Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
A fter an exhausting but exhilarating day of blowing up old crumbling walls with plastic explosives, the girls were told there would be a social event that evening. It would be a chance to put their glad rags on and let off steam, Charlie promised.
Lizzie relaxed in a hot bath, then applied her makeup, and completed it with red lipstick. Everything she had with her was made in France or made by SOE, who made it look like it was from France.
The lipstick glided onto her lips beautifully and was the best she’d ever had. Regrettably, she thought, it wouldn’t last long because a hidden section of its gold case hid a lethal blade that would pop out if she pressed it.
‘In case you find yourself in a sticky spot. You can slit someone’s throat with this beauty. It’s small but lethal. Rather like you,’ Jack had added with an enigmatic smile when she showed it to him.
It was a shame she didn’t have the lipstick handy when the soldier attacked her, or she might not have needed rescuing .
Val told her she would receive a cyanide pill to take with her. ‘It’s a last resort,’ she said. ‘Better safe than sorry. If they capture you and you find yourself at the point of not being able to hold out without spilling secrets, use it. Try every lie in the book first, though.’
There was a brand-new packet of nylon stockings waiting on the dresser when she’d come up after the afternoon session. Lizzie hadn’t worn new stockings in months. They were so scarce these days that women had started drawing lines on the backs of their bare legs to pretend they were wearing the real thing.
Lizzie smoothed and rolled them up her legs luxuriously, taking her time, imagining she was dressing for a date with Jack when the war was over. When she stepped into her evening dress, the one she’d brought just in case there was a social event, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
A shapely young woman stared back at her. Her eyes shone and her skin glowed after the hot bath. But who was she kidding? The real reason for her excitement was if she passed the training, in just a few days she would parachute into Reims again. And there was a high chance Jack would be there to meet her.
Lizzie had tried repeatedly to banish thoughts of their kisses, but to no avail. Jack dominated her thoughts to the point where she dreamt about him every night. Sometimes he rescued her and the whole horrible scene with the German soldier played out in her nightmares. Other times, it was her and Jack kissing in the barn or racing through the vineyards, her heart pumping as she followed closely on his heels.
Whatever the dream, he was invariably in it, and didn’t leave her thoughts for long, no matter how she chastised herself and tried to forget him .
A knock at the door interrupted her fantasies. ‘Are you ready to go downstairs, Marie?’
Lizzie recognised Anna’s voice. They called each other by their cover names because they were the only names they knew. What a strange game they were playing in this stately home—all pretending they were someone else, even though they knew they were false identities. It reminded her of the Agatha Christie novels her mother enjoyed.
Lizzie strode to the door. ‘Bonsoir Anna,’ she said.
Anna linked her arm through Lizzie’s, and they reached the top of the winding central staircase and looked down at the assembled people below. Charlie had mentioned there would be some guests and it would be a chance to see new faces.
Charlie looked dashing in black tie, a drink in hand, chatting to one of the other instructors. His jaw fell open slightly as he spotted Lizzie, and his eyes followed her as she descended the stairs and stepped onto the marble floor where everyone was gathered for aperitifs before dinner.
A waiter stopped in front of them with a tray of champagne and they each took a glass. Anna turned away to talk to one of the other girls. Charlie winked at Lizzie, strode across the room, and closed the gap between them.
‘May I say how stunning you look tonight?’ he said in her ear.
‘You may. Thank you. Although shouldn’t we be speaking in French?’ Lizzie teased.
He laughed. ‘You are a sharp one, Marie LeClair. I saw that immediately. Night off tonight, though. You can be at ease.’
The waiters were circulating continuously, and Lizzie could see a few of the girls were already tiddly from too much champagne. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she accepted the second glass as an accessory .
Soon the dinner gong sounded, and Charlie offered her his arm to escort her into the dining hall. Lizzie gazed about and admired the décor. It was all very grand, despite the government requisition. Chandeliers glittered from the high ceiling, which was intricately carved with roses and cornice mouldings.
‘Goodness, we are getting the special treatment tonight,’ Lizzie said.
‘Yes, you’ve done well to get through the week. Val said you all deserved it, so here we are. I hope you’ll do me the honour of dancing with me after dinner?’ Charlie said.
Lizzie thought Charlie was rather nice, and if her heart hadn’t already been stolen by a certain agent, she would probably jump at the chance of dancing with him. As it was, she didn’t want to lead him on, but it would be rude to decline.
Dinner passed in a whirl of courses and conversation. Considering there was a war on, SOE had pulled out all the stops and must have used every available ration book at their disposal.
