“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.
“This came for Kit,” I explained. “When he was recuperating after being released from the prison camp. I kept it from him. I never even told him a letter had arrived. Instead, I tucked it up in the attic and married him, telling myself it was for his own good.” I swallowed the dam of tears trying to block my airway. “They could have been together all this time, but I was so selfish. When I thought she was evil, it was so much easier to justify.” I looked down in my lap, unable to meet their eyes.
“Babs.” Drew placed a hand gently on my arm. “Stop beating yourself up. You did it out of love, not out of selfishness. Your heart is so big, and so giving, all you wanted was for Kit to be happy. Your big, generous heart. It’s what I love most about you.”
A valet approached discreetly and stood near Drew. “Your luggage is ready, sir. And I took the liberty of calling for a taxi.”
Drew stood, looking uncertain. “Remember at our picnic in Picardy, how we both said we needed to shake up our lives? I think this is it. I think you and I are meant to shake them up together. Come with me, Babs. Come with me to New York.”
I blinked at him, my head and heart warring with each other, battling it out in my throat so that I couldn’t speak.
Drew held up his hand. “Think about it. Let me settle my account, and I’ll be right back.”
I watched his departure until Precious pulled on my arm. “My mama used to say that to watch someone walk away means you’ll never see them again. And I have a good hunch that you both will find a way to be together.”
I turned around, but not because I believed her. “You probably think I’m a weak and spiteful woman. And I’m afraid that you might be right. Despite what he said, I know I don’t deserve him.”
“Don’t ever think that. Ever.” Her accent was amplified in that one word, the r disappearing completely. “Life is complicated, without any sort of road map. We are bound to have disappointments and setbacks, and with each one we make the choice to reinvent ourselves as a stronger version of who we are. You had a wonderful life with Kit. Your three wonderful children are a testament to that. And I know Daisy forgave you, so you don’t need to carry that burden any longer. Learning how to forgive ourselves is so much harder.” The last word seemed to catch in her throat, convincing me that she was on familiar terms with the struggle for self-forgiveness. She leaned closer so I could smell her perfume, recognizing it as Vol de Nuit. It was the same perfume Diana wore—made for brave and adventurous women. Of which I was neither. “Barbara, you are a formidable woman. Never forget that.”
I looked into her beautiful face, wondering again about the stories that lay behind her bright blue eyes. Something dark lurked there, I recognized it now. I remembered seeing it in Kit’s eyes after he’d returned from the war. I blinked away stupid tears I had no right to shed. “How did you get so wise?”