Chapter 48
Lizzie went straight to Jack’s office when the car dropped her at Baker Street, but the door was locked. He mustn’t be back from Bletchley Park yet, she realised, the earlier disappointment rising in her chest again.
Never mind, she would see him soon and if his posting was still not over, she decided once she had been debriefed and caught up on her sleep, she would take the train to Bletchley and meet him there.
They had been parted long enough, and she would not allow a few miles to stand between them now that she was on home ground.
Val’s face broke into a wreath of smiles as Lizzie entered. Her boss tried to pretend she was stern and unemotional, but Lizzie had glimpsed the real Val beneath the surface many times and knew how much she cared about her agents.
‘Seagrove! Jolly good to see you back in one piece.’
‘Thank you, ma’am. It’s good to be home.’
There was a knock on the door. ‘Ah, perfect timing,’ Val said when the tea lady appeared. ‘Lizzie is here, just arrived after a long spell away, and I’m sure she’d love one of your legendary cuppas.’
Stella welcomed Lizzie and dispensed tea and biscuits with a warm smile before pushing her trolley back through the door and leaving them alone.
‘Tell me all,’ Val said, biting into a ginger nut.
Lizzie started at the beginning, only stopping when Val interrupted to ask questions, her eyes never leaving Lizzie’s face.
‘You have once again achieved an amazing feat. So, that bastard Pemberton thinks he has got one over on you and he’s free to continue cashing in on his treachery?’
Lizzie nodded. ‘I suspected him of not playing straight from the very beginning, but it wasn’t until Tom saw him stealing the ledger copies from the cipher room that we knew for sure he was working against us.’
‘And Voss, the Swiss counterintelligence agent had to let you go.’
‘Tom said his priority would be to stop a diplomatic scandal, which would only draw more attention to what is going on in Switzerland. And he believes he and Pemberton retrieved all the evidence from Brunner’s dead drops, and they think I can’t prove Switzerland is colluding with the Nazis.’
‘And can you?’ Val said, drinking from her mug of tea.
Lizzie stood and fumbled with the waistband of her skirt before withdrawing the tiny camera and depositing it on the desk between them.
‘Is this what I think it is?’ Val asked, her eyes gleaming behind her thick glasses as she reached to retrieve the camera.
Lizzie nodded vigorously. ‘Pemberton and Voss were right about the dead drop copies. If Brunner hadn’t let me into the vault and Tom hadn’t provided me with the camera, I really would have wasted months and come home with nothing to show for my efforts.’
Val twirled the camera in her hand. ‘And what have we here exactly?’
‘Photographic evidence of everything you need from the Brunner & Cie bank vault to show the Swiss banking system is in up to its neck with the Nazis’ looting and laundering of gold.’
Val leant back in her chair, a wicked grin spreading across her face. ‘Bloody marvellous, Seagrove. You’ve pulled another rabbit out of the hat.’
Lizzie finished her tea and suddenly felt all the energy drain away from her body. She’d done it, and only now she’d handed over the camera did she feel that she’d completed her mission and could relax.
Val stood. ‘I’ll get this film developed immediately and update the Prime Minister. You look exhausted. Go home and get some rest. You’ve earned it.’
Lizzie rose, and when she reached the door, she turned. ‘Where’s Jack?’
‘Never fear. He’s due back from Bletchley at any moment. I swear you two are like a pair of homing pigeons. He didn’t know you were coming home today, but he phoned earlier to say he was leaving on the next train.’
Lizzie emerged into the morning sunshine and breathed in the smoggy London air.
It wasn’t clear and fresh like Bern, but it was so good to be home.
Reinvigorated, she turned the corner and slotted her key into the front door of Jack’s flat.
It smelt musty and unlived-in as she wandered through to the front room and gazed around.
Only ten minutes passed before she heard a car engine pull up outside and the door opened to reveal Jack’s tall silhouette.
‘You’re home!’ He dropped his bag and strode through the hallway towards her, scooping her up in his arms and twirling her around.
Lizzie squealed, and he gently rested her back on her feet, and she slid her arms around his neck. Their lips met in a crushing kiss as they breathed each other in and clung together as if they would never be parted again.
That evening at Regent’s Park, Lizzie sat at the table after they finished a welcome-home dinner, prepared lovingly by her mother and Violet.
