Page 91 of Whispers At Dawn
Lizzie shook her head. ‘It was in the other vehicle.’
Violet didn’t seem suspicious, but the innocent question reminded Lizzie how easy it was to slip up. They left Toulouse so suddenly they couldn’t take their cases, so it would be up to Luc to hide them.
‘Lizzie, darling! Why do you never give us any notice?’ Rose ran to her daughter and almost squeezed the air out of her with her tight hug.
Lizzie laughed. ‘I can go and come back later if you’d prefer.’
‘You know I didn’t mean that. It’s just unnerving how you pop up out of nowhere, but I’m delighted you’re home.’
‘How are you, Ma?’ Lizzie asked.
‘I’m fine. How about a cup of tea and a piece of Violet’s new war cake? It’s just out of the oven.’
‘I haven’t heard of war cake, but I’ll definitely give it a go,’ Lizzie said, following her mother into the drawing room.
‘The rations make it almost impossible to make a good cake, but Violet is so clever with the ingredients, she always produces something tasty.’
Violet brought them tea and cake and Lizzie marvelled at how quickly she had transformed from being Isabelle Dubois to Lizzie Beaumont.
Lizzie ate the cake and enjoyed a cup of English tea, whilst she did her best to answer her mother’s questions about her time away, without revealing the truth.
‘Evie is training to be a nurse, and says she’s found her vocation. She should be home any minute,’ Rose said, glancing at the clock.
Lizzie breathed a cautious sigh of relief that she’d passed her mother’s interrogation. Soon the other family members trickled in and there were hugs all round.
When Lizzie’s father entered the room and saw her sitting there, he dropped his briefcase and scooped her up in his arms.
‘Anyone would think she’d been fighting on the Western Front, the way you carry on when she comes home,’ Rose said, smiling.
Lizzie and her father exchanged a discreet look. He was the only member of her family who knew she had been on a mission. Lizzie thought it must be hardest on him when she was away.
Rose continued, ‘A few days ago, I had a nightmare that something bad happened to you. Your captain was with you, but then I woke up.’
Lizzie said, ‘Just as well, but I don’t know why you insist on calling him my captain! He’s my commanding officer, Ma.’
Rose looked at her in that discerning way all her children were familiar with, as if she could read their minds. ‘Anyway, you’re home now, thank God. I shall say no more about it.’
‘Over dinner that evening, the chatter was boisterous and incessant. Evie and Juliette found nothing strange about Lizzie being away for extended periods. They plied her with their latest news as if she’d been away on holiday, not undercover on a deadly mission, dining with the Gestapo.
Lizzie longed to tell Evie about the red-haired nurse who seemed like a good omen for her nursing career, but she stopped herself just in time. There was no reasonable excuse for her to have been in a hospital with Jack, waiting for him to be released. As far as her family knew, she’d been working with the FANYs, and had come straight home.
So much of her life must remain secret, and her transition from Michel Dubois’s wife to Lizzie Beaumont was brutal in its speed. She wondered how Jack was feeling and wished shecould see him at his flat. Lizzie sighed. If she went out again this evening, they would find it odd, and her mother was already suspicious enough about her relationship with Jack.
She would have to wait until tomorrow. His wound wasn’t serious, but he needed to rest. He would be fine, but she missed him so much. Lizzie told herself she was being dramatic and suggested to her sisters they play board games. Soon they were laughing and shouting like old times, until tears of laughter streamed from her eyes.
It was good to be home.
At Baker Street a few days later, Lizzie was working at her desk when Val entered.
‘We received a message from your new agent, Heart.’
That was Lev’s chosen codename. He had told her his name meant Heart in Hebrew.
‘What did he say?’ Lizzie asked, praying it was good news.
‘He used Angel’s codes, so she must have trained him.’
‘Yes, they received the radio in the supply drop, but we had no time to set up a system with him. Thank goodness Hannah was there.’