She was seated far away from both Anna and Charlie and was next to a colonel who she guessed must be around her father’s age. He told her he had fought in the Great War and had to sit this one out because of a gammy leg. He was confined to a government desk job and didn’t seem happy about it.
On her other side was a girl she hadn’t spoken to much during the training. Her name was Mary, and she chatted almost non-stop and seemed quite drunk by the time dessert was served. Lizzie humoured her with a reply here and there, but was careful not to reveal any personal information. She didn’t want to give Charlie any reason to fail her, and you couldn’t be too careful even at this late stage.
‘Who brought you in?’ asked Mary. ‘Was it Raven? ’
Lizzie’s ears pricked up at the mention of Jack’s codename. ‘No, never heard of him,’ she said.
‘I thought he interviewed most of the SOE candidates for France,’ Mary continued. ‘That’s what he told me when we went on a date, anyway.’
Lizzie’s pulse raced. ‘Lucky you. I didn’t get to go for a drink with anyone. It was a woman who interviewed me—Sarah Jones, as I recall.’ She plucked a name out of nowhere in case this was a trap.
‘Oh yes, we had a wonderful time. He said he’ll take me out again when I get back from France.’
‘How exciting,’ Lizzie said, her mood sinking. ‘Where did he take you?’
‘The Ritz, it was such a romantic night,’ Mary said, starry-eyed, as she reached for another glass of wine and took a large gulp. ‘Mind you, it was the least he could do after side-lining me for the Reims mission. I wanted to go there because my aunt lives there, you see. Where are you going, by the way? Oh dear, you’re not the one he chose for Reims, are you?’
The girl hiccupped and Lizzie turned her attention to the dessert, which was a delicious chocolate cake. ‘This is the best I’ve tasted since the war,’ she said, completely changing the subject.
Talking about Jack was dangerous. One more word, and she would be in danger of betraying her feelings. Her heart throbbed at the thought of him flirting with Mary and taking her to the Ritz. When he interviewed her, he hadn’t selected her for the job initially, never mind taken her on a fancy date.
The colonel on her right was now the object of the girl’s continuous chatter, and they spoke over Lizzie as she ate and tried to calm her frantic thoughts.
‘And where will you be going on your SOE adventure, my dear?’ asked the colonel .
The direct question startled Lizzie. She had assumed the guests were all vetted by the government and invited for one reason or another, but forthright talk about what they were here for didn’t seem right.
‘I’ll be going to Vichy France. I haven’t been there for years, but I was born there. Like I was telling Lizzie, I had wanted to go to Reims but someone else was selected.’
‘Splendid. I hope they won’t be throwing you into too much danger,’ he said.
‘I’ll be undercover as a secretary,’ she said with a heightened sense of self-importance. ‘I don’t think there is any SOE work that doesn’t put you in great danger.’ She chattered on as if she was talking about the weather and not revealing detailed Military Intelligence secrets.
Lizzie tapped her arm and shot her a warning look. The girl didn’t respond and continued talking to the colonel. She must be so drunk by now she didn’t realise she was contravening the Official Secrets Act.
‘Let’s go and dance,’ Lizzie said, tugging her by the arm and sweeping her away from the table. ‘Please excuse us,’ she called over her shoulder to the colonel.
‘You’re going to get into a load of trouble, telling people what you’re doing like that, and you won’t be accepted for SOE.’
The girl stared at her. ‘Why? What did I say?’
‘What didn’t you say? You’ll get yourself killed,’ Lizzie said, wondering what on earth Jack was doing accepting her as a candidate.
The girl swayed and turned white. ‘I think I may have overdone it with the wine,’ she said. ‘I feel sick.’
Charlie approached Lizzie to claim his dance, but she whispered to him that Mary was unwell, and he said he would escort her to her room .
The night passed quickly, and Lizzie avoided dancing with Charlie. The ladies swarmed him, so it wasn’t difficult.
Lizzie excused herself and went up to her room. She wanted a good night’s sleep. The following night, she would leave for Reims and would snatch just a few hours at Jeanne’s if she was lucky.
The more she tried to sleep, the more restless she grew. The music had wound down, but there was still chatter outside as the guests left. Finally, the house fell silent, but Lizzie’s thoughts allowed her no respite. All she could think about was what Mary had told her.
It was bad enough she didn’t know what Jack’s relationship with Hannah was. But even worse, was she a complete fool and just another woman he had kissed to amuse himself?