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L izzie and Jack lingered in the courtyard. Jack lit a cigarette and inhaled as he searched the sky for answers. ‘We must warn Luc and Suzanne.’

‘Yes, I wouldn’t know the first thing about which rooms to prepare, and the housemaids only follow her instructions.’

They agreed Jack would join the men, and Lizzie would run back to the cellars, check on the sick airman, and tell Suzanne she was needed back at the chateau urgently.

‘I don’t like you having to go over there at this time of night alone, but if I don’t follow them inside soon, it might look suspicious.’

‘It’s fine, darling, don’t worry. You go in and warn Luc however you can. Make up some excuse about Suzanne needing longer to ready the rooms, and I’ll bring her back.’

Jack brushed Lizzie’s lips with the lightest of kisses. ‘I love you. Be careful.’ He turned and strode towards the chateau, glancing back from the door.

Lizzie blew him a kiss, picked up the hem of her dress and ran as fast as she could across the gardens and towards the vineyards. Her hair flew as she ran, and she was exhilarated by the wind in her face. By the time she reached the cellar entrance, she was panting so hard she had to stop and rest.

Grabbing the lantern, she disappeared into the cellars, almost losing her footing on the rough surface of the steps. The sudden hoot of an owl echoed around the ancient cavern, and her scalp tingled, and her flesh erupted in goosebumps. Jack was right—it was creepy down here at night.

Lizzie arrived in the belly of the dark cellar and held her lantern over the wine barrel where Suzanne had been hiding.

Lifting the lid, she found it empty. Then she heard a thud and tapped three times on the wall of the secret room.

It was their agreed safety signal. Lizzie opened the door and stood face-to-face with Suzanne.

‘What’s going on? They need you at the chateau,’ she whispered.

The housekeeper ran her hand over her bun and pushed the loose tendrils off her forehead. ‘It’s not good news, I’m afraid. Come in and see for yourself.’

Suzanne stepped aside and Lizzie entered the musty room. ‘Doctor! I thought you would have gone by now. It’s too dangerous to be here.’

The old doctor’s face was grey from exhaustion when he raised his eyes to Lizzie’s. ‘I couldn’t leave this poor man in this state.’ He stood and moved away from the thrashing airman, whose wound was soaked with fresh blood that had seeped onto the thin makeshift mattress.

Suzanne knelt by the wounded man and cooled his head with a damp towel, soothing him with soft words as though he were a child.

The doctor beckoned Lizzie to the far side of the room and lowered his voice. ‘He won’t make it through the night if we don’t get him to a hospital. I don’t have sulfa powder for the infection and without it …’ He shook his head, sadness in his eyes.

‘But we can’t take him to a hospital. That’s as good as signing his death warrant,’ Lizzie whispered.

‘I understand, but what do you suggest? I have tried every trick in the book and can do no more for him here. His temperature is raging, the bleeding has worsened in the past hour, and he is weak from fighting the infection for so long. It has a death grip on him.’

Lizzie looked over at the young airman. He had defended his country and was now slipping away from life in a cold cellar in France, his loved ones far out of reach. She felt inadequate and wished she had a magic wand to restore him to good health.

‘I have an idea,’ she said.

The doctor looked at her curiously. ‘That’s good news. I have been out of ideas for some time.’

‘It’s better I don’t tell you the details, but trust me, we will do all we can for him.’

The doctor reluctantly agreed to leave after checking on his patient one more time and changing the bandages on the wound.

‘Do you know your way home through the woods?’ Lizzie asked, as he stood at the exit with his doctor’s bag.

‘I was born in the village, madame, you need not worry about me. I will make my way home through the woods and stay out of sight.’

Lizzie thanked him again and said she would be in touch.

‘Good luck,’ he said. ‘I will pray for Billy and for your plan’s success.’

After the doctor left, Lizzie talked to the other airman. ‘Get some rest. It must be difficult, but we will try to get you out of here tomorrow.’

‘Billy won’t make it across the mountains like that,’ he said, desperation in his voice.

Lizzie patted his shoulder. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll return in the morning and will know more about how we’ll get him to safety then.’

