Page 86 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure

Ellie looked from Tommy to Clive and gave a nervous giggle. “But everyone knows we were not married in England.”

“Everyone here. They won’t say anything. They like us.”

“Not Mrs Adams,” I said. “She’d turn you over in a heartbeat.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Clive said, “because I happen to know that her husband is Jewish.”

“He’s Jewish?”

Both men nodded. “So it’s in their interests to lie low and shut up now,” Clive added.

Ellie looked around the bright kitchen and out to the sea below. It was a lot to take in. “So when are we supposed to have married? Am I your long-lost wife come in search of you?”

“Not at all,” Tommy said. “We thought that out, too. You are an old and dear friend from my childhood. Last year we learned that your husband had died. I went over to console you, and we found the spark was still there. We got married, and you came over here, where we now live happily ever after.”

“It sounds so simple,” Ellie said. “Surely if the Germans come, they will be meticulous in inspecting papers.”

“Maybe not a really elaborate English marriage certificate from Saint Andrew’s Church in Chiddingfold?” Tommy smiled.

There was a long pause. Ellie was aware of a clock ticking on the shelf and the gentle clucking of chickens outside the open window.

“So what do you think?” Tommy said at last. “Are you willing to give it a try?”

Ellie laughed again. “Well, it’s certainly the most ridiculous thing I’ve done in my life. Dora always wished she had done more, lived a more adventurous life. Perhaps it’s time for me to take a risk. At this stage, what do we have to lose?”

“What indeed,” Tommy said, laughing with her.

Chapter 35

It didn’t take long for the whole of Saint-Benet to know that Mr Tommy and Clive were moving into the villa with Ellie. Makes sense, was the general opinion. It’s good to pool resources. But then Ellie risked using up precious petrol to drive into Marseille, and the rumour was spread that she and Tommy had gone to be married. Most of Saint-Benet scoffed at this idea but agreed it made sense for Ellie, or she’d get no rations.

“Good luck to them, that’s what I say,” Mr Adams said. “In wartime, you do what you have to.”

“Yes, but not to that man,” Mrs Adams replied with a sniff of disgust. “You know what sort he is.”

“Perhaps he’s seen the error of his ways,” Mr Adams suggested.

“A likely story.”

Possessions were carried, bit by bit, down from Tommy and Clive’s house and up the steps to Ellie’s. She used more valuable petrol to pack her motor car with heavier things they’d need, including a crate of chickens on the back seat, while the goats were led across by hand. Clive brought their cat across and introduced her to Tiger. Tiger, being the most easy-going of cats, was prepared to make instant friends, but Clive’s cat retreated under a table and hissed.

“I expect they’ll soon sort it out,” Clive said.

The major furniture was left in place as a tenant had been found to rent the house—a couple who had decided that Lyon was too close to the border of the occupied zone for comfort.

“My husband’s Jewish,” the wife said. “We can’t take any risks.”

As Ellie was crossing the harbour with baskets of provisions from the house, Nico came up to her and grabbed her fiercely by the arm, swinging her around. Ellie gave a small cry of alarm.

“Is it true what they say?” he asked, frowning at her. “It can’t be true. They say that you’ve married that man. Mr Tommy. It’s not true, is it?”

“I’m afraid it is,” she said.

“But he’s ...” He tried to frame the sentence.

She smiled then. “Nico, don’t worry. If ever there was a marriage of convenience, this is one. I couldn’t get an identity card and could have been arrested and sent to a camp. Now I’ll be safe. It makes sense to only use one house, and it helps Tommy and Clive, too. Now he’s a respectable married man if the Germans ever come here and start probing.”

“Yes, but ...” Nico still looked angry. “There must have been other options.”