‘Yes,’ James said, and pressed the plunger.
Ten
The Spy Who Came Home
‘My darling! I did not expect you to wait up.’ Frederick von Helsingen entered his bedroom.
Madeleine was sitting up in bed, a book on her lap. ‘Did you not hear the raid?’
‘We were down in the bunker.’
‘So was I, for over an hour. It was terrifying. I thought Goering said it could never happen?’
‘Another of his mistakes. I’m afraid we may have to put up with them for a while longer.’
Madeleine peered at him. She could see that he was in a state of some exhilaration. ‘You mean until after the invasion.’ Frederick kissed her, then got up and took off his tunic. ‘There is not going to be an invasion.’
‘What did you say?’
‘This is top secret.’ He continued to undress. ‘The fact is that we have not succeeded in defeating the RAF. No one must know that we have reached this decision, and we will keep up the pressure on them, on Britain, throughout the winter, certainly. But we have more important fish to fry.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘The Führer has made a decision that the time has come to deal with Russia.’
‘To do what?’
‘I told you it must come to this.’
‘You mean we are actually going to war with her?’
‘Stop looking so terrified.’ He got into bed beside her. ‘Don’t you remember what I told you? Russia is a house of cards. Her people basically hate the Stalinist regime. Her army is a shambles; they couldn’t even beat the Finns. Stalin has executed all his best generals. One big push and it will all come tumbling down. And we have a very big push: the Führer has authorized the formation of ten new panzer divisions, double the existing number.’
‘Will you have to go?’
‘Well, as you know, I have put myself down for a field command.’
She rolled over to put her arms round him. ‘Oh, Freddie, if something were to happen to you...’
‘Nothing is going to happen to me. It is going to be the quickest and most complete campaign in military history. Just remember that what I have told you is a deadly secret. The Russians may not be worth a damn, but there are an awful lot of them, and if they knew we were coming it could be tricky. Did you know that they have several armies, they call them fronts, all stationed quite close to the old Polish border? OKW has the plan to bypass these fronts, encircle them, and force them to surrender. That will virtually eliminate the Red Army in one short campaign. That is why it is so important that the plan is kept absolutely secret. If the Reds were to learn of it, the whole thing would collapse.’
‘Yes,’ Madeleine said absently, her mind still totally consumed by the thought of Frederick going off to war, and being killed, and leaving her alone. She had burned every boat she had. She could never go back to France. And she had never really been accepted in Germany. She was Frederick von Helsingen’s wife. Without him she was nothing.
He kissed her again, switched off the light, rolled over to take her in his arms preparatory to mounting her, and the telephone jangled. ‘Oh, goddamn it!’ He rolled back again, switched on the light, sat up, and took the receiver off the hook. ‘Helsingen!’ He listened. ‘Who? Good God! Yes, of course put him on. Franz? How good to hear from you. You are in Berlin? Bordeaux? What has happened?’ Again he listened, while Madeleine also sat up. She knew that Frederick’s friend Franz Hoepner, who had been best man at their wedding, had been transferred from Dieppe to Bordeaux. If he was calling in the middle of the night it could only be because something had happened to Mama and Papa.
‘My God!’ Frederick was saying. ‘They did that? Who are these people?’ He listened, and Madeleine watched the colour draining from his cheeks. ‘Are you serious? Yes. Yes, I see. Well, of course she cannot be involved. She has been here, in Berlin, for the past two months. She does not correspond with her family at all. Yes. Yes. I see. Yes, I will handle it at this end. Thanks for letting me know so promptly.’ Slowly he replaced the phone.
‘What has happened?’ Madeleine asked.
Frederick did not look at her. ‘Last night, or I suppose one should say before dawn this morning, the Paris-Bordeaux express was blown up, only a few miles short of Bordeaux.’
‘Oh, my God! Were many people hurt?’
‘There were very many people hurt. There were very many people killed. The train was full, mainly with German personnel.’
‘How terrible. Do they know who was responsible?’
‘Yes. It was a group of French criminals, of course. And do you know who was with them? Indeed, she may have been their leader.’
‘Oh, my God! Liane? They’ve captured her?’
‘She got away. At least for the moment. But they found some of her belongings on the ground close to the position from where the explosive charge was detonated. One was a purse with her name engraved on it. Did you know that Liane was an expert in explosives?’
‘Of course she is not. Liane?’
‘Well, she has either been trained or she had an expert with her. The charge was apparently placed and fired with the utmost precision, and at the same time a raid was made on the signal station a few hundred metres down the track. At least a couple of those assassins were killed. But the station is destroyed. Franz estimates that the line and the box will take several weeks to repair.’
‘But if Liane has been identified... Mama and Papa!’ She leapt out of bed.
‘What are you doing?’ Frederick demanded.
‘I must go to Bordeaux. They may be in trouble.’
‘They are in trouble. They have been arrested.’
Slowly Madeleine turned to face him.
‘I imagine Pierre is involved as well, although Franz did not know about that.’
‘We must do something. You must do something.’