Lizzie told Suzanne about Von Schneider and his driver staying over as they hurried back through the shadowy vineyards illuminated only by the moonlit sky, and towards the chateau.

Suzanne frowned. ‘I couldn’t have picked a worse time to leave.’

‘My husband went to warn Monsieur Luc and distract Von Schneider.’

Suzanne said she knew which rooms to give the guests, but they needed freshening up. When they let themselves in quietly through the staff entrance, only the butler remained in the kitchen, reading a newspaper.

‘The others have retired for the night. Where did you disappear to?’ he asked, looking at Suzanne, clearly surprised to see them enter together.

‘Apologies. I lost my wedding ring on an errand in the vineyards this afternoon and went in search of it. Madame Isabelle saw I was distressed and was kind enough to help me look for it.’

‘Did you find it?’ he asked.

‘I’m afraid not,’ Suzanne said, sniffing dramatically as though she may break down in floods of tears at any second.

‘How unfortunate,’ he said.

‘It’s the only thing I have left of my dear departed husband.’

The butler looked uncomfortable and fell silent.

Lizzie lay her hand on Suzanne’s arm. ‘Never fear. These things have a way of turning up. I shall help you search again in the morning when we can see what we’re looking for.’

Suzanne thanked Lizzie, and they scuttled off together to the housekeeping stores to prepare rooms for their unwanted guests.

That night, Von Schneider slept in the chateau’s largest guest suite. In its heyday it was the grandest but was now shabbily elegant. Lizzie had requested Suzanne put him as far away from her rooms as possible, and despite the ominous situation, their spirits were giddy as they made up the beds.

Being in terrible danger sharpened the senses.

She had noticed it on her first mission, and realised she was addicted to the thrill of working undercover.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered whether life after the war would seem dull.

It was difficult to imagine being married to Jack and living in London with no war raging.

If the SOE didn’t need them anymore, what would they do?

She shook herself back to the present and Suzanne thanked her.

‘It’s so kind of you to help like you do. I shall miss you when you leave.’

The housekeeper’s words touched Lizzie, and she wondered how long they would stay. They had barely established the Resistance network, but their cover could be compromised at any moment, so she never knew.

‘I wish I had a scorpion to hide in his sheets,’ Lizzie muttered, and they both dissolved into laughter at the thought of the entitled Gestapo officer stung by a scorpion in the middle of the night.

When Lizzie finally climbed into her giant bed, she was bone weary, but her mind raced as she waited for Jack to return.

It seemed ages until he quietly let himself in and sat heavily on the bed next to her. ‘Are you awake?’

‘Yes, of course. Did you do it?’ Lizzie asked, turning to face him.

Jack ran his fingers over the bearded shadow on his face. ‘Yes. It’s late, but Val should get my message first thing.’

‘Do you think they’ll send a plane to pick up the airmen tomorrow?’ Lizzie couldn’t get Billy’s haunted cries out of her mind. ‘You should have seen him tonight. He’s in a desperate way.’

‘All going to plan, he’ll be in a hospital in Blighty by tomorrow night.’

‘Let’s hope it’s not too late,’ Lizzie said, holding onto Jack’s hand like a life raft.

The state of the wounded airman had reminded her how fortunate they were, and how dreadful it was when she was in London waiting for Jack when he was away on an operation.

‘I can’t believe we had to send a message when there’s Gestapo in the chateau!’

‘I know, it’s far from ideal, but I don’t see how else we can get the airman to a hospital. You were right, he wouldn’t make the journey to the border, never mind across the mountains in that condition.’

When Jack eased his large frame onto the mattress next to her, she nestled in his arms and was grateful for his warm, solid presence. They drifted off to sleep together on one side of the giant bed.

That night, even though Lizzie’s body ached from sheer physical exhaustion, she slept only fitfully, and images of the wounded airman and the doctor’s granddaughter permeated her consciousness each time she awoke.

As dawn broke over the valley and the soft light of a new summer’s day filtered through the shutters and spun patterns on the white walls, Lizzie's eyes flickered open and all she could see was Billy’s ashen face.

Her soul was filled with melancholy, and she had a horrible sense of doom that something terrible was on the horizon.