It rained all the following week, although it remained warm for the time of year, but the winds picked up and the sea was choppy. Mia had regained her confidence but swimming in rough waters wasn't something she was keen to try. Instead, she stayed indoors and read more of Mattie's diaries.

'You're becoming a hermit,' Ella said, but as she stayed in most days as well, either reading the diaries Mia had already read, or helping Gill with his research for his book, she could hardly talk.

Hettie still came to clean on Monday and Thursday, despite no longer needing the money now that Fred had moved in permanently and, having sold his own house within a matter of days, followed by a speedy exchange and completion date, they would soon have ample funds to live on.

'I enjoy the company of you youngsters, deary,' Hettie said, when Mia told her they would be happy to do the cleaning themselves. 'Besides, you wouldn't get the duster out for a month and goodness knows what the place will look like come Christmas. No. We'll carry on as we are, deary.'

Lori popped in regularly for coffee and she and Franklin came for dinner one evening in the week. Mia told them all about Mattie's upbringing and as she was now reading the war years, she regaled them with tales of secret codes and secret missions but the diaries were scarce on detail.

'It's because writing a diary in an enemy occupied country, was not a wise way to spend one's time,' Gill said. 'Most of it was probably written after the war, from memory.'

He knew more details, having had the benefit of hearing the stories from his grandfather, but even so, there was a lot that was probably left out.

'Mattie was now working for the SOE,' Mia said. 'Her duties were sabotage and subversion. Winston Churchill's orders were to "set Europe ablaze" and that's what Mattie and Will, Gill's grandfather tried to do, by blowing up bridges, buildings, factories and even trains.'

Lori shook her head. 'It's so difficult to comprehend what life was like for her. From what you've both told us, she would go for days without food, have to move at a moment's notice, be constantly on her guard, risk her life on a daily, if not hourly basis and all that from the age of just twenty until the war ended when she was twenty-six. It's astonishing. Truly astonishing.'

'And don't forget,' Gill said, 'she was captured and interrogated. We won't tell you what she endured because it's pretty grim reading, but at least she was rescued from an even worse Fate by Grandfather and some of the group.'

'And your grandad told you that his lover, Margot Voss died in 1945?' Lori queried. 'Do Mattie's diaries say what really happened?'

Mia nodded. 'But not in great detail. She says he proposed and she was torn. She loved him but hated the idea of marriage and unlike him, she didn't want kids.'

'A bit like Fiona,' Ella joked. 'Sorry.'

'Don't worry,' Mia said. 'But yes, she was adamant about that. Will wanted a family but he said he'd give that up for Mattie. She wouldn't let him do that, so she lied and said she didn't think their love would last. That without the excitement and thrill of completing their missions, and the fear of death each day, their passion would peter out. He assured her his wouldn't. She said she knew hers would. Another lie because she said in the note she left that she loved him still and always had. But he was only twenty-four at the time, because he was two years her junior, and she thought he'd get over her. That they'd get over each other. I think she realised many years later that she should've taken the risk and married him. She says that Will loved her so much that the only way he could move on with his life was to act as if the woman he adored, was dead. And in a way, she was. Margot Voss no longer existed.'

'I can't wait to hear more,' Lori said.

Mia grinned. 'I can't wait to read more. I'm hoping the rain keeps up next week as well so that I've got an excuse to stay indoors and read.'

It did. And the wind increased even more and the temperature dropped, so much so that Gill lit the fire in the living room each evening. It wasn't really cold enough to have the heating on all day but the evenings did get chilly and the fire warmed them until they went to bed. They had got into a habit now of having dinner at seven-thirty, then curling up on the sofa or the chairs, with a glass or two of wine while Mia read from the 'latest' diary. By the end of that week, they had got to 1992, the year before Mattie moved to Little Pondale and on Monday, Mia started reading 1993.

'What did Mattie do in the intervening years?' Lori asked, on Monday morning when she popped round for coffee.

Hettie was there too, Monday being one of her mornings to clean and they were sitting in the kitchen as they always did when Hettie had finished for the day.

'When she returned to England, she worked for MI6. Oddly enough, her diary-keeping dwindled even more. There're loads more blank pages between 1945 and 1955. She had a couple of lovers, but no one special, that's obvious from the way she writes about them. She and Will are in contact, but he's married now, believing of course that Mattie didn't really love him. Gill says that his grandad made it clear to him that even though Margot Voss was dead, he still adored her and had never got over her. Gill, of course, had no idea that Mattie was Margot, and she was alive and well in England. He now thinks that if Mattie had said the word, Will would've left his wife and kids for her. That's kind of sad, isn't it?'