‘Well, Lizzie, it’s wonderful to have you home, darling. It’s not the same without you,’ said Rose Beaumont, fussing over Lizzie like she always did when she’d been gone for some time.
Her father, Reg, sat in his favourite armchair, trying to read his newspaper but constantly interrupted by the raucous goings-on of his family.
Juliet and Evie were dancing to a tune on the radio, and Lizzie laughed at their bold moves and Evie’s funny expressions.
She’d missed her sisters, and it warmed her heart to see them so carefree, even if it was only for a few moments.
In times like these, they had all learnt to grab happiness whenever and however they could, before news of the latest wartime tragedy reached them.
Evie had flaunted the makeshift ring Chuck had given her the second she arrived home from her nursing shift. ‘He proposed on a moonlit walk by the Thames! It was so romantic, Liz. I’ll be a wartime bride, and after the war we’ll move to Ohio.’
Their mother had tutted, shaking her head. ‘It’s far too soon for an engagement. You barely know one another.’
Lizzie had patted her mother’s hand as if to say, ‘Let her dream.’ Chuck certainly seemed devoted.
Evie showed her the smooth band her fiancé had spent hours tapping and hammering with a spoon to craft the silver shilling into a custom ring for his sweetheart.
The inside was stamped with the coin’s original date from King George’s reign.
‘It is beautiful, Evie. And how romantic of him to go to the trouble to make that himself.’ Lizzie had squeezed her in a tight hug, emotional at the possibility of her little sister leaving them forever for America, but not wanting to ruin the moment.
Evie interrupted Lizzie’s thoughts, calling over, ‘Chuck has been teaching me some American dances. Here, let me show you.’ And she and Juliet launched into a new dance, and Reg rolled his eyes and buried his head in his paper.
Lizzie laughed. Now and then she felt her father’s gaze on her. He no doubt suffered when she was away on a mission, fearing she might never return and unable to share his worries with his wife, who thought she was doing administrative war work.
Wandering over to her father, Lizzie bent to kiss his cheek. He clasped her hand, and they shared a special father-daughter moment, which made her eyes well up. She and her siblings were blessed to have such caring parents.
Then the doorbell rang, and she hurried out of the room to open it.
Jack stood there holding a bunch of gorgeous red carnations, hand-tied with silk ribbon.
Feelings of pure love enveloped her, and Lizzie’s breath caught in her throat as she gazed at her dashing fiancé.
He laid the bouquet on the dresser, and they swayed in each other’s arms, still lightheaded from the joy of being reunited.
She grasped his hand and pulled him through to the dining room. ‘Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I’ll put them in water and get you some tea. Come and say hello to everyone.’
Reg stood to greet Jack as he entered the room, and they shook hands, and Reg clapped his future son-in-law on the shoulder.
‘Good to see you, my boy. Never mind bringing him tea. This calls for a celebration—let’s have something stronger.
’ He poured them both a generous shot of whisky, and Lizzie sat back down and released a sigh of contentment as her father and Jack chatted and sipped their drinks in quiet camaraderie.
A while later, Jack and Lizzie excused themselves to a chorus of complaints.
‘Must you leave so soon? I swear that office works you both half to death,’ Rose said. ‘When this war is over, you won’t know what to do with yourselves.’
Jack winked at Lizzie as he helped her into her coat. They were both certain they would work out what to do with themselves after the war, but for now Baker Street called.
London, two weeks later
In the cipher room, Lizzie watched the relentless rhythm of the Morse dots clattering onto the teleprinter, impatient to transcribe the incoming message.
We are constantly on the move and hiding in the Languedoc hills with the Maquis.
The Milice are hunting the Toulouse Resistance down with terrifying success.
Many from other groups captured, and one of ours taken too.
Will message again as soon as have more to report.
Too dangerous to carry out sabotage ops until further notice.
Angel and Heart.
It was a relief to finally hear from the leaders of The Lavender Network.
The danger was constant and only increasing in Toulouse with the latest developments.
There was nothing to do but wait for more news on when the network could resume its clandestine operations to disrupt German troops and transport movements.
Jack and Lizzie exchanged a knowing look.
They understood what the arrest of one of their members meant.
If they broke under interrogation, the entire network would be compromised.
The Gestapo would torture them and beat their cover names, and possibly even their safe houses and contacts, out of them.
All they could do was pray for Angel and Heart until they were back in action, and it was safe to drop in more weapons and explosives.