The Paris Affair

30 Lisette

30

Lisette

August, 1942 – Normandy

Lisette watched Christoph with the farmer’s daughter. He’d taken his notebook out of his pocket and was playing Hangman. The little girl frowned with concentration as she tried to think of the letters.

The farmer’s wife had asked Lisette to write out the recipe for the roast chicken. She carefully copied it from the recipe book on to the back of an envelope the woman had given her.

Lisette’s body was still flushed from where Christoph had touched her. Watching him outside, negotiating with the soldiers, a sudden realization had struck her. That kiss the night before, after she’d returned from the drop, hadn’t been a mistake. She’d wanted it. A need for him had been building for weeks. There was no specific moment when it had started. Perhaps it had been since that first meeting, in the kitchen at Maxim’s. She’d fought it all this time. So, when he had walked back to the cottage the instinct to run to him was overwhelming.

She touched her lips, still tingling from that kiss. Her body ached to be near him again. He glanced up at her. No smile, just a smouldering look that told her he felt the same.

The farmer’s wife came and sat next to her.

‘Your soldier saved our lives,’ she said.

Lisette nodded. ‘Yes. Only he’s not my soldier.’

The woman looked at her. ‘I think he is.’ She sniffed. ‘I’m not one to judge, but you should be careful.’

Lisette tore her gaze away from Christoph. The woman’s face was full of concern.

‘I am careful,’ Lisette said. ‘I’m here as his translator, nothing more.’

‘I’ve seen the way you look at him,’ she said. ‘You know, the woman who was shot is dead. She was a young girl from the village. Barely out of school, but she did her duty.’

Lisette’s heart lurched, seeing Marie’s face in her mind. But she couldn’t admit that she already knew Marie’s fate. ‘My God, that’s terrible,’ she said, her voice trembling.

‘I heard she wasn’t acting alone,’ the woman said, raising her eyebrows.

Lisette drew in her breath. ‘Where did you hear that?’

The woman glanced at Christoph. He was trying to guess the letters now.

‘We’re not ignorant, you know,’ she said, her voice still low. ‘Just because we live in the country, it doesn’t mean we’re not resisting too.’

‘I see.’ Did the woman know Lisette was an agent? It was impossible to tell. Lisette finished off the instructions for making the roast chicken. ‘There. It’s all written down.’

‘ He may be good,’ the woman said, jerking her head towards Christoph. ‘Who knows? But the rest are rotten. Is that what you want? To risk everything for a German soldier? There’s more at stake, as you well know.’

Lisette shivered. She knew it was dangerous. Seraphin had asked her to seduce Christoph, not to fall in love with him. Those kisses had touched her heart in ways she hadn’t known existed, but she could never betray the trust the SOE had placed in her.

Christoph stood up and came over, tucking his notebook into his pocket.

‘We’d better be heading back to Paris,’ he said. ‘Thank you so much for breakfast.’

The farmer’s wife nodded. ‘We are forever in your debt for what you did today.’ She glanced at Lisette. ‘Stay safe in Paris.’

Lisette thought over the woman’s words as they travelled back along the country roads. Every now and then, Christoph glanced over and squeezed her hand. Lisette smiled back, but her heart was heavy. The woman was right. Lisette was an agent, here to do her duty and nothing more. Seraphin had picked her for this task because she was sans c?ur . From now on, she needed to be more careful.