Chapter 14: Parting : London, January 1942

Elspeth Grant sat at her dressing table, staring into the mirror. It had been a busy few weeks. She looked out through her bedroom window and across Kensington Gardens on a cold crisp morning. It was time to go.

Behind her, the woman in Elly's bed stretched with a contented sigh. Elly looked across at Angela Parsons and then at the telegram delivered the previous evening that meant it was time to bring their short but mutually enjoyable relationship to a close.

Angela had proved a far more engaging project than Strangways. The Wren had been happy to share her recent life. Elly suspected Strangways boss had encouraged her but she felt she'd had the better end of the bargain.

Freddie would be pleased to hear that the girls from Paris had arrived safely, if somewhat bruised, dazed and confused. Although Angela hadn't given much away, it sounded to Elly as though they were already proving their worth. Freddie would be pleased that his efforts had been worthwhile, Turing and his team were happily beavering away (if that was the word) at Station X and the results were already beginning to come through. The only problem was that the Bletchley team weren't restricting themselves to the deciphering capabilities of the Major's "Codebook".

Word was that the girls were also helping to alleviate the out-of-hours boredom of those working deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside. Not that anyone in the Intelligence Services had much time. The fall out from 7^th December 1941 was still settling and many of the crypt-analysts had been focussing on Japanese material rather than worrying about Strangways' Czechoslovakian problem.

Elly had been able to convince Strangways that it would be useful for her to be around when the Lysander brought Tereza and Anna back to the UK. It hadn't been difficult. Strangways was as susceptible to her charms as Freddie had been to Angela's. More so, to her considerable relief, she hadn't actually needed to bed him to get her way.

Freddie wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Sandy had been as competent as ever in shipping the two girls from Paris. They had been well packed in the Lysander's pod for their trip, although Sandy's concerns would have been more for their safety than their comfort.

They must have had a frightening experience, Elly felt. She had some sympathy with them. She could imagine the terror that they must have felt as they were being strapped up, loaded in and then surrounded by the kapok filled bags that had been packed around them to give them some protection against the cold and vibration of the flight. Still, that must have been nothing to the sensations that they must have felt as the pod was fitted beneath the aircraft, and the noise vibration and cold as the plane had bounced across the field, into the air and off over the Channel. They had both looked relieved when the Lysander's pod had been lowered to the tarmac and opened.