Page 64 of Tides of Resistance
Lizzie haltingly stepped backwards and touched her lips, feigning a look of confusion as if she were an innocent virgin shocked by their intense mutual attraction.
The mask had slipped, and she saw the Nazi who wasn’t used to taking no for an answer. His expression was chilling until he recovered himself swiftly.
The yacht was now steady, and the moment passed.
‘Forgive me, Rose. My feelings for you got the better of me in this romantic setting.’
The light was gradually fading, and Lizzie glanced towards St. Malo as the sun dropped lower in the orange sky, the pale city walls basking in the golden light beneath the darkening horizon.
Night was falling over St. Malo.
Lizzie shivered.
‘You’re cold,’ Heinrich said. ‘We will turn back and visit St. Lunaire another day.’
His face showed intense disappointment, but his ingrained chivalry won out and, to Lizzie’s relief, he stooped to retrieve her coat and held it out for her to wear.
‘Thank you,’ she said, one hand at her side near her small knife hidden in the concealed compartment. ‘That would be lovely.’
Once on dry land, she declined dinner, glancing at her watch. ‘I am tired and must be home well before the curfew.’
Heinrich kissed her hand like the perfect gentleman, as if they were really courting and he wasn’t the head of the occupying army who enforced the curfew, and she a young woman with no say in how late she was permitted to stay out in her own country.
‘Of course, and I promised to ensure your full recuperation.’ He smiled, showing his polished teeth and she shivered.
Lizzie saw he was genuinely smitten, and the realisation deepened her fear of what might follow. Heinrich Adler, the Golden Eagle, was not a man who was used to being rejected.
‘When will I see you again, dearest Rose? I already feel the loss of your presence, and we haven’t parted yet.’
He touched his heart in a self-deprecating manner as if he had no control over his intense feelings for her.
Lizzie pretended to be charmed by his romantic gesture. Despite the knot in her stomach, she knew that the more his feelings controlled him, the less likely he was to suspect her and view the situation objectively.
Lizzie touched his arm lightly. ‘Soon, dear Heinrich. I must take a few days to complete some work at the office. You know how important that is. We mustn’t delay your fortification plans by not delivering our final assessments on time.’
He tilted his head and smiled. ‘I shall count the days. And whilst I will miss you terribly, I applaud and admire your commitment to the Reich.’
They parted, and Lizzie arrived at the house to an avalanche of questions from Aunt Giselle and Sophie, who had waited for her in the kitchen, terrified she would not return.
‘You are playing a dangerous game,’ Sophie whispered that night after they turned the small lamp out and lay in their small beds side by side.
‘I know, but it will all be alright. Sweet dreams, dear cousin.’
CHAPTER 37
When Lizzie had told Fabian and Judith during their walk in the forest that she meant to find a way to reach Jersey to check on their grandparents, her cousin stopped walking and stared at her as though she had lost her mind.
He said it was the definition of insanity, but as they discussed various possibilities, she saw he started to believe it could work. ‘The audacity and simplicity of the plan is its beauty.’
Fabian knew a French fisherman who made regular trips to Jersey as part of the controlled supply system. He was a childhood friend and was anti-Nazi so Fabian promised he would ask him to help. If he agreed, Lizzie could travel with him on one of his deliveries and they would make the arrangements.
A few days later, Lizzie arrived at the farmhouse two hours before she was due to meet the fisherman so she could transmit a message to Baker Street. She knew Jack wouldn’t be happy about her going on such a dangerous trip, but a promise was a promise, and she had committed to updating him on her location.
After assembling the radio set, with Fabian watching closely, she showed him how to send the call signal, and they waited for aresponse in the dim underground storeroom. Judith kept watch over the front of the house from the window upstairs.
The musical sound of the beeps and buzzes signalled for Lizzie to go ahead, and she tapped out her message in Morse code, giving Fabian his first lesson in undercover radio transmission. She had soon realised this was a chance to train Fabian to replace the missing radio operator. He and Judith were determined to risk their lives anyway, so it made sense to help them develop their Resistance cell.
After she sent her message informing the SOE, she would travel to Jersey for urgent reconnaissance and should be back the following day, she was relieved to receive just a standard response and not a scathing reply from Jack.
