“I certainly did. He was a very fine man—one of the best. He reminded me very much of someone I had known in London, someone with an equally good heart and strong sense of purpose.” She paused, swallowed, then allowed a small smile to tease her lips. “I knew you were his wife the moment we met and you said your last name was Langford. I had to assume you were here to find La Fleur.”
“Wait a minute.” Drew slapped his hands on the table, making a couple walking by startle and move away. “I can’t believe I’ve been so oblivious.” He turned to me. “Do you see? Margot is short for Marguerite—from The Scarlet Pimpernel, of all things—and Marguerite is the French equivalent of Daisy. How could I have missed it? Even Pierre told us that everyone called Marguerite Daisy!” He slapped his forehead with the flat of his hand. “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! Harvard is going to take away my summa cum laude!”
I stared at him. “Harvard? I thought you said you went to Bowdoin.”
He may have actually rolled his eyes. “I already told you—I have no connection to Bowdoin, either by name or alma mater. I wasn’t just a football player, you know.” He sat back in his chair and leveled a gaze on Precious. “So what they said is true, then. That La Fleur took the talisman for her own gain. And let my father take the blame.”
“Hardly,” Precious said. “You see, the night of the drop, there was a problem where we were supposed to give your father the talisman. The Gestapo had somehow found out—we think it might have been Pierre, trying to save his own skin. Luckily for us, we had help from Max von Sternburg, a German officer.” She paused. “He was also Daisy’s father—something she wasn’t aware of until that very night. He took the talisman to make the transfer to the OSS man—your father, Drew—so Daisy and the children could escape. Unfortunately, the Gestapo were waiting for him. Knowing it meant certain death, he turned himself in—but only after giving me the talisman.” She paused for a moment, remembering. “I hid and watched as they shot him. Even with his hands up in surrender. He died honorably. I’m glad I was able to tell Daisy that much, at least.”
“But my father never got the talisman. No one showed up.”
Precious placed a calming hand on Drew’s arm. “By the time I received it, it was too late.”
“So what happened to the jewels?” he asked.
“I spent them all on clothes, of course.”
We stared at her in stunned surprise.
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “I’m just playing with you. I sold them, of course. The Resistance was in desperate need of operating funds. I was modeling for Coco Chanel at the time and had made many helpful contacts not only among the Nazis she considered friends, but also in the furriers and jewelers she used for her fashion house. One was a Jew whose last name was Reich—can you imagine? He worked right under their noses and because of his name he was above suspicion. He helped me sell the jewels on the black market to the Nazis. That Nazi money funded the Resistance for months to come, which made it doubly rewarding. Not only did we save more Jewish lives, but we had the Nazis pay for it.”
She put her hand on Drew’s arm. “You must understand that we couldn’t expose the truth that might have cleared your father’s name. It would have compromised too many people, too many operations already in place. It’s why I didn’t confess my true identity. Up until now, we have not been allowed to let the world know, but I have been granted permission seeing as how your father is running out of time. I hope you will be able to give him peace.”
Precious frowned at me. “You’re going to catch flies, Babs, if you don’t close your mouth.”
I immediately shut it, unaware of how long I’d been staring at her gape jawed. Probably for the same amount of time it had taken me to realize how completely wrong I’d been about Daisy. About La Fleur. She and Kit had tried to save the world together. Had risked their lives while I busied myself in the countryside running the WI and tending my victory garden, imagining I was doing my part. No wonder Kit had loved her.
“I . . . ,” I began, not sure what I was going to say. Instead, I opened my purse and pulled out the letter. The one I’d been so desperate to hide. But it didn’t matter anymore. Drew was leaving, and I’d learned the truth of someone I’d considered my nemesis. And for both, I found myself horribly lacking.
I placed the letter on the table next to the talisman, baring my subterfuge. The words written at the bottom taunted me. I will always love you. Always. I didn’t cover them up. I needed them to see. I needed Drew to see so that he’d know he’d been mistaken about me, that his leaving had come at the most opportune time so that he didn’t have to find an excuse to go back to New York.