Code Name Hélène

Stephanie and Nancy are at Nancy’s apartment in Paris in January 1937. Nancy is packing to spend the weekend in Marseille with Henri, whom she has been seeing for four months. Stephanie warns Nancy not to send him love letters: “women do stupid things like that after sex” (115). Nancy tells Stephanie they have not slept together and that she has not sent him any love letters. She has been staying at the Hôtel du Louvre et Paix when she goes to Marseille and has never been to Henri’s apartment. Stephanie teases her about playing hard to get, but Nancy reflects that she has been taking every possible opportunity to see Henri in Marseille, and he has been traveling to Paris to see her.

Later, Henri takes Nancy to Verdun’s, their favorite restaurant in Marseille. He reveals that his father, Ranier Fiocca, is there to meet her. They are surprised when Marceline, Henri’s ex, is there as well. Marceline is wearing a necklace with the letter H, a gift Henri had given her while they were seeing each other. Old Man Fiocca criticizes Nancy’s work, describing Hearst as an American “tabloid” (122). Marceline and Old Man Fiocca tell her that Marceline works as a secretary for Police Commissioner Paquet. Nancy retorts that it must not pay well if Marceline cannot afford a brassiere. Henri and his father go outside to talk. While they are gone, Marceline says that Henri is hers and that he should be with a Frenchwoman, not a foreigner. When they return, Nancy tells Henri’s father that though Henri is a gentleman, he is “an arse.”

After the disastrous dinner, Henri takes Nancy out and tells her he is going to teach her how to hold her liquor. They go to the bar at the Hôtel du Louvre et Paix where she meets the bartender, Antoine. They spend two hours drinking and then go up to Nancy’s room, both tipsy. They get into bed and Henri and Nancy fall asleep together.

In March 1944, Nancy has fallen into a wearying routine at the camp in Chaudes-Aigues. She has been living in the car, which is a little more comfortable than sleeping outside, but she gets very little sleep because she is constantly radioing in for airdrops and then going out to collect the materials. One day, Fournier comes to Nancy with Louis, a young man who has blown a couple of his fingers off with a grenade. She bandages his wounds while she and Fournier discuss the increased German patrols in the area. They decide she must go see another partisan leader named Gabriel Soutine to learn more about the location and number of the German troops. Then Nancy and Fournier go to Denis Rake’s tent and wake him up. She tells him that she needs him to contact Britain and put in a request for “Anselm,” who can come train their troops so they do not blow their fingers off.

Later, Hubert and Nancy go to the town of Termes to meet with Soutine. Just outside of the town is a Nazi bus blocking traffic. They continue on foot and see the Brownshirts. In the town square, Nancy recognizes Obersturmführer Wolff, who has tortured and killed Soutine’s wife, Olivia, while her young daughter looks on. Nancy wants to intervene, but Hubert convinces her it is too dangerous. They leave, but Nancy decides she is going to take the bus in revenge.

Two years after the dinner where Nancy met Henri’s father, Henri and Nancy are again at Verdun’s Restaurant. Henri proposes to Nancy. She says she needs time to consider (147). A week later, they are at a seaside park in Marseille. Henri takes her to meet Mr. Ficetole, who has a “wife” for her dog Picon, a white dog with brown patches that she names Grenadine. After getting the dog, Nancy agrees to marry Henri. She says she wants to ask for her own wedding present. Henri agrees on the condition that she move to Marseille.

Back in Paris, Nancy tells Stephanie that she is leaving Paris and that she has left her job at Hearst. Stephanie is sad that her friend is leaving, but she is happy for Nancy. Stephanie asks her if she will be changing her name, and Nancy says she will become Nancy Fiocca. A few months later, in July, Henri tells Nancy that he has smoothed things over with their marriage license. Initially, the town official refused to grant the license because Nancy is a foreigner. Despite the looming war, Henri is happy because Nancy has come to Marseille, and they will soon be getting married. At Nancy’s request, he teaches her a few swear words in French. Nancy spends the time before the wedding living in the Hôtel du Louvre et Paix. She will move into their new apartment after the wedding on November 30.

On September 3, 1939, Nancy is sitting in the hotel bar when Henri comes in and tells Antoine to turn on the radio. They hear Neville Chamberlain announce that the United Kingdom is going to war with Germany, and then a message from King George to the people. Nancy, Henri, and everyone else in the bar are sobered by the news.

Nancy and Hubert return to the camp with the stolen bus. Nancy tells Hubert she is going to make it into her offices and living quarters. Fournier comes to meet them upon their return and tells them that Henri Tardivat is there waiting for them. Tardivat tells them that one of their agents, Patrice, has been killed by the Nazis. The assassin has been captured by Gaspard, who wants to know if Nancy would like to interrogate him. As they make their way to Gaspard’s encampment, Tardivat tells Nancy that the assassin is a French collaborator who had been sent to kill Gaspard. Patrice realized he was a German agent when he saw the German keyring on his car keys and tried to kill him, but the collaborator killed him first. Then the assassin was captured and tortured by Gaspard’s men.

When they get to the château, Nancy sees that Judex has shoved a red-hot poker into the man’s rectum to torture him for information. Gaspard tells Nancy that the assassin’s name is Roger le Neveu, a name that is familiar to Nancy. Nancy argues that Gaspard should stop torturing this man because doing so makes them no better than the Nazis. Gaspard tells her that he deserves it for his contribution to the death of so many combatants, including Patrice and Patrick O’Leary, and that le Neveu had also been ordered to kill The White Mouse. Nancy tells Gaspard that capturing le Neveu has made his base a German target and that she will not arm him unless he agrees to her terms. He refuses and grabs her. She puts a knife to his throat and tells him to let her go. As Nancy is walking away, she hears someone shoot le Neveu. Gaspard follows her outside and asks her to tell him her terms. She tells him to divide his troops into smaller, semi-autonomous groups and spread them across the region with escape routes. Gaspard refuses, so Nancy walks away.

In the car, Nancy pukes from the smell of the tortured man and tells Tardivat and Hubert not to tell anyone about her moment of weakness.

Nancy and Henri get married at the Marseille Town Hall. Their reception is held at the ballroom of the Hôtel du Louvre et Paix. Frank Gilmore and Stephanie Marsic attend. They have a huge meal and dance all night long. After the reception, Henri takes her to his apartment in Marseille for the first time. She undresses him and then makes him watch while she strips off her clothes. Then they make love.

They have their honeymoon in Cannes and then return to Marseille. Unlike other society housewives, Nancy spends her time stockpiling dry goods for the coming war rather than shopping for fancy clothes. Henri tells her that he has been drafted into the military and must leave in March. Upon hearing this news, Nancy tells him that she has decided what she wants for her wedding present: a truck that she can use as an ambulance to help the wounded. Henri agrees on the condition that she will only use it if France is invaded. They shake on it.