O'hara's Choice - Leon Uris [89]
Walkways went out like spokes to a number of petite villas set on the bluffs.
A long table had been set for the children and their nannies. The adults’ tables were at a remove, with smaller and more intimate seating.
Seeing that Lilly and Zach were pleasantly fine, Fifi seated them at a table for two, where they could be properly viewed and gossiped over.
Zach had doffed his jacket for the games on the lawn and could not help but note that Lilly seemed to enjoy a quick feel of the steel in his arm, and for a flash or two, their eyes said it was very pleasant.
The big serving table was filled with creatures he had never seen before and other foods foreign to the enlisted men’s and officers’ messes. Lilly had a cart with samples of everything rolled up to their table, and she filled their wineglasses. They clinked and everyone looked toward them and clinked.
Then Zach won the day. There was an outbreak of hugs and kisses and English and French babble as the children were paraded through with their nannies.
Zach took the hand of one of the granddaughters and kissed it gallantly.
“But you don’t know my name,” she said.
“You are Alice with the blue ribbons to match your blue eyes. And this is Madeleine and Paul and you are André and Nicole.”
George and Fifi were impressed.
“You have made yourself very popular, Lieutenant,” Lilly said.
“This whole thing doesn’t seem quite real,” he said.
“We are all on our good behavior today. Everyone is talking to everyone, but it’s still early.” She smiled toward Fifi and her father and raised her glass once more.
More dishes arrived as works of art.
An hour into the meal and the music of flute and harp made the wine go down like magic nectar.
Zach became light-headed. Impromptu singing broke out and storytelling on a borderline of salty humor, and a good Gallic argument erupted with much flurry and no blows.
Then more stories.
Then toasts.
And the patio filled up with children.
Now dancing.
And a slow balloon descent back to earth.
They eased off, two by two, leaving the table as though limping from a battlefield.
Lilly found an empty hammock. Zach insisted, weakly, that she take it.
“No, no, Lieutenant. You must be exhausted from working your way through lunch. Let me spoil you.”
He lay on his back, swinging in a kind of levitation. Zach stared at a starling nest in the tiles. As the birds came out for their own cleanup feast, he was taken by the number that had been able to fit into the nest, and a scent of tobacco soon held the courtyard and he blinked curiously. Lilly was smoking a cigarette in a long holder.
“Hello,” she said as she rocked the hammock.
“This is nice.”
“Good. You’re looking at me strangely.”
“I’ve never seen a woman smoke a cigarette.”
“Do you mind?”
“No.”
“That might only be the first of our naughty habits.”
Major Ben and George Barjac came up behind Lilly. Zach gave them a wave, a grin, and he konked off to sleep.
Ten Days Later—the Naval War College
Zach laid the monograph on his desk and made an ugly face at it. There was nothing so puzzling as the memoir of an admiral or general who was defeated in a battle explaining how he had really won.
Ben’s footsteps on the stairs gave him a reprieve. He came to his feet, smiling.
“Welcome back from Washington, Major.”
They gave each other light jabs on the left shoulder, a way of personal greeting. Ben nodded at the workload on Zach’s desk.
“Doesn’t look like you’ve missed me,” Ben said.
“I feel like we’re really up and running,” Zach answered.
Ben took a document from his briefcase and handed it to Zach.
Naval War College Project Random Study Sixteen is hereby reclassified as Top Secret. Second Lieutenant Zachary O’Hara, USMC, is accorded Top Secret clearance in matters relevant to this study.
The meaning of it thrilled him. Zach had entered the ranks of a small circle of men, keepers of national secrets. Ben let him think about it.
“How did this all come about?”
“The way you’ve attacked this project means we are going to have a