'Men shouldn't leave their wives and children for another woman, deary, no matter who she is,' Hettie said. 'Look what it did to Sarah Cross, and to Jet. Mind you, that's not a good example because they were better off without that man, deary. They just didn't know it at the time. And Sarah, poor dear, never stopped loving him. Not even on the day she died.'

'I think that's why Jet's so anti-relationships. He saw how it destroyed his mum. But I'm not going to start thinking about Jet. Needless to say, I haven't seen or heard from the man since your engagement party.'

Hettie puffed out her cheeks and clasped her hands beneath her chest. 'Haven't you, deary? Why he's been popping in and out all the time. He always asks after you. But he does ask me not to mention it, now that I think about it. Oh dear. I just have. Forget you heard that, deary. Tell us more about dear Matilda.'

Mia had to force herself not to ask Hettie to elaborate. Jet had been asking about her? That was a good sign, wasn't it? She and Ella hadn't been to choir practice for the last few weeks, in fact Mia hadn't been since before Garrick left, and they hadn't been to The Frog and Lily since Hettie's party either. Reading Mattie's diaries was beginning to take over all their lives.

'Okay. Where was I? Oh. 1955. She goes to the launch of The Fountain restaurant at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly and amazingly, bumps into someone she helped rescue in the war but she doesn't give any details of how, merely that she hadn't seen her since the day they helped her get out of France. The woman's name is Esther, and she's in London on vacation. And this is the best bit. It seems Esther has also gone into the intelligence business, but as an independent and in the States. They get talking and the following year, Mattie leaves MI6 and she and Esther start a business together. They call it Durieux Ward Associates, because Esther's surname is Durieux and Mattie's is Ward. Mattie runs the London office and Esther runs the one in Washington. All she says about it is that they're in the business of intelligence. I can only assume it means they're spies for hire and it's anyone's guess exactly what that entails. She also mentions Dad a few times over the years, Mum, and I'll give you the diaries where she does, because it's clear she loved him, even if she never knew him. She also mentions her brother – my grandad, and the fact that, despite being ostracised, when her mum dies, she's left some of the family jewellery. It seems the family solicitor still knows how to get in contact with her even though the family wants nothing to do with her, not even her own brother. Which is very sad, I think. I didn't realise Grandad was like that. She also mentions me a few times too in the later diaries, but I'm really young, of course. Anyway, the business clearly had a lot of clients, or whatever over the years, because at the end of 1992, when Esther dies, Mattie, along with Esther's children, sell the business for a fortune. Annoyingly, she doesn't give details of who to, but I suppose if you're dealing in secrets, you keep stuff about your business secret too.'

'And I had no idea about any of this, deary,' Hettie said, shaking her head. 'Matilda never said one word about it. Any of it.'

'Good heavens, darling,' Lori said. 'What a pity we can't find out what she did for all those years.'

Mia smiled. 'That's exactly what I said when I was reading it to Ella and Gill. Naturally, Ella was over the moon because she always knew Mattie's money came from nefarious activities and she said you can't get much more nefarious than being a spy for hire. But Gill said it would make a good plot for a novel and Ella said it would be a very sexy novel if two women are the heads of an international spy organisation, and the next thing we know, we're agreeing we should write one. So guess what? Me, Gill and Ella are going to use the pseudonym, M.E.G. Ward, get it? Mia, Ella and Gill and Ward for Mattie. It may come to nothing, but it'll be a lot of fun.'

'Oh deary!' Hettie said. 'That's so exciting. And it'll give you something to do when you're in this cottage on the long cold winter nights, especially as you haven't got a man to cuddle up to.'

Lori grimaced and shook her head. 'Thank you for pointing that out, Hettie. I think it's wonderful, darling. I really do.'

Mia grinned. 'Yes, Hettie. Thanks for reminding me. And guess what we're going to call the male hero? The one the female spies keep saving.'

'What, darling?' Lori looked anxious.

Mia grinned. 'Jet. Jet De Fonteneau.'

'Good gracious, deary!' Hettie said. 'Are you sure that's wise?'