“What’s happened, Maisie?” asked her father.
“I didn’t ask—but I—I know it’s a matter of extreme gravity. It was an American, from the embassy. I could hear it in his voice . . . that something is terribly wrong.” She bit her lip.
“Oh love, it’s probably—” Frankie stood up and put his arm around his daughter, just as Scott returned.
“Maisie. Just a minute.” Scott beckoned her from the doorway, his face drawn.
In the library, he closed the door and put his arms around her.
“A car will be here soon to pick me up, Maisie, and—”
“All that way in the blackout? The driver will never get here, and—oh, Mark, what’s happened?”
Maisie felt Scott’s hold become tighter.
“The Japanese have attacked our ships in Hawai’i, at a place called Pearl Harbor. I’m to return to London immediately. The ambassador delayed having embassy staff called back because it was our wedding day, but now we have to leave. We don’t know how many are dead yet, but we believe it’ll be in the thousands. About nineteen vessels are gone—half the Pacific Fleet was in Pearl Harbor.” He released his hold and rubbed a hand across his forehead. “And I know what’s going to happen next.”
“Mark—?”
Scott took both her hands in his own. “We’re in, Maisie. Roosevelt will declare war on Japan, and because they’re an Axis power, it’ll all come down like a house of cards. So we’re in.”
Maisie’s eyes filled with tears. “I—I don’t believe it. Oh Mark—I know it’s what we’ve all talked about—but not like this.”
“Maisie, right now I think everyone at the embassy is borderline terrified. We knew it would happen eventually, that the United States would join the Allies, and we know what we’ve got to do, and we’ll do it—but it doesn’t take away the fear. Controlled fear, that’s what it is—and it can be pretty powerful. Over here the people have been living with it every day for over two years now. We’ll take a leaf out of your book.” He paused to take a deep breath, and when he continued, Maisie heard his tone change, becoming more resolute. “Let me tell you one thing, Maisie—they sure went for us when our guard was down, but they can’t attack America and get away with it. I don’t even know if the Japanese strike is over yet. Reports are still coming in. But you can bet the piper will be paid. The piper is always paid.” He looked around the room. “I could do with a shot of Scotch.”
“I’ll get it.” Maisie poured a glass of whisky and handed it to Scott, watching as he swirled the amber liquid against crystal before downing the measure.
“What do you think this means, Mark—for all of us?”
“Time will tell.” He smiled at his bride, a smile Maisie knew was forced. “But I reckon there is one thing you Brits can look forward to.”
“I can’t think what it might be.”
“You aren’t holding the fort alone any more. You’ve got company coming—at last. And guess what—they’re all like me.”
Author’s Note
It was one of my favorite authors, Susan Isaacs, who in the acknowledgments to one of her novels thanked everyone who had helped with her research, and then added (I’m paraphrasing here), “Where their facts didn’t meet my fiction, I have jettisoned the facts.” With that in mind I must draw readers’ attention to two points in this book where I deliberately followed the lead of the inimitable Ms. Isaacs.
Under orders from Winston Churchill, Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) was founded in July 1940 with the intention of engaging in warfare that was far from gentlemanly. Specially trained agents were sent to France, among other locations, to set up resistance lines and to commit acts of espionage and sabotage in Nazi-occupied Europe. The first woman to be deployed by the SOE was an American citizen, Virginia Hall, in September 1941. Much has been written about the women of the SOE, but there were no more “official” deployments of women until 1942. For the sake of this work of fiction I have allowed two female characters to be sent to France as SOE agents in 1941.
I have also taken a liberty with one of my favorite songs, “At Last.” Most readers will be familiar with the gorgeous, smoky version recorded by Etta James in 1961. The Glenn Miller instrumental version first appeared in the film Sun Valley Serenade in 1941 and was recorded with lyrics in 1942 for the film Orchestra Wives. I wanted that song for one scene in this novel, so I decided to manipulate the facts a bit. As Lee Child notes in his book The Hero, fiction comprises “stories about things that never happened to people who didn’t exist.” Many of the events in my novels are based on fact, and sometimes, to add depth to the experience of my fictional characters in the midst of those extraordinary events, I’ve found it necessary to play with time . . . just a little.
Acknowledgments
Given that I tend to thank a great number of people every time I publish a novel, I will limit myself to just one named resource for this book. For the Welsh phrase “Roedd hi'n annwyl iawn,” I knew I had to check with an expert. Fortunately, Anne-Marie and Tim Sweet, my dearest friends since childhood, came to the rescue—Anne-Marie is Welsh, and Tim has roots in the land of the red dragon. They immediately contacted Anne-Marie’s coworker, Kath Caldwell, who is not only Welsh but studied the language at Cardiff University. Thank you, Kath, for kindly confirming the integrity of words that mean “She was much loved.”
Of course, I cannot help myself thanking everyone involved in bringing this book to fruition, but in the interests of brevity, suffice it to say that you know who you are, and I appreciate everything you do, always.
A final word—once again this is a story initially inspired by my late father, Albert Winspear. Dad was a very, very fast runner, and when Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, he was among the fastest boys in London who were chosen to run messages between Air Raid Precautions depots—the “ARP” men visited schools across London to watch boys run before plucking out the best of them. After school he would sprint to the local depot to pick up a message and then deliver message after message as fast as he could for several hours, usually through bombing raids. Those of you who have read To Die But Once and learned about the inspiration for that book will know what came next for my father. It is often forgotten that in wartime, children’s work becomes—sadly—a vital resource.
About the Author
jacqueline winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The American Agent, To Die But Once, and In This Grave Hour, as well as twelve other bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. Her standalone novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was also a New York Times bestseller, and a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In addition, Jacqueline is the author of two works of nonfiction: a memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing, and What Would Maisie Do? a companion book to the series. Originally from the United Kingdom, Winspear now lives in California.
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Also by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs
Birds of a Feather
Pardonable Lies
Messenger of Truth
An Incomplete Revenge
Among the Mad
The Mapping of Love and Death
A Lesson in Secrets
Elegy for Eddie
Leaving Everything Most Loved
The Care and Management of Lies
A Dangerous Place
Journey to Munich
In This Grave Hour
To Die But Once
The American Agent
What Would Maisie Do? (nonfiction)
This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing: A Memoir (nonfiction)
Copyright
the consequences of fear. Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Winspear. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may b
e reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
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Cover design by Archie Ferguson
Cover illustration by Andrew Davidson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition MARCH 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-286803-9
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-286802-2
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