"You shouldn't smoke those cigars Nancy they are not very ladylike."

"You sound just like Miss Lee. That's why I smoke them, and anyway you should see yourself with that pipe!"

"What's wrong with it? Everyone is smoking them these days."

"Exactly. You don't have to do what everyone else does John. Be yourself, anyway it makes you look older."

"I know that's why I smoke it."

"No, I mean older like an old man, like Captain Flint. I can just imagine the two of you puffing away telling boring stories to each other."

"We'll certainly have plenty of stories to tell when this is all over. How do you suppose it'll end?"

"It doesn't look good for Britain. The Japanese will control the far east and the Germans will control Europe. America will be alright though. Do you think we were right to declare war?"

"It was certainly the 'right' thing to do. Whether it was the best thing to do is another matter."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think Hitler would still have attacked us, but maybe we should have waited until we were better prepared."

"Are we well prepared?"

"More than most people realise. I shouldn't tell you this Nancy, they don't want the Germans to know our capabilities. The RAF is much stronger than we are led to believe, Roger told me they are churning out Spitfires like nobody's business. So fast they haven't got enough pilots for them, they're bringing in chaps from New Zealand and Canada. There are even some Yanks helping out. The Army might have taken a bashing in France, but the Navy is still the most powerful in the world, the Germans can't touch us at sea apart from the U boats, and we're working on solutions to that all the time. They've got some big battleships, but they're afraid to put to sea after the Graf Spee business... Things look bad at the moment, but the tide will turn and when it does it'll be victory after victory, just you see. If only the Yanks would get in, they've got a huge Pacific fleet based at Hawaii. They could keep the Japs busy while we deal with Hitler."

"You seem to know a lot about it all?"

"It's working with Commander Fleming, they say he knows Churchill personally."

"He seems a very interesting man."

"Oh, he's got all sorts of ideas how to hit the Germans where they're least expecting it."

"Oh I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Commander Fleming."

Nancy was right, but even she couldn't have guessed what would be involved next time.