Nadine is the niece of Alphonse. She lives under the same roof as her uncle and Gérard, in the household Alphonse runs from the margins of mid-century Parisian commerce.
She is described as stealthy, fearful in temperament and frail in health, traits that those who know her read as signs of a life lived in permanent alertness.
Her friendship with Jeanne Devossie is the most visible emotional bond the record preserves. The two young women spend time together in a Paris convulsed by the Fronde, which places Nadine at the margin of the events around Jeanne, never at their center in the testimonies.