The Courier

by CW Browning

“Who else would it be?”

  The tram began to move and Hans turned his eyes from the window.

  “The previous visits to the café were to meet with a man. Today, it was a woman. Even if the previous meetings were with his contact, this one was not. Contacts do not change. They remain the same.”

  Herr Maurer’s eyebrows knit together into a frown. “Go on.”

  “If Fräulein Richardson was telling the truth, she stole another reporter’s source for a newspaper column. Perhaps the other reporter was the contact? If that is so, then Herr Gerst knew he was not meeting with his contact.”

  “Yet he brought the information across the border anyway,” Herr Maurer said slowly, trying to follow Hans’ theory.

  “Why would he do that?”

  Hans waited patiently while his companion frowned in concentration.

  “Because he was going to meet him before the café?” he finally ventured a full a two minutes later.

  “And he begins to understand,” Hans muttered dryly.

  “Then…why follow the woman?”

  “I can see I will have to offer another scenario. Perhaps she is a reporter and goes to the library to write her story. Or, perhaps she has arranged to go to the library to meet someone. Perhaps the reporter she stole the informant from?”

  “The man Gerst was meeting with before! His contact!”

  “So you see why I told you to follow and observe, and not approach. She may have led us to his contact, which would have told us who he is giving information to. Instead, you confronted her and she fled. We now have no information and no leads other than Karl Gerst, which is exactly how we started the day.”

  “Or she was his contact and she had just retrieved the information when I intercepted her,” Herr Maurer said stubbornly.

  “In which case we still have neither the information nor her, so our situation has not changed,” Hans said brusquely.

  “We still have Karl Gerst,” Herr Maurer pointed out after a moment.

  “Herr Gerst is on a train going back to Munich as we speak. I had no reason to detain him. Whatever he brought out of Germany is no longer with him.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “We watch him. If he does anything out of his normal routine, we will arrest him.”

  “Why don’t we just arrest him now?”

  “Because I want to see where he goes when he gets back. I want to see who he speaks to. But if he suddenly changes his routine, we bring him in. I can’t risk losing the only lead we have.”

  Evelyn looked up as Josephine came out of the small shop, joining her on the pavement. She handed Evelyn a folded up map.

  “Here. I’ve marked the streets around the section of Petite France where you left your car,” she said. “I’ll accompany you as far as the bus stop and make sure you get on the correct bus. It will drop you near the Café de Toussier.”

  “Thank you.”

  Josephine nodded and they turned to walk down the street.

  “Avoid the Rue du Bain aux Plantes. If the young Himmlers are still looking for you, they will be there.”

  “Do you think they are?” Evelyn asked, glancing at her. “After all, it’s been over an hour now. I would think they would go back to the train station and follow Karl.”

  “That’s probably what they’ve done, but it’s best to get into the habit of being cautious, especially if you think you might make a habit of this kind of adventure.” Josephine looked at her, her eyes twinkling. “Will you?”

  Evelyn shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

  “I hope you consider it. I don’t need to tell you how important it is that we gather as much intelligence as we can and use it to our advantage,” Josephine said slowly. “And you’re in a very unique position to do that.”

  “How do you mean?” Evelyn asked, shooting the other woman a curious look. “I’ve no idea what I’m doing. I don’t have any contacts, nor do I even know how to make them!”

  Josephine smiled. “Oh, but you do. You’ve made three today alone in just a few short hours.”

  “What?”

  “From what you told me about your lunch at the Café de Toussier, Karl will remember you and be willing to work with you again because you took a great risk on his behalf today. Not only that, but you succeeded. It goes without saying that I would most definitely be pleased to work with you, having seen how you keep your head and function under dangerous conditions without any training or warning whatsoever. So you see, you’ve already made two solid connections, one in France and one in Germany.”

  “And the third?”

  Josephine looked at her in surprise. “Why, Herr Voss, of course!”

  Evelyn gaped at her.

  “Voss! But he’s the enemy!”

  “Even the enemy can be a powerful contact, or so they say,” Josephine replied. “After all, you now know him. You know first-hand how he works and something of how he thinks. You approached him and walked away, having made an impression.”

  “What sort of impression is somewhat in doubt,” Evelyn said ruefully. “Clearly he didn’t believe a word of the story I gave him.”

  “You don’t know that. Just because he showed up at the library doesn’t mean he didn’t believe you. He knew Karl had been to the library. That’s all. Don’t underestimate the fact that he allowed you to return to your lunch with Karl. He could just as well have arrested Karl then and there.”

  “In France?” Evelyn looked at her, startled. “But he has no authority here!”

  “Karl is a German citizen. My country would not have got involved, and the SD and Gestapo both know that.” Josephine looked at her. “You may think you didn’t do well today, but I assure you, you did. We need more people like you. You have a natural ability, Evelyn, and that is something rare.”

  The two women walked in silence as Evelyn digested what had been said and all that had happened in the past few hours.

  “How long have you been doing this?” she finally asked.

