Chapter 62

FROM BLETCHLEY BLETHERINGS, 5 JUNE 1944

Take heed. . . how you awake our sleeping sword of war. ” Good old Shakespeare. It may be a different enemy today than in Henry V’s era, but the sentiment remains the same as we look toward France.

Godspeed, boffins and debs.

Waiting for the transport bus? ” Giles was sauntering along with that fair-haired ISK colleague of Beth’s—Peggy, Mab remembered, that was her name—and the two of them fell in beside Mab as she passed through Bletchley Park’s gates.

“I was off at the usual time, but I’ll return at midnight for the crush. ” Mab shifted her handbag from one arm to the other, trying to avoid Giles’s gaze. She was still so embarrassed at having fallen apart in his bed, she could barely look at him.

He frowned. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping, Queen Mab. ”

“I haven’t. ” She’d cut down on the gin, and without its comforting haze she tossed and turned for hours before dropping off. Last night the dreams had all been of chasing Lucy through a choking maze of ash and rubble, and she’d wakened herself weeping.

“Well, that won’t do, ” Peggy said briskly. “We need everyone fresh for tonight. Quite a thing, isn’t it? ” She nodded in the direction of the village. “We know the invasion is happening, and they don’t have a clue. ”

“I’m not worrying about it until barges hit beachheads, ” Giles shrugged. “Have either of you seen Beth? I wanted to ask her to a concert or something after the imminent rush. ”

“She was at ISK when I last saw her. ” Peggy sounded irritated. “She bit my head off. ”

“I’m thinking maybe I’ve got a chance with her, now Harry’s out of the picture. . . ”

“She’ll bite your head off too. I don’t know how she’s got any friends left. ” Looking at Mab. “I must say, you and Osla are more forgiving than I would be. ”

“What do you mean? ” Mab frowned.

“You mean the Coventry raid? ” Giles asked Peggy.

“Yes, I was—”

Mab stopped on the corner. “What about the Coventry raid? ”

Peggy looked chagrined. To Mab, every detail of her face stood out in peculiar clarity: the fair flyaway hair, the thin intelligent face. “Have I put my foot in it? Look, I assumed after your husband’s funeral, she would have apologized for. . . ”

Mab’s ears buzzed as though she stood inside a beehive. “For what? ”

“Not warning you all to stay away from Coventry. I assumed she didn’t, or else you’d never have gone. Beth broke an advance report about the raid—I was at the next desk. ” Peggy’s eyebrows went up. Giles looked shocked. “. . . She didn’t tell you? ”

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