Note- My next entry in my imagined version of a young Miss Moneypenny. I do not claim ownership of the James Bond movie franchise nor the Ian Fleming foundation. This is just my homage to both. Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny and Sean as Bond naturally. No one does it better.
xxx
London, 1951.
"A little fresh aren't you, Mister Bond?"
Jane slapped Bond's hand from her right knee as he fumbled for the gear shift. She could hear the powder room girls in her mind laying bets on how long it would take the office Casanova to get her into bed.
"Sorry Moneypenny. A slip of the hand."
The good looking man flashed her a smile as they motored off in his pride and joy, a two seat Bentley Mark Two Continental in battleship grey. Earlier at eight he had arrived outside her apartment building in South Kensington and sounded the horn. When she breezed down the stairs he already had the car door open for her to get in. With a medium build and a shock of black hair he looked impeccable in a dark charcoal single breasted suit and appeared to be the perfect gentleman. He turned the starter motor and sped off and she found herself looking at his clean shaven face and noticeable scar.
"Nice outfit." He commented.
Indeed Jane was satisfied with her choice of a slender off the shoulder tube gown with the narrow belt at the waist. The blue gown had a full skirt at her back which counterbalanced the deep plunging V neckline in front.
"Breasts should be pushed up and spotlighted, waists pared down and hips curved."
Loelia Ponsonby's advice could be heard in her head as she and Bond drove through West London. Jane had visited her usual hairdresser and had her short curls trimmed a little so that her medium cut shaped her attractive face. Intent on making the very best impression on her first mission in the field she was determined to keep the handsome womanizer at arms length. They arrived at the Veeraswamy restaurant in Regent Street in good time and Bond stayed in the car as Jane got out.
"Well, good luck and all that." Said he with a wave of the hand.
"Thanks." Thought Jane. I'm going to need it.
She took a deep breath and entered the large room and was instantly taken by the grand dΓ©cor. Decorated in a 1920's style the place was the oldest Indian restaurant in the country. Already busy, Jane blinked under soft lighting as she scoured the room for her date.
"There you are, and what a pretty picture you make!"
Jane smiled weakly as Lady Rushmore steered her to the bar like a sacrificial lamb.
"Good evening my Lady. What a grand place you have chosen."
"Not at all. Have a pink gin. Bartender!"
x
"Lady Rushmore, aged thirty, widow of the late Foreign Secretary Lord Rushmore."
M looked hard at Moneypenny as he sucked on his ancient pipe. It had been only three days ago that Jane had sat with the head of the British Secret Service in his not too shabby office in the tall building close to St. James station. Jane opened the manila folder with the title 'For Your Eyes Only' she had been handed and looked at a photograph of an attractive brunette of the said woman.
"Rushmore was a first rate Secretary and knew every dirty political secret in the last five years. Since he died a year ago Lady Mary has been pressured to write his memoirs by an independent writer who we know is in fact named Himmel, a Communist sympathiser from West Germany. Mary travelled everywhere with her husband and presumably knows everything he did. She must be stopped and I want you to do it."
Jane had visibly blanched at the news. During the last six months since joining the 'Firm' she had impressed all her trainers and had come along in leaps and bounds. This morning she had been summoned to meet M and his stern secretary had hurried Jane into his office post haste. A mix of excitement and trepidation made her quite giddy as she sat opposite the 'old man.'
"But why me, Sir?"
She looked at her chief, known only by his initial 'M' as he relit his pipe with several puffs of air.
"Despite her apparent happy marriage Lady Mary harboured bi-sexual tendencies and had enjoyed several relationships with other females in recent years. You are just her type I am reliably informed."
Heavens! Is M asking me to sleep with a woman? This was new and quite unexpected.
"How shall I stop her?"
"I'll leave that to you. Blackmail? See what you can dig up. Seduce her if needed. But she must not publish. You'll find her address in the folder. That will be all. Oh, and Bond will be at your service if you so wish to use him."
"Sir."
Moneypenny left the office, a hundred thoughts careering through her head.
x
Jane spent hour after hour reading the file and decided the best option within her means was to come straight out and confront Her Ladyship. She hoped that common sense might prevail and there would be no need for other action. She made an appointment with Lady Mary over the telephone, describing herself as someone from the Ministry, and duly arrived two days later at a modest townhouse in rural Kent.
"Miss Moneypenny? Do come in."
"Thank you, Lady Rushmore."
The door had been opened by a tallish woman with a medium hairstyle, midi dress and a pearl necklace.
"May I take your coat? And please, do sit down."
"You're very kind."
Jane sat on a plush sofa and Lady Mary did so across from her in a matching armchair. As Jane crossed her long legs her nylons made an audible swish and two blue eyes stared directly at her well shaped pins.
"How can I be of assistance? You're here in some official capacity I understand."
"I'll be perfectly blunt my Lady. And bear in mind if you choose not to co operate they may well send others who might not be as polite as I."
"They Miss Moneypenny?"
"Yes, Members of Parliament, various Ambassadors and the Secret Service."
"Good Lord! Is this to do with my newspaper article? Am I so important?"
"Could be. This Himmel. What has he asked of you? Your husband's line of work presumably."
"Mister Himmel has hinted of such information, yes."
"Including the Anglo American attack plans in the event of nuclear war with Russia?"
"What?"
Mary stood up, her hand in her mouth.
"How on earth do you know about that?"
"It matters not. The point is that YOU know about the plans."
"I would never divulge such secrets obviously. I love my country."