Young, Brave and Beautiful by Tania Szabô

Author:Tania Szabô
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780750964722
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2015-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

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Wednesday morning rushed in on a strong gusting wind. After a leisurely breakfast in her room, Violette dressed in her floral dress with the cardigan from Rouen over it. On went the pretty new shoes, comfortable and smart. A little makeup, hair combed and she was ready.

She would pick up the tartan dress on the way to the Luxembourg Gardens to wait for Philippe. She took a vélo-taxi to Molyneux’s salon. The manager eagerly greeted her; she was spending a small fortune there. Her dress was ready but she did not try it on nor have coffee. ‘Non, mesdames, désolée. I’ve an appointment and must rush. Thank you so much. Au revoir.’

Walking to the Opéra, she window-shopped, stopping for a coffee. She chatted with the waiter who saw her newspaper with a reporting of terroristes killing a Gestapo officer. He hoped there would not be too heavy a reprisal, wishing the Résistance would stay out of Paris. He bet that de Gaulle would be in Paris by Christmas. She studied him and saw he was absolutely sincere.

Violette took the Métro to Luxembourg Gardens. The electric trains were packed to bursting as services had been drastically cut so only a few were running on each line. There was no trouble, just the usual checkpoints where most people’s papers were cursorily glanced at while tickets were checked.

She strolled from Métro Luxembourg into the Luxembourg Gardens to wait. Philippe was already sitting there, waiting patiently. He looked up and could not believe his eyes. She looked a million dollars. They rushed to one another and embraced as relief flowed through them both. Gradually they pulled apart, looked carefully at each other and walked away, arm in arm, looking like any other couple having rediscovered one another under the blue skies of Paris.

‘Alors, ma chère Corinne …’

‘But I’m not Corinne, I’m now Madame Marguerite Blanchard, née Picardeau, widow.’ Violette told him her new identity and cover story.

‘Well, ma chère Marguerite, I’m astounded. Elegant and beautiful. You look and sound so much the part. I like it very much. Different from the young Le Havre secretary. You’ve done well.’

‘Thank you. The new cover was necessary, otherwise I’d have been in a prison cell these last three days. Chief Inspector Alie’s bunch arrested me. One of his thugs questioned me but Inspector Déterville managed to make that questioning very brief. I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.’

Philippe was amazed by her matter-of-fact description of her arrest. ‘First, let’s get your things from the hotel and get over to my aunt’s. Why on earth didn’t you go there immediately?’

‘Too dangerous for her, and perhaps for me, as I didn’t know her situation or whether her phone is tapped. I was fine in the hotel. Turned out it’s a safe-house. I bought a superb evening gown and a few other things from Molyneux …’ She giggled.

Philippe almost shouted, ‘You did what? Molyneux’s is loved by the Germans – officers and wealthy civilians. It is also run by Germans, as you bloody well know.

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