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

Separated from her husband, Madeleine Valadon was left in Bessines to bear the shame of Coulaud's offence and to bring up their three-year-old daughter, Marie-Alix, on her own without the support of her husband's income. It was at such times that the strength of the Limousin family network proved invaluable. But however much pity Madeleine's family felt for her plight, nobody had the resources to support an entire family. What they could offer was care for little Marie-Alix and employment for her mother.

By chance, one of Madeleine's distant cousins ran an inn at the centre of town. Although it was not an official coaching inn, when the nearest auberges at Morterolles and Chanteloube were full, Catherine le Cugy's establishment provided travellers with a comfortable alternative. Separated from the road by a small courtyard, the 17th-century stone building did not appear vast from the outside. However, once a traveller stepped through the heavy front door, they would find that the rooms, divided over four floors and linked by a sprawling warren of dimly-lit corridors and passageways, were considerably bigger than those of the competitors. They were also reputed to be better kept, and the horses more spirited. Widow Guimbaud, as Catherine was known, ran the inn with a firm and capable hand, and she was helped by her childhood friend, Jeanne Dérozier, also a widow. To her mind, it was hardly heroic to assist a family member in difficulty; it was the natural thing to do. Besides, Madeleine's training as a linen maid gave her instant value to the business. Widow Guimbaud needed someone younger and fitter than herself with Madeleine's skills. And Madeleine needed employment which provided accommodation. It was a simple calculation.

Entrusting the care of Marie-Alix to the child's paternal grand­parents in Le Mas Barbu, Madeleine began her new employment.

In a large establishment, the linen maid's role would have taken on a more administrative character, and consisted largely of checking in and distributing laundry, making minor repairs and ensuring all linen was in good order. But in a small enterprise like Widow Guimbaud's, the linen maid's responsibilities often encompassed those of a laundress and a chamber maid, too. These duties demanded far more physical stamina. Washing was done in huge vats known as bujardiers or bujadous, and women used a hot solution containing ash to clean the clothes. The linen was then rinsed in the Gartempe river before being heaped onto a cart. Heaving great bundles of soaking linen resulted in aching limbs and the task became even more arduous when the weather turned cold. However, the shared experience of this onerous duty turned the riverside into an important space of feminine sociability. As they toiled by the water's edge, the women shared news, gave advice and gossiped to their hearts' content. It was a place to make companions and form alliances. Madeleine was not an extrovert, and many found her taciturn. But if not friends, she made acquaintances, which was just as well. Madeleine needed the support of her peers now more than ever, for early in September 1859, a shocking piece of news reached Bessines: Léger Coulaud was dead.

How Madeleine's husband was killed remained a mystery. All she was told was that he had died on Montagne d'Argent (Silver Mountain) at five o'clock on 26 April. The news had taken four months to reach Bessines. Now, Madeleine was truly alone.

But neither creditors nor hunger would show deference to grief. Madeleine had to continue working, and at Widow Guimbaud's, there was plenty of physical labour to divert melancholy thoughts

* * *

Limoges had long been treated as a convenient halfway point to break the journey between the South of France and the capital. And by the mid-19th century, painters like Corot were frequenting the region in search of landscape subjects. Then in 1856, the Châteauroux–Limoges train line had opened, bringing with it an influx of engineers while it was worked on, and drawing even more visitors to the region once it was complete. Situated as it was on the main route through Bessines, the Guimbaud inn attracted many passing travellers. There was no shortage of company for Madeleine while she worked – and much of it was male.

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