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Chapters (117)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. The Cast of Characters
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. The Recruits
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. The Missions
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. The Game
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  76. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  77. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  85. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  86. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  87. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  88. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  89. CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
  90. CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
  91. CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
  92. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
  93. HOME
  94. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
  95. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
  96. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
  97. CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
  98. CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
  99. CHAPTER NINETY
  100. CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
  101. CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
  102. CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
  103. CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
  104. CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
  105. CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
  106. CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
  107. CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
  108. CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
  109. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
  110. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
  111. Acknowledgments
  112. Discover More
  113. About the Author
  114. Reading Group Guide
  115. Discussion Questions
  116. A Conversation with Leila Meacham
  117. ALSO BY LEILA MEACHAM

“Go!” the pilot commanded, and Bridgette quickly shoved back the canopy. Her foot felt for the yellow-painted step to better guide her down the ladder in the now cloud-shrouded moonlight, and she was suddenly on the ground as he threw the throttle into place for an immediate liftoff. “Good luck!” she heard him yell as the plane taxied for departure, and she was alone with her radio in an empty, silent field shrill with the sudden desertion of human life. She waited, motionless, and listened for a man-made stir, someone to claim her and take her to safety. Whoever the shadows were that had laid out the landing strip had disappeared into the deeper darkness of the forest beyond the field. If Gestapo, they would have made themselves known by now.

Bridgette turned toward a hedgerow of hawthorn in full pink bloom, surreal in the filtered glow of the moon, their blossoms looking like bodiless heads. Beyond it must lay a road, she conjectured, her guess confirmed when a car engine suddenly hummed to life and two quick bursts of a flashlight pierced the darkness. She walked cautiously toward the hedgerow and heard the soft opening of a vehicle door. Her heart in her mouth, she could have fainted from relief when she heard a female voice say in crisp French, “Mademoiselle Bernadette Dufor, I presume? Welcome to France.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY

Victoria—Veronique Colbert—was the first to arrive at the meeting place. It was Saturday, October 3. La Petite Madeleine was a narrow little book-and-tea establishment tucked away on a back street in the quiet and sleepy charm of Montparnasse, a residential district adjoining the Latin Quarter. Less prosperous than others of its kind located closer to the renowned tourist attractions of the Montparnasse Cemetery and the Paris Catacombs, the shop was not often visited by guidebook-carrying German soldiers. Equally unenticing were the shop’s watery tea and dry madeleines that food shortages had forced La Petite Madeleine to serve in lieu of its once delicious tisane tea, buttery pastries, and rich boursin sandwiches. The back room of an establishment of no distinction with instant egress to a maze of alleys and winding streets was an ideal meeting place for a group not wishing to be seen congregating around a café table in their own neighborhood.

The book section of the shop was located at the entrance. Patrons passed through it to reach the tearoom. Victoria had dressed with careful downplay of any detail about her person that might invite notice. In the six days she’d been in Paris, she had already attracted too much attention, a desired effect in L’Ecole d’Escrime Français, the most celebrated fencing academy in France. As calculated, from the first day of her employment as an instructor of foil, the young German military officers enrolled as students had swarmed about her, and now the docket under Mademoiselle Veronique Colbert was filled.