"Lee Edgar - Princess 04 - Checkmate for a Princess" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

WEDNESDAY 11th AUGUST - 1900 hrs.
The party on board Columbia that evening was a little too formal for Suzette.
Already Gillian, dressed in floppy pink sweater and pleated skirt, had
immersed herself in the throng of sailors, dancing with as many as she could.
The more subdued Marianne, immaculate in a black chiffon micro-dress, clung
tightly to Roger, turning down all other offers while Jim and Philippe mingled
and were introduced to all and sundry by the jovial Al Slazinski. Admiral
Davison kept the smiling, brown-eyed Suzette all to himself - he was not
stupid.
'Well, Miss Blackman,' he said over a drink. 'The Major informs me we are to
have visitors this evening. Would you care to enlighten me?'
Suzette smiled and fluttered her long eyelashes. 'Now Admiral. Would I try to
hide anything from you?'
'I don't know. Would you?'
'Show me how you dance and I will let you into my closest secrets,' she said
cheekily.
The Admiral took her suntanned arm and led her to the floor as other officers
stood respectfully aside. Placing one arm around her slender waist, he led her
into the waltz as her dark hair swirled around her bare shoulders and her
long, white dress hugged her slim body like a second skin.
'You dance well, Admiral. You must have had years of practice.'
'I've been around, Miss Blackman.' He changed the subject quickly and neatly.
'The er... visitors?'
'Thirty minutes!' she said without hesitation.
'Eh?'
'They will be here in thirty minutes, give or take an hour or two.'
'Are you pulling my leg, young lady?'
'Now would I do a thing like that?'
'I don't know. I hardly know you, though I feel that I would like to.'
'I'm afraid there's not much to tell. My mother was French and my father was
in the forces until he died in the Falklands.'
They suddenly stopped dancing and the Admiral stared at her as the penny
dropped. 'Well, I'll be darned! You're John Blackman's daughter, aren't you?'
Suzette looked surprised. 'You knew my father?'
'Very well. He was my contact after the Normandy landings.'
She laughed. 'That was a long time before I was born.'
'Yes, he was just a boy himself really but, even then, he knew what he wanted.
I knew him when he first met your mother, did you know that?'
'No. Tell me about it.'
'He was dropped by submarine into southern France in 1945 to make contact with
the resistance. As he could speak both French and Spanish, he was invaluable
to them. It was while they were regrouping in the Pyrenees that the Germans
arrived in Laroque to smuggle some escapees into Spain. Your father was a very
brave man.'
She looked sad. 'I loved him very much and missed him when he was killed.'
'He was on HMS Sheffield, wasn't he?'
Suzette's head went on one side. 'How did you know? He was not listed, they
tell me.'
'No. None of the SAS personnel were listed.'