  Josephine shrugged. “Officially? A few months. Unofficially, all my life, practically. My father is a general in the Army and works regularly with intelligence. It is how I know so much about the struggles of building a reliable network right now. He’s been training me for years without really knowing it. Only in the past year has he started openly teaching me. He knows it will be up to people like us, if war breaks out again, to do what needs to be done.”

  “Do you think it will come to that?”

  “I’ve no idea, but we need to be prepared if it does.”

  Evelyn nodded in agreement, falling silent again. It was comforting to find that she was not the only woman to concern herself with affairs that most of the population believed were the province of men like their respective fathers. Her lips twisted. While she had no doubt that there were many others like them, Evelyn felt a kindred solidarity with the dark-haired woman at her side. They were two women who had fought against the brutal arm of the Nazi regime today and come out ahead. It was just one battle, to be sure, but it was a start.

  They came to a small group of people and Josephine stopped, turning to face her.

  “This is where I leave you,” she said with a smile. A bus was lumbering towards them, still a few blocks away. “I hope you consider what I’ve said, and everything that happened today. And please give Bill my regards.”

  “Of course.” Evelyn held out her hand. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You can thank me by getting back to Paris safely,” Josephine told her, shaking her hand.

  “I’ll do my best,” she assured her.

  Josephine nodded and released her hand.

  “I wish you luck, my friend. Farewell.”

  She turned to leave as the bus pulled to a stop before the small group on the pavement. Evelyn watched her walk away, wondering if she would ever have cause to see the extraordinary young woman again. It seemed strange to leave when Josephine had risked so much to help her escape. Somehow, she felt like she
was leaving behind a guardian angel of sorts.

  Shaking her head, she turned to climb onto the bus. Aside from everything else, this entire day had been one of revelation. When she told Bill she would happily help in any way needed, she’d no idea just what that would entail. This was a whole different world from the one she was used to, or even the one she had been led to believe existed outside the safe circle of her social world. As she seated herself next to a window, Evelyn felt her lips twist. Just twenty-four hours ago, she had naively believed that the threat posed by the Nazis was something distant, confined to greater Germany. Now she knew that it had already spread.

  Her lips tightened as the bus jerked into motion, her eyes focused on the street. The threat to the continent in Europe was not just a threat, but a reality for people like Karl and Josephine. They lived and breathed the material truth that a dangerous shadow was gathering, growing stronger with each passing day, and spreading beyond the confines of Germany.

  How was she supposed to simply walk away and go back to her parties and luncheons, knowing there were other Josephines and Karls out there fighting a threat that most of Europe refused to acknowledge even existed? And yet, how did she expect to make a difference?

  A violent tremor went through her as she thought of the look on the man’s face in the library just before she hit him. It had been terrifying, filled with such hate that the memory made Evelyn’s heart thump in her chest. In that instant, she had seen firsthand the determination of years of anger. They would not be stopped.

  And who was she to try?

  Chapter Nine

  Evelyn jogged lightly up the steps and nodded to the butler standing with the front door open.

  “Welcome back, mademoiselle.”

  “Thank you. Are my cousins home?”

  “I believe Mademoiselle Gisele is in her bedroom getting ready for dinner,” the man replied, closing the door as she entered the house. “She asked to have you go up as soon as you returned. May I take your hat?”

  “No, that’s quite all right, Marcel,” she said, going across the large hall to the stairs. “I’ll go right up.”

  She went up the wide curving steps quickly, her purse dangling from one hand and the other resting lightly on the smooth banister. Evelyn glanced down as she went and saw the straight back of Marcel disappear towards the back of the house. She exhaled in relief. If he thought it at all odd that she was running upstairs with her hat still on her head, he was far too well-trained to make any comment. And, after all, she was English. The French already thought the English were a little strange.

  Reaching the upper floor, Evelyn moved down the hallway towards her bedroom, ignoring Gisele’s request to go straight to her. Marcel hadn’t commented on the hat still perched on her head, but Gisele definitely would.

  She had almost reached her room when a door behind her opened and she exhaled in resignation.

  “Evie! There you are!” Nicolas exclaimed, coming out of his room. “Gisele’s been driving me mad wondering where you’d got to.”

  She turned to face him.

  “The drive took longer than I was expecting,” she said. “I didn’t realize Strasbourg was such a distance.”

  “Strasbourg!” he exclaimed, coming towards her. “What on earth were you doing there?”

  “An old friend of my father’s lives there. He asked me to take a basket of goodies to him because he’s been ill,” Evelyn lied, mentally amazed at how easily the lies came once you began.

  “Poor you!” He looked at her quizzically. “Why are you still wearing your hat?”

  She laughed at him. “Because someone stopped me on my way to my room!”

  He grinned. “Well, best hurry and change. You’ve seen Gisele?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Oh Lord,” he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and steering her back down the hallway towards Gisele’s door. “Forget changing. She’s been in a tizzy ever since…well, I’ll let her tell you.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he reached his sister’s door and knocked once before turning the handle and going in unceremoniously.

  “Look who’s finally returned, Zel,” he said cheerfully, pulling Evelyn in with him. “I caught her trying to sneak into her bedroom.”

