ESPIONAGE A BLONDE BOND HE PLANTED A LONG, PASSIONATE KISS ON MY 
LIPS AND PRESSED MY BACK AGAINST THE DOOR UNTIL I WAS 
LIMP . THEN HE SWUNG ME EASILY OFF THE FLOOR AND 
STARTED TO CARRY ME UP THE STAIRS . " CHARLES, " 
I REMONSTRATED FEEBLY, " WHAT ARE YOU DOING ? " HE 
LOOKED AT ME HUNGRILY . " JUST POINT OUT YOUR BEDROOM, 
" HE SAID . " YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR, CHERIE 
. " AS A LOVER, CHARLES BROUSSE WAS THE MOST ARDENT 
OF ALL THOSE I MET IN MY CAREER AS A SPY 
. . . DESPITE THE BOTTLED-IN-BOND FLAVOR, THE SCENE ACTUALLY TOOK 
PLACE IN WARTIME WASHINGTON . IT WAS RECOUNTED RECENTLY IN LONDON'S 
THE PEOPLE BY ITS HEROINE, A MATA HARI FROM MINNESOTA WHO 
WORKED FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE UNDER THE CODE NAME CYNTHIA . HER 
REAL NAME : ELIZABETH PACK . USING THE BOUDOIR AS IAN 
FLEMING'S HERO USES A BERETTA, SHE WAS DESCRIBED BY HER WARTIME 
BOSS AS " THE GREATEST UNSUNG HEROINE OF THE WAR . 
" AFTER THE WAR CYNTHIA MARRIED HER ONETIME PREY, THE ARDENT 
CHARLES, AND WITH HIM RETREATED TO A REMOTE 10TH CENTURY FRENCH 
CHATEAU WHERE SHE DIED LAST WEEK, AT 53, OF THROAT CANCER 
. SCUPPERED ADMIRAL . WHEN WORLD WAR II BROKE OUT, BLONDE, 
GREEN-EYED CYNTHIA HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR NINE YEARS TO ARTHUR PACK, 
A COLORLESS BRITISH DIPLOMAT WHO WAS NEARLY TWICE HER AGE . 
THE DAUGHTER OF A U.S . MARINE CORPS COLONEL, AT 29 
SHE WAS ADVENTUROUS, ASTUTE, ATTRACTIVE AND, FROM DILIGENT YEARS ON EUROPE'S 
DIPLOMATIC CIRCUIT, ALREADY AN OLD HAND AT AFFAIRS OF STATE . 
LEAVING HER HUSBAND, SHE RETURNED TO THE U.S . SHORTLY AFTER 
THE FALL OF FRANCE, IMMEDIATELY JOINED BRITISH SECURITY COORDINATION (B.S.C.), THE 
MANHATTANBASED INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERESPIONAGE NETWORK THAT WAS RUN BY SIR WILLIAM 
STEPHENSON, THE FAMED " QUIET CANADIAN . " HE SENT CYNTHIA 
TO WASHINGTON, WHERE SHE TOOK A GEORGETOWN HOUSE ON O STREET 
AND WENT TO WORK . CYNTHIA'S FIRST BIG ASSIGNMENT WAS ENOUGH 
TO DAUNT THE WILIEST OLD PRO : HER ORDERS WERE TO 
GET HOLD OF THE ITALIAN NAVAL CODE BOOK . WITHIN A 
FEW WEEKS OF FIRST MEETING THE SHAPELY BETTY PACK, ITALY'S NAVAL 
ATTACHE, ADMIRAL ALBERTO LAIS, WAS SO SCUPPERED BY HER THAT HE 
SURRENDERED THE CODE WITH HARDLY A MURMUR . ITALIAN APOLOGISTS MAINTAIN 
THAT LAIS, WHO DIED IN 1951, WAS ACTUALLY SO UNGALLANT AS 
TO GIVE HIS MISTRESS A FAKE CIPHER BOOK . UNDENIABLY, HOWEVER, 
BRITISH INTELLIGENCE THEREAFTER PROVED UNCANNILY ADEPT AT FORESTALLING ITALIAN FLEET MOVEMENTS, 
NOTABLY IN THE MARCH 1941 SEA BATTLE OFF GREECE'S CAPE MATAPAN, 
WHERE THE ROYAL NAVY CRIPPLED ITALY'S NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR FORCE . OUTWITTED 
WATCHMAN . FOR THE U.S . AS WELL AS BRITAIN, CYNTHIA'S 
MOST VALUABLE COUP WAS TO CAPTURE THE SECRET CODE USED BY 
THE VICHY GOVERNMENT'S DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS AS WELL AS THE FRENCH FLEET, 
WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE TAKEN THOUSANDS OF ALLIED LIVES DURING THE 
INVASION OF NORTH AFRICA . POSING AS A WASHINGTON NEWSHEN, CYNTHIA 
HAD ALREADY SEDUCED THE DASHING CAPTAIN BROUSSE, THEN THE PRESS ATTACHE 
IN THE PETAIN GOVERNMENT'S WASHINGTON EMBASSY ; BY PLAYING ON HIS 
HATRED OF THE NAZIS, SHE MADE HIM A WILLING ALLY . 