‘Do something. I will tell you what I have done. I have ruined myself by my association with your family.’
She sank on to the bed beside him. ‘Oh, Frederick.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘So now it is a case of looking out for number one. I will undoubtedly have to accept a reprimand for having prevented Kluck from arresting them back in July. But I can survive that. The important thing is for everyone to understand that you were not involved, could not be involved. That you abhor what was done and will cheer when Liane is finally apprehended and hanged. You must make that perfectly clear to everyone you meet. Please obey me in this. It could be a matter of life and death.’
‘But Mama and Papa. We must do something about them.’
‘Madeleine, try to understand. There is nothing we can do about them. There is no court that will believe they did not know what was going on. We can only harm ourselves by attempting to defend them.’
Madeleine stared at him in horror. ‘What will happen to them?’
‘If they are not executed, well... they will have to go to prison.’
‘Prison? You mean a camp. A concentration camp.’
He sighed. ‘I’m afraid so.’
‘Oh, my God! My God! My God!’
‘I do not think even He can help them now.’
*
Madeleine did not sleep. Her brain was a torment of conflicting images. Her mother and father, so rich and prosperous until a few months ago, in a concentration camp, being beaten and humiliated, if anything Joanna had said was true.
But of course it couldn’t be true. Nothing Joanna ever said was true. She made things up to cause the maximum effect. But even if it wasn’t true, Mama and Papa would still be going to prison. They, who had never lifted a finger to do anything, who had had servants waiting on their every whim, locked up, having to make their own beds, empty their own slops... while she lay in a comfortable bed.
But even more, Liane, so brave, so determined, so loyal to the ideal that was France, now even more than ever a fugitive, who would be hunted from one end of the country to the other. Whi
le she lay in a comfortable bed.
And Pierre! Frederick had said he might be implicated. Would that explain his odd behaviour when he had so strangely returned? Then he also was a hero of France, while she lay in a comfortable bed.
But, she thought wryly, she had made that bed, and could not now get out of it. There was absolutely nothing she could do. Nothing. How she wished she could strike against Germany as her siblings were doing. They had not accepted the suggestion that the Reich would last, and would occupy France, for the next thousand years. But what could she do? To help France, or at least the Allies, and yet not harm Frederick.
And he was going off to war with Russia, leaving her behind to face the suspicion of the Gestapo. If they were to arrest her once he was safely out of the way, they might well force her to tell them that he had confided that immense secret, and the equally immense secret that Britain no longer has to worry about an invasion — she knew she would never be able to withstand the sort of pain and humiliation that had been inflicted on Amalie.
She discovered it was daylight. She had slept after all. And Frederick was dressing to go out. He saw that her eyes were open, and bent over her to kiss her mouth, ‘I must dash off,’ he said. ‘I have people to see.’
‘Who?’
‘Well, Heydrich, for a start. And I must get an audience with the Führer. I must take the initiative. Don’t worry. I shall see that you are not involved.’ He kissed her again, and left the room.
I must not be involved, she thought. But I am involved. I am their flesh and blood. I need to act, now. If the Russians could be warned... Frederick had said it was absolutely essential that they should not know what was going to happen, so that their armies could be destroyed before they could react. But if they knew, and let the Germans know that they knew, then the attack would probably never take place at all. Frederick would not be in danger, and the mighty Reich would have suffered an embarrassing slap in the face, perhaps even more embarrassing than the destruction of the express train.
But that was a dream. There was no way it could be done without sending both Frederick and herself to the gallows.
She got out of bed, bathed and dressed. The maid had come in by now and had her breakfast waiting, but she did not feel like eating. Instead she drank several cups of coffee, then curled up on the settee in the lounge, a book on her lap. But she did not feel like reading, either. Her mind felt utterly adrift. There was so much to think about, so much she dared not think about.
The doorbell rang. Madeleine jerked upright, heart pounding, and looked at her watch. Ten o’clock. It could not possibly be Frederick home so soon. Then... The Gestapo! She rose to her feet as the door opened. ‘There is a lady to see you, madame.’ Hannah spoke excellent French; she indeed had been chosen by Frederick for that reason.
‘A lady?’ Somehow she expected it to be Liane.
‘A Fraulein Jonsson, madame. She says she is an old friend.’
*
Rachel watched the door opening, and slowly rose to her feet. ‘James? Oh, my God! James! I mean Sterling.’ She raced across the room to hug him. ‘We thought you were dead! But...’ She pulled her head back. ‘What happened to you? All those little cuts. And your clothes...’ These were certainly in rags.
‘I got too close to an explosion.’
‘I’ll call a doctor.’
‘I have nothing a few days won’t cure.’
‘Well, the brigadier...’
‘He can wait. Get Paris. Tell Pierre to destroy his equipment and get out. Tell him to join his sister, if he can. But he must leave his Paris flat. Now.’
‘His sister...’
‘Later. Send that now.’
He went into the bathroom, washed his face. It still felt sore, and was indeed badly cut up. But it would all heal. As would Liane’s cuts. Oh, Liane...
