“Brought up by her French stepmother, Lord Inverlocky’s second wife. She’s ever so keen to do her bit.”
Paul was suspicious of Fortescue, but he was desperate for suitable recruits. “Where do I find her?”
“She’s with the RAF at Hendon.” The word “Hen-don” meant nothing to Paul, but Fortescue explained. “It’s an airfield in the north London suburbs.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me know how she gets on.” Fortescue hung up. Paul explained the call to Percy, who said, “Fortescue wants a spy in our camp.”
“We can’t afford to turn her down for that reason.”
“Quite.”
They saw Maude Valentine first. Percy arranged for them to meet her at the Fenchurch Hotel, around the corner from SOE headquarters. Strangers were never brought to number sixty-four, he explained. “If we reject her, she may guess that she’s been considered for secret work, but she won’t know the name of the organization that interviewed her nor where its office is, so even if she blabs she can’t do much harm.”
“Very good.”
“What’s your mother’s maiden name?”
Paul was mildly startled and had to think for a moment. “Thomas. She was Edith Thomas.”
“So, you’ll be Major Thomas and I’ll be Colonel Cox. No point in giving our real names.”
Percy was not such a duffer, Paul reflected.
He met Maude in the hotel lobby. She piqued his interest right away. She was a pretty girl with a flirtatious manner. Her uniform blouse was tight across the chest, and she wore her cap at a jaunty angle. Paul spoke to her in French. “My colleague is waiting in a private room.”
She gave him an arch look and replied in the same language. “I don’t usually go to hotel rooms with strange men,” she said pertly. “But in your case, Major, I’ll make an exception.”
He blushed. “It’s a meeting room, with a table and so on, not a bedroom.”
“Oh, well, that’s all right, then,” she said, mocking him. He decided to change the subject. He had noticed that she spoke with a south of France accent, so he said, “Where are you from?”
“I was born in Marseilles.”
“And what do you do in the FANYs?”
“I drive Monty.”
“Do you?” Paul was not supposed to give any information about himself, but he could not help saying, “I worked for Monty for a while, but I don’t recall seeing you.”
“Oh, it’s not always Monty. I drive all the top generals.”
“Ah. Well, come this way, please.”
He took her to the room and poured her a cup of tea.
Maude was enjoying the attention, Paul realized. While Percy asked questions, he studied the girl. She was petite, though not as tiny as Flick, and she was cute: she had a rosebud mouth accentuated with red lipstick, and there was a beauty spot-which might even have been fake-on one cheek. Her dark hair was wavy.
“My family came to London when I was ten years old,” she said. “My papa is a chef.”
“And where does he work?”
“He’s the head pastry cook at Claridge’s Hotel.”
“Very impressive.”
Maude’s file was on the table, and Percy discreetly moved it an inch closer to Paul. Paul’s eye was caught by the slight movement, and his eye fell on a note made when Maude was first interviewed. Father: Armand Valentin, 39, kitchen porter at Claridge’s, he read.
When they had finished, they asked her to wait outside. “She lives in a fantasy world,” Percy said as soon as she was outside the door. “She’s promoted her father to chef, and changed her name to Valentine.”
Paul nodded agreement. “In the lobby, she told me she was Monty’s driver-which I know she’s not.”
“No doubt that was why she was rejected before.”
Paul thought Percy was getting ready to reject Maude. “But now we can’t afford to be so particular,” he said.
Percy looked at him in surprise. “She’d be a menace on an undercover operation!”
Paul made a helpless gesture. “We don’t have any choice.”
“This is mad!”
Percy was half in love with Flick, Paul decided, but, being older and married, he expressed his love in a paternal, protective way. Paul liked him better for that, but realized at the same time that he would have to fight Percy’s caution if he was going to get this job done. “Listen,” he said. “We shouldn’t eliminate Maude. Flick can make up her own mind when she meets her.”