Nothing Is Stored at the End

On the Tuesday, before leaving for Beaune, Anaïs wanted to sort out a linen problem.

That is how it began, and she thought about it often afterwards: she had not been looking for anything that morning, she had wanted to save the housekeeper four minutes a floor.

The Beaumanoir had a central linen room in the basement and a landing cupboard on each floor. On the second floor the cupboard was tiny: one rail, three shelves, and the chambermaids had to go back down twice a morning. And yet there was, at the end of the corridor, a recess one metre twenty by two metres, next to the metal door, that served no purpose.