Juste Entre Nous at the Spy Club

Nicholas Elliott had joined the British Secret Service just before World War II, and after the war they ran a fresh security check on him.

He described it in his memoir, With My Little Eye:

Security officer: “Sit down, I’d like to have a frank talk with you.”

Elliott: “As you wish, Colonel.”

Officer: “Does your wife know what you do?”

Elliott: “Yes.”

Officer: “How did that come about?”

Elliott: “She was my secretary for two years and I think the penny must have dropped.”

Officer: “Quite so. What about your mother?”

Elliott: “She thinks I’m in something called SIS, which she believes stands for Secret Intelligence Service.”

Officer: “Good God! How did she come to know that?”

Elliott: “A member of the War Cabinet told her at a cocktail party.”

Officer: “Then what about your father?”

Elliott: “He thinks I’m a spy.”

Officer: “Why should he think you’re a spy?”

Elliott: “Because the Chief (of SIS) told him in the bar at White’s (the poshest of gentleman’s clubs).”