Excerpt from Renoir's Dancer by Catherine Hewitt, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Léger Coulaud was not the only man swayed by the prevailing mood of optimism and possibility. Disguising its structural flaws with a gloss of gaiety and frivolous living, the Empire fostered a climate where self-improvement and prosperity seemed not only desirable but achievable. Coulaud found a kindred spirit in his neighbour Pierre-Louis Planchon, a watchmaker and jeweller. The two men established a firm friendship. Madeleine had every reason to feel alarmed. Planchon was a confirmed scoundrel in his business dealings, and had already served a six-month prison sentence in 1845. But the Limousin wife had no business telling her husband with whom he could and could not mix. She knew her place.

Sure enough, one impassioned bar-side conversation led to another, and before long, Coulaud and Planchon had devised a plan to guarantee a better future for themselves and their families. With their combined skills and business nous, they could surely fashion a coin which would pass for authentic currency. It needn't be a large operation, just the odd coin here and there in lieu of genuine payment to the innkeeper's wife, and soon their families could be enjoying comforts previously unknown to them. The risk seemed small. But one fateful day, Coulaud and his companion were caught.

Towards the end of October 1856, Coulaud and Planchon decided to visit the village fair in the nearby town of Ambazac. Afterwards, they stopped at one of the local inns for dinner, and once they had eaten, Coulaud produced a 40 franc coin to pay their small bill, which only amounted to 5 francs. Growing suspicious, the landlady objected that she did not have enough change, and when one of the regulars entered the inn, she whispered to him to take a look at the coin which still sat in the middle of Coulaud and Planchon's table. Coulaud immediately leapt on the coin, determined that it should not be examined. Planchon had to think quickly to explain his companion's haste; Coulaud was not from the area and did not speak the local dialect, Planchon told them. The friends attempted to persuade the landlady a second time to take the coin, but by then, her trusted regular was certain: Coulaud's 40 franc payment was merely a 2 franc coin on which an attempt had been made – unsuccessfully – to alter the figures. It was a shoddy counterfeit, and the man gestured to the landlady not to accept the payment. Coulaud and Planchon were outraged. They became aggressive. Ambazac was a poverty-stricken town indeed, the men declared, for the sight of a 40 franc coin to cause such a stir!

In rural society, a slight on a countryman's pays was taken as a personal insult. Defensive, the regular suggested that the mayor be asked to check the coin, upon which Coulaud and Planchon hastily settled the bill with legitimate currency and left. But their con­ cession came too late. The pair had already aroused concern. The police were promptly alerted, and the friends were stopped before they could leave the town. Coulaud was found to have more false coins on him, and it transpired that the pair had attempted the same ruse in another inn at lunchtime. Things quickly spiralled. Madeleine was startled when the authorities arrived at the couple's home to carry out a full search. Their personal belongings were ransacked, and in their bedroom, further damning items were found, including a receipt for the chemicals needed to carry out the forgery and the instructions for fashioning medals. Coulaud and his companion were certainly determined; from the evidence found in Coulaud's workshop, it became clear that they had attempted three different methods to produce their counterfeit currency.

In a small community like Bessines, such a crime was considered appalling. That it was committed by one of their number – an ostensibly respectable family man no less – rendered it particularly shocking. The authorities were severe. Léger Coulaud and Pierre-Louis Planchon were taken to trial in February 1857, where they were found guilty and banished to a penal colony in French Guyana to begin a sentence of hard labour.

Renoir's DancerRenoir's Dancer by Catherine Hewitt. Copyright © 2018 by the author and reprinted by permission of St Martin's Press.