He stripped off his tattered uniform, sat on the bed. He had slept most of the way home, but he still felt exhausted. Vaguely he listened to a wailing sound.
Rachel appeared in the doorway. ‘All done. I think he was expecting it.’
‘That figures. Why is there a siren going off in the middle of the day?’
‘That’s been happening for the last couple of days. Seems they’ve decided to obliterate London. Didn’t you notice the damage on your way in?’
‘I’m afraid I had other things on my mind. Well, I suppose you’d better get the boss on the phone.’
‘Aren’t you going to tell me what happened first?’
‘Briefly, I discovered that none of the guerillas knew anything about explosives, so I decided I should stay and do it for them.’
‘Just like that? Was it a success?’
‘Oh, yes. But there was a downside. Two of our people were killed. And as I said, I didn’t get as far from the explosion as I should have.’
‘And Liane?’
‘Her too.’
‘But she’s alive.’
‘She’s alive. And like me, she’ll soon recover.’
‘You said something about bringing her out.’
‘Did I? Look, get the brigadier on the phone, will you.’ Oh, Liane, he thought. Liane, Liane, Liane. He had actually thought he’d lost her, as the blast had sent her tumbling through the trees, her knapsack ripped from her shoulders, its contents scattered far and wide, her headscarf also blown away, her shirt reduced to ribbons. But like him, she had been essentially unhurt.
The return to the Massif had been an unforgettable experience. As he had promised, the sheer unexpectedness of the attack, added to its magnitude, had left the Germans shellshocked for several hours, and the destruction of the signal box, with its radio and telephone communications, had left them unable to coordinate their response for even longer. Even so, the manhunt had been massive. Nor had it stopped at the border. The Vichy police had been called into action, and while they had responded enthusiastically, it had been with deliberate incompetence. It was not possible for them not to have discovered the trail of the retreating guerillas, or to estimate where they had to be heading, but they had claimed to be unable to do either.
For those three days he and Liane had lived as one, achieving an intimacy he would never have supposed possible, and if he had realized that she would never again be the utterly irresponsible pleasure-seeker he had first met and fallen for, he had loved the new edition more. Certainly he had never doubted that from then they were a pair, and would work as a pair. Thus her decision not to fly out with him had been a great shock. ‘What would I do in England?’ she had asked.
‘Well... what I would like you to do would be to marry me.’
‘And sit at home and make tea while you got on with winning the war.’
‘Don’t you think you’ve contributed enough to winning the war?’
‘No one can contribute enough until France is free.’ She had laid her hand on his. ‘Please do not misunderstand me. I am flattered and honoured by your proposal. There is no man I would rather marry, and there is no other man I could love. But...’
‘You love France more.’
‘Is that so unforgivable?’
‘Of course it is not. But if I leave you here now, I may never seen you again.’
‘You will see me again. It is our fate. And besides, now you have brought us a radio, I can speak to you. Is that not so?’ ‘It must be used very sparingly. It can be traced.’
‘I will be careful. And you will take care of Amalie?’
But Amalie had also refused to leave. ‘It is also my business to stay and fight for France. My husband died fighting for France. Do you expect me to run away?’
James had looked at Liane. Who had shrugged. ‘Do you know, ten days ago she was twenty-one?’
Now Rachel stood in front of him. ‘The brigadier is out of town for a few days. But his secretary says he will want to see you the moment he returns. She will call us. But until then we are to do nothing about anything. Do you think it’s the chop?’
‘It sounds like it.
’
‘Oh, James.’ She burst into tears. ‘But at least we have a few days.’
*
‘We have him,’ Roess declared. ‘There can be no doubt of it. We know our mystery radio caller was arranging for the British to deliver something. That something can only have been the explosive used by those thugs outside Bordeaux. There is no other way they could have got hold of it. Now we know that one of the gang was Liane de Gruchy. Therefore she must have used her brother to arrange the delivery.’
‘That is entirely circumstantial,’ Kluck objected.
‘I regard it as irrefutable.’
‘So what do you propose to do?’
‘I have already done it. The moment I heard from Bordeaux, with the evidence of Liane de Gruchy’s participation in the outrage, I ordered our people there to place the senior Gruchys under arrest.’
‘You did what? Without reference to me?’
‘I considered it essential to prevent them escaping to join their daughter.’
‘And what do you think Helsingen will do when he learns that?’
‘I imagine he already knows. His friend Hoepner is now commanding the Bordeaux district. But there is nothing he can do. He has to watch his step very carefully due to his close association with that family. Now is our opportunity to round them all up. All we can lay hands on, anyway. I would like your permission to raid Pierre de Gruchy’s flat and place him under arrest.’ Kluck stroked his chin. ‘It has to be now, Herr Colonel, before he has time either to destroy any evidence against him, or to make his escape.’
Kluck sighed. ‘Very good, Captain. Just remember that I am granting this permission on the basis of the evidence you have presented to me. Should that evidence turn out to be incorrect, you will have to take the responsibility.’
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