Chapter 1 Paris to Croydon

The September sun shone on Le Bourget airport near Paris as the passengers entered the aeroplane Prometheus, for their flight to England. Jane Grey went to her seat in the rear cabin, at the back of the plane.

A woman was standing nearby, talking very loudly. ‘My dear Cicely! Where were you staying? Juan les Pins? Oh, yes. No, I’ve been in Le Pinet. Let’s sit together. Oh, can’t we? I see . . .’

A foreign voice said politely, ‘Please, Madame, take my seat,’ and a small, elderly man with a large moustache and an eggshaped head got up from his seat.

Jane looked at the two women for whom he had offered to move to a different seat. She had also been staying at Le Pinet, a popular holiday destination on the French coast, and she remembered one of the women standing nervously at a table in the casino. Her name was Lady Horbury. She was married to a Lord now, but she had once been a dancer in musical and comedy theatre. Unlike Lady Horbury, the other woman clearly looked like a real aristocrat.

Jane turned to look out of the window. She would not look at the young man who was sitting opposite her. If their eyes met, he might recognize her from that night at the casino! She felt shy and embarrassed in front of him.

At last, the plane took off, and there was Le Bourget spread out below them. The midday flight to London carried twenty-one passengers — ten in the front cabin, eleven in the rear, and there were two stewards on board to look after everyone. As the plane flew towards the English Channel. Jane thought about her adventure. It started when she had won a hundred pounds in a lottery and decided to spend the money on a week at Le Pinet. Jane worked at a hairdressing salon called Antoine’s, and her customers were always going down to Le Pinet. As Jane styled the hair of these rich and glamorous ladies, she thought, ‘Why can’t I go to Le Pinet?’ Well, now she could. And so, she had.

Every evening of her holiday, Jane had gone to the casinos with a small amount of money to spend at the gambling tables. On her fourth evening, she decided to play at the roulette wheel. She won a little money, but lost more. As she waited to place her last bet of the evening, she saw that there were two numbers left which nobody had chosen: five and six. Which one would she choose?

The wheel began to spin, and Jane quickly placed her bet on number six. The ball clicked and settled.

’Le numero cinq, rouge,’ said the croupier.

Number five! Jane could have cried with disappointment.