  Gisele was seated at large dressing table, brushing her thick black hair. At their abrupt entrance, she spun around on her stool, brush in hand.

  “Evie!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been?”

  “Strasbourg, the poor thing,” Nicolas answered, closing the door.

  Gisele wrinkled her nose. “Did you mention that this morning?”

  “It was last night, dear,” Evelyn said with a laugh, “but it was late.”

  “I knew you’d asked to use the car, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember why,” she said with a grin, turning to resume brushing out her hair. She looked at Evelyn in the mirror and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you still wearing your hat?”

  “Because no one has let me go take it off!” Evelyn reached up to pull out the hat pin and lift the hat off her head. “What’s so urgent that I had to come straight in here?”

  Nicolas dropped onto the chaise lounge near the window and stretched out one leg, careful not to crease his trousers.

  “I didn’t tell her anything, Zel,” he announced. “I didn’t want to steal your thunder.”

  “You’ll never guess who came to visit today, Evie!” Gisele said, ignoring her brother. “Go ahead! Try!”

  Evelyn sank down onto the end of her cousin’s bed and laid her hat beside her.

  “If I won’t be able to guess, why don’t you just tell me?”

  “Lord Gilhurst!” The tremor of excitement was clear in Gisele’s voice and Evelyn let out a soft gasp. Gisele met her startled gaze in the mirror and grinned in triumph. “There! I told you that would get a reaction out of her, Nicki!”

  “Tony?” Evelyn exclaimed. “I didn’t know he was in Paris!”

  “Oh ho! She’s on a first name basis with him!” Nicolas chortled from his seat near the window. “See that? I told you she wouldn’t be impressed. You’re the only one in this house impressed by English titles.”

  “It’s not the title that impresses me, brother dearest,” she retorted cheerfully. “Did you see him? He’s magnificent!”

  Evelyn felt a laugh bubbling up inside her. After her stressful day, the cheerful banter common between her cousins was exactly what she needed.

  “He is very handsome,” she agreed with a twinkle. “And completely delightful besides. I didn’t know you knew the Gilhursts.”

  “We don’t. Maman does,” Nicolas told her. “He had another gentleman with him who seemed disappointed that you were out. What was his name, Zel? Stephen something, wasn’t it?”

  “Mansbridge?” Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Stephen Mansbridge?”

  “That’s the one!”

  “Good Lord, what’s he doing in Paris?” she wondered. “Who else is here, I wonder?”

  “You can find out tonight if you hurry and change,” Gisele said, setting down her brush and turning on her stool. “We’re going to dinner at Maxim’s, then dancing. Lord Gilhurst will be there, as will your Stephen Mansbridge.”

  “And a few others, I suppose,” Nicolas joined in.

  “He’s not my Stephen Mansbridge,” Evelyn said, watching as Gisele stood up and walked over to the large wardrobe in the corner. “He’s a friend of the family. We practically grew up together.”

  “All the more reason for you to come.” Gisele pulled open the doors and reached for a shimmering blue evening gown. “But you have to hurry and dress.”

  Evelyn laughed and stood up, scooping her hat into her hand as she turned towards the door.

  “Very well!” She looked over her shoulder at Nicolas. “Come on, Nicki. Let your sister finish dressing in peace.”

  Nicolas yawned and got up, following her to the door.

  “Are you all right, Evie?” he asked as they stepped into t
he hallway and he closed the door behind them. “You seem unsettled somehow.”

  Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “Do I?” she asked. “I can’t imagine why.”

  His brown eyes seemed to study her thoughtfully for a moment, then his careless smile emerged.

  “Perhaps it’s just my imagination,” he said easily, turning towards the stairs. “Go make yourself beautiful for Paris, my dear. You don’t want to disappoint your ardent admirers.”

  Evelyn made a face at his back. “Sometimes, Nicolas, you’re just as bad as your sister.”

  Chapter Ten

  Evelyn crossed the large hallway, following the Buckley’s butler once again. It was just past ten in the morning before she pulled into the driveway leading to the château. She’d had a devil of a time getting out of the house that morning. Between Tante Adele wanting to reminisce over breakfast about her own visit to Strasbourg when France reclaimed it, and Gisele plying her for any and all information on Lord Antony Gilhurst, Evelyn had begun to think she would never make her appointment with William, or Bill as Josephine so casually called him.

  This time, instead of leading her through the morning room to the garden, the majordome went down a wide corridor to a door halfway between the front hall and the back of the house. He opened it and announced her, stepping aside so that she could enter the large room. It was a man’s study, and William rose from behind a large, dark mahogany desk.

  “Evelyn!” he exclaimed, moving around the desk and advancing towards her. “I was getting worried.”

  “I apologize,” she said with a smile, holding out her hand. “It was next to impossible to get out of the house this morning.”

  “Francois, please let Madame Buckley know that Miss. Ainsworth has arrived. Tell her we’ll be with her shortly.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  Bill motioned Evelyn to an armchair as Francois silently left the room.

  “Have a seat,” he said, taking the chair opposite as soon as she’d seated herself. “How did it go yesterday? I understand there was an unexpected visitor.”