" I WAS NOT JUST INDULGING HIS DESIRES SO AS TO 
GET HIM TO DISCLOSE MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC INTELLIGENCE, " WROTE CYNTHIA 
. " I WAS FULFILLING A DEEP NEED OF MY OWN 
. " BROUSSE MORE THAN SATISFIED HER BOSSES' NEEDS AS WELL 
BY SUPPLYING DAILY COPIES OF ALL FRENCH DIPLOMATIC CABLES . IN 
1942, WHEN THE EMBASSY'S NAVAL ATTACHE PROVED SEDUCIBLE BUT OBDURATELY PRO-VICHY, 
BROUSSE EVEN AGREED TO HELP HER FILCH THE CODE BOOKS FROM 
THE ATTACHE'S OFFICE SO THAT THEY COULD BE COPIED AND RETURNED 
TO THE EMBASSY SAFE UNNOTICED . THEIR TACTICS WERE EXQUISITELY GALLIC 
. CHARLES SHOWED UP AT THE EMBASSY WITH CYNTHIA ONE NIGHT 
AND, RUSTLING A FEW DOLLAR BILLS, WHISPERED TO THE UNDERSTANDING WATCHMAN 
THAT MME . BROUSSE WAS SUSPICIOUS OF THEIR LIAISON (SHE WAS, 
INDEED, AND LATER DIVORCED HIM) . THE EMBASSY, BROUSSE EXPLAINED TO 
THE GUARD, WAS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE HE AND HIS GIRL 
COULD RENDEZVOUS, AND THEY SOON BECAME REGULAR VISITORS . ON THE 
NIGHT THEY PLANNED TO LIFT THE CODE, WITH THE HELP OF 
A SAFEBREAKER CALLED THE GEORGIA CRACKER, THEY PUT THE WATCHMAN TO 
SLEEP WITH DRUGGED CHAMPAGNE, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE LOCKS WERE 
SO TOUGH THAT THEY HAD TO COMPLETE THE JOB A FEW 
NIGHTS LATER . BY NOW, THEY GUESSED THAT THE NIGHT WATCHMAN 
MUST SUSPECT THAT IT WAS NOT JUST AMOUR THEY WERE AFTER 
. SURE ENOUGH, SOON AFTER CYNTHIA AND HER LOVER ENTERED THE 
DARKENED OFFICE, THE DOOR BURST OPEN AND THE WATCHMAN STUDIED THEM 
UNDER A POWERFUL FLASHLIGHT . FINALLY, HE BLURTED, " I BEG 
YOUR PARDON, MADAME, A THOUSAND TIMES, " AND FLED DOWN THE 
CORRIDOR . BEFORE GOING TO WORK ON THE SAFE, CYNTHIA HAD 
TAKEN THE SIMPLE PRECAUTION OF REMOVING ALL HER CLOTHES . 