"Could be."

Jelly paled beneath her makeup. "Oh, my gordon. You want me to go to France, don't you?"

Flick said nothing.

"Behind enemy lines! God's truth, I'm too bloody old for that sort of thing. I'm..." She hesitated. "I'm thirty- seven."

She was about five years older than that, Flick thought, but she said, "Well, we're almost the same age, I'm nearly thirty. We're not too old for a bit of adventure, are we?"

"Speak for yourself~ dear."

Flick's heart sank. Jelly was not going to agree. The whole scheme had been misconceived, she decided. It was never going to be possible to find women who could do these jobs and speak perfect French. The plan had been doomed from the start. She turned away from Jelly. She felt like crying.

Percy said, "Jelly, we're asking you to do a job that's really crucial for the war effort."

"Pull the other leg, Perce, it's got bells on," she said, but her mockery was halfhearted, and she looked solemn.

He shook his head. "No exaggeration. It could make a difference to whether we win or lose."

She stared at him, saying nothing. Conflict twisted her face into a grimace of indecision.

Percy said, "And you're the only person in the country who can do it."

"Get off," she said skeptically.

"You're a female safebreaker who speaks French- how many others do you think there are? I'll tell you: none."

"You mean this, don't you."

"I was never more serious in my life."

"Bloody hell, Perce." Jelly fell silent. She did not speak for a long moment. Flick held her breath. At last Jelly said, "All right, you bastard, I'll do it."

Flick was so pleased she kissed her.

Percy said, "God bless you, Jelly."

Jelly said, "When do we start?"

"Now," said Percy. "If you'll finish up that gin, I'll take you home to pack a case; then I'll drive you to the training center."

"What, tonight?"

"I told you it was important."

She swallowed the remains of her drink. "All right, I'm ready."

She slid her ample bottom off the bar stool, and Flick thought: I wonder how she'll manage with a parachute.

They left the pub. Percy said to Flick, "You'll be all right going back on the Thbe?"

"Of course."

"Then we'll see you tomorrow at the Finishing School."

"I'll be there," said Flick, and they parted company.

She headed for the nearest station, feeling jubilant. It was a mild summer evening, and the East End was alive: a group of dirty-faced boys played cricket with a stick and a bald tennis ball; a tired man in soiled work clothes headed home for a late tea; a uniformed soldier, on leave with a packet of cigarettes and a few shillings in his pocket, strode along the pavement with a jaunty air, as if all the world's pleasures were his for the taking; three pretty girls in sleeveless dresses and straw hats giggled at the soldier. The fate of all these people would be decided in the next few days, Flick thought somberly.

On the train to Bayswater, her spirits fell again. She still did not have the most crucial member of the team. Without a telephone engineer, Jelly might place the explosives in the wrong location. They would still do damage but, if the damage could be repaired in a day or two, the enormous effort and risk of life would have been wasted.

When she returned to her bedsitting room, she found her brother Mark waiting there. She hugged and kissed him. "What a nice surprise!" she said.

"I've got a night off, so I thought I'd take you for a drink," he said.

"Where's Steve?"

"Giving his lago to the troops in Lyme Regis. We both work for ENSA most of the time, now." ENSA was the Entertainments National Service Association, which organized shows for the armed forces. "Where shall we go?"

Flick was tired, and her first inclination was to turn him down. Then she remembered that she was going to France on Friday, and this could be the last time she ever saw her brother. "How about the West End," she said.

"We'll go to a nightclub."

"Perfect!"

They left the house and walked arm-in-arm along the street. Flick said, "I saw Ma this morning."

"How is she?"

"All right, but she hasn't softened her attitude to you and Steve, I'm sorry to say."

"I didn't expect it. How did you happen to see her?"

"I went down to Somersholme. It would take too long to explain why."

"Something hush-hush, I suppose."

She smiled acknowledgment, then sighed as she remembered her problem."! don't suppose you happen to know a female telephone engineer who speaks French, do you?"

He stopped. "Well," he said, "sort of."

CHAPTER 15

MADEMOISELLE LEMAS WAS in agony. She sat rigid on the hard upright chair behind the little table, her face frozen into a mask of self-control. She did not dare to move. She still wore her cloche hat and clutched her sturdy leather handbag on her lap. Her fat little hands squeezed the handle of the bag rhythmically. Her fingers bore no rings; in fact she wore only one piece of jewelry, a small silver cross on a chain.