The Lost Girls of Paris: A Novel

After a cold, stressful night locked in the garden shed, Julian (code name Vesper) retrieves Marie and gruffly urges her to be quiet. He attempts to grab her arm but respects her wishes when she asks him not to touch her. He guides Marie to the bike and pedals it while she sits on the crossbar. They continue to an SOE safehouse, a large home that the Germans have left undisturbed. Marie is surprised to find a group of men laughing and eating breakfast. Will, the pilot who flew Marie to France, is with them. Marie is angry to see these men comfortable and relaxed when she was forced to spend the night in the shed. She demands to speak to Vesper, and they tease her for not knowing that she has been with Vesper all along.

One of the men compliments Marie on her perfect French accent. The conversation moves on to a recent raid of a nearby safehouse and the arrest of the agents inside. Then, to Marie’s delight, Josie walks into the room and reveals that Will and Julian are cousins. Will and Julian get into a heated debate; Julian wants to ask locals to help them with another safehouse, but Will argues that they are already asking too much of the locals and are not sharing information that could help the locals protect themselves.