, that Mademoiselle Rose’s weak legs wouldn’t have been able to take her this far; she retraced her steps; she was walking through a thick fog that rolled in as slowly as smoke, every now and again revealing the outline of a large house set high on a hill, a street lamp or the arch of a bridge before immediately hiding them again.

‘I’ll never find her,’ she thought in despair, ‘never.’

Her own voice sounded weak, muffled by the mist. ‘Mademoiselle Rose, oh dear, dear Mademoiselle Rose. Wait for me, answer me. Where are you?’

She could see a light faintly glimmering; she leaned forward; some men were standing around a dead horse; they were cutting it up in silence, bit by bit; a hand held up a lantern; right in front of her, the man’s long, yellowish teeth stood out in the darkness as he gave a hollow laugh. Hélène let out a cry and rushed down a strange street that ran between some large houses. She was panting; with each step she could feel the sharp pain that accompanied her every breath; she had no idea where she was; she recognised nothing; she was lost, terrified amid the clouds of fog; she fled far away from the men, from the sinister lamplight, from the long jaws of death. Every now and again she would cry out, ‘Help, help me! Mademoiselle Rose!’

But her weak, breathless voice immediately faded away. Besides, calling for help in those days only made the rare passers-by rush faster towards their homes. She was still running.