August 10, 1915: Gabrielle Petit writes a letter hinting at her work for British Intelligence

Gabrielle Petit was a young Belgian woman who worked for British Intelligence during World War I. The following, a letter Petit wrote to her fiance's sister on August 10, 1915, hinting at her upcoming work for British Intelligence, is excerpted from page 52 of Gabrielle Petit: The Death and Life of a Female Spy in the First World War. 

"Dear all,

I have received your express [message], thank you very much. I am going, come what may! Constant guessed right [about Petit's plans]. I do not understand why Eva did not immediately realize for herself, for after all, with a character like mine, nothing should come as a surprise. I have been told [when being recruited by British Intelligence]: 'It seems to me that you love your fiance very much; since he makes a sacrifice, do as he does (but not as a competitor, put your pride into it).' I said 'Yes.' Anyway, if I had joined a field hospital, I would have run the same risks and it would not have served me later on, whereas now, I have friends in high places who very much have my best interests in mind...Do not write me any more -- the letter wouldn't have the legs to run after me."

From pages 52 of Gabrielle Petit: The Death and Life of a Female Spy in the First World War.  Petit's story is also told in the YA collective biography, Women Heroes of World War I: 15 Remarkable Resisters, Spies, Soldiers, and Medics.