Yes, she needed Steve's help, even though she was aware that any assistance from him could open a very big bag of worms. But Elinor White—a woman fluent in English, French, Flemish, German and Italian—was trained for almost any and every eventuality. It was a training that had begun in 1916 when she was just twelve years old, when her name was Elinor De Witt. Her parents had teased Cecily and Elinor that it was a wonder their hair wasn't white, given their mother's maiden name—White—and the meaning of De Witt, their father's name. Perhaps it was ordained from the earliest days of her parents' union that the women of the family would in time be introduced to La Dame Blanche—the White Lady.

Excerpted from The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear. Copyright © 2023 by Jacqueline Winspear. Excerpted by permission of Harper. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.