Spy

Chapter 1

Thinking back on it later, the summer of 1939 was the last normal summer Alexandra Wickham remembered. It had been five years since her celebrated first London Season at eighteen, an event her parents had anticipated with excitement and expectation since she was a little girl. She had looked forward to it as the experience of a lifetime, a defining moment when she would be presented at court with all the other daughters of aristocratic families. It was her official entry into society, and since 1780 when the first Queen Charlotte s Ball was held by King George III to honor his wife, the purpose of coming out and being presented had been to allow aristocratic young ladies to catch the eye of future husbands. Marriage was supposed to be the result in a relatively short time. Although modern parents in the 1930s were less earnest about it, the hoped-­for outcome hadn t changed.

Alex had been presented at court to King George V and Queen Mary, and had come out at Queen Charlotte s Ball, in an exquisite white lace and satin dress her mother had had made for her by Jean Patou in Paris. With her height and delicate blond looks, Alex had been a stunning beauty, and she didn t lack for suitors. Her older brothers, William and Geoffrey, had teased her mercilessly about being a debutante, and her subsequent failure to land a husband within the early months of the Season in London. Being at parties, balls, and social events was a major change for Alex, who had been horse-­mad, like the rest of her family, since her earliest childhood. She d been taunted into being a tomboy by her brothers, as a matter of survival. Wearing elegant gowns every night, and proper dresses at every luncheon in London, had been tiresome and sometimes even hard work for her.

She d made many friends among the other debutantes, and most of them had been engaged by the end of the Season, and married shortly after. Alex couldn t imagine herself married to anyone at eighteen. She wanted

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Child’s Play, The Dark Side, Lost and Found, Blessing in Disguise, Silent Night, Turning Point, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.