Gregory shrugged. ‘Don’t be too hard on her, darling. It isn’t everyone who has your strength of character; and remember, those devils have got her brother. From what she said, it’s clear that they gave her the choice of death for him and ten years—the best ten years of her life—in some God-awful concentration-camp, or to come here as one of their agents. One can hardly blame her, and from that “come hither” eye of hers I shouldn’t think she finds the job they’ve put her on by any means distasteful. Naturally, on seeing you she jumped to the conclusion that you had bought your liberty on the same terms.’
At their respective doors they parted, but a quarter of an hour later Gregory entered Erika’s room through the bathroom they were sharing. He was wearing a brightly-hued silk dressing-gown which he had bought two days before; in one hand he was carrying a fat Turkish cigarette and in the other a magnum of champagne.
She looked across at him from her bed as he set the magnum down and walked over to a side-table to collect some glasses that were standing with a half-empty bottle of Madeira which they had opened that morning.
‘Darling,’ she murmured a little hesitantly, ‘would you mind very much if we didn’t make a night of it?—I mean—not a magnum-of-champagne sort of night—because all I want now is to hold you very close to me for every moment that’s left to us, and we’ve got so little time—so desperately little time.’
‘Have we?’ he said, turning suddenly, and she saw that his whole face had altered. ‘Don’t you believe it, sweetheart!’
‘Oh, Gregory! You mean …’ Her face suddenly lit up but the rest of her sentence was never uttered. With one great, pantherlike spring he landed right on her bed and seizing her face between his hands he forced it back on the pillow, pressing his mouth to hers.
When he released her he was laughing like a genial devil as he cried: ‘I mean, my angel, why should I go home now there’s work to be done here in Norway? Tomorrow we are lunching with Hitler’s secret weapon.’
2
Fifth Column at Home
Before they had been in Paula von Steinmetz’s flat for ten minutes, Gregory knew that his decision to stay in Norway had been thoroughly justified. Either she already had a luncheon party arranged for that day or else she had quickly got a number of people together after Erika had telephoned to her that morning. Her guests and their attitude were both a shock and a revelation.
The men consisted of a high Balkan diplomat and four Norwegians, one of whom was a member of the Storting and one the editor of a leading paper; the two others were the Major with whom Paula had been the night before and another Army officer. All the women were German born, although one of them was the diplomat’s wife and so nominally of his nationality, and another had married the Norwegian M.P. only a fortnight before. The women accepted Erika as one of themselves, and paid a special deference to Gregory in his role of a Prussian aristocrat who had served with distinction upon their own General Staff.
They talked with complete freedom about the hopeless plight of the Democracies under their aged and effete leaders and with supreme confidence about everything going according to plan and Hitler’s becoming the first World Führer in 1944. The Norwegians and the diplomat obviously accepted this forecast as quite inevitable and, far from showing any distress at the thought of their own countries becoming vassal states to a foreign power, appeared to consider themselves as the chosen vessels for carrying the Light of the new world order to their countrymen. In fact, Gregory had to keep on reminding himself that he really was in Norway and not attending a luncheon with a number of Nazi Party chiefs and their women in Berlin.
He had always realised that the Scandinavian countries were strongly pro-German, however greatly the majority of English people liked to believe the contrary. During the last world-war they had seriously hampered the Allied blockade not only by selling most of their own produce to Germany but also by reselling to her a very large proportion of the raw materials which the Allies had allowed through for neutral consumption. Moreover, when the Allies had at last had the sense to tighten up their blockade, and Germany was beginning to feel the pinch, the Scandinavians had done their utmost to relieve the pressure by taking enormous numbers of German women and children as refugees for the remainder of the war. That was a work of humanity, but Gregory believed in facing facts. The Germans were waging unrestricted submarine warfare at that time; they were also bombing Paris and London on every possible opportunity, thus sending considerable numbers of our women and children to their deaths. As Germany was eventually brought to her knees through the pressure of the blockade, the fact that the Scandinavians were feeding a considerable section of her population during the latter part of the war simply meant that the war had gone on several months longer than it need have done, during which many thousands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians owed their deaths entirely to this humanitarian gesture which had been made by the pro-German neutrals.
Knowing all that, and having no reason to suppose that the attitude of the Scandinavians had materially altered in the past twenty years, Gregory had not expected to find the bulk of the people in Norway waving Union Jacks, but he had supposed that they at least had every intention of preserving their tradition of independence and he was utterly horrified at this revelation that such prominent and influential Norwegians as those at Paula’s luncheon-party had obviously sold out to Hitler.
At luncheon he was given the place of honour on Paula’s right and she lost no opportunity of seeking to attract him. With her young, dark beauty and full-lipped smile she was a fascinating person but she got little chance to talk to him alone until the end of the meal, when the others all became involved in a general discussion on the eternal question as to where the Führer would really strike first now that spring was here. She then inquired about the reason for his visit to Norway, upon which he became intriguingly mysterious, but she only laughed at him and began to pull his leg.
‘Of course you mustn’t tell me,’ she mocked him. ‘Still it’s obvious that arrangements have to be made for the troops to land when the country is actually taken over and all the details must be seen to with the thoroughness for which our General Staff is so justly famous. But really you are to be congratulated upon having a delightfully “cushy” job, because there won’t be any fighting—or hardly any. With Hitler’s new technique you Army men will have to take a back seat for a change, and it’s girls like Erika and myself who will reap the real honours of the new war.’
‘You certainly seem to be getting a great deal of fun out of your baptism of fire,’ Gregory smiled.
As the others were not listening she shrugged and went on in a low voice: ‘It’s quite true that most of us acted from compulsion to begin with, but once one gets into the game it becomes frightfully thrilling. After all, whatever we may have said about the Nazis in the past, Hitler himself is an amazing man, you know. One must confess that. And although we may not agree with all his methods he is showing us Germans how to conquer the world. One must admire him for that. So, quite honestly, I’m all for him now and I’m not a bit shamefaced about this business any more.’
Gregory could only agree that she was perfectly right and that for Germany to be supreme above all nations was the only thing that really mattered; then he laughingly expressed the hope that he might be present to applaud when the Führer decorated her with the Iron Cross for her services to the Third Reich.
Her wicked eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Wouldn’t it be more appropriate if he instituted a new Order called Ladies of the Golden Garter?’
‘Grand!’ laughed Gregory. ‘Grand! Yet somehow I don’t think he’s quite the right fellow to bestow the decoration personally. It would be much more fun for the girls if he selected certain stalwarts among his Black Guards to put the garters on.’
She shook her head. ‘No. They are so dull—great, stupid animals. I think each girl should be allowed to choose her own man to deputise for the Führer, and the installation
should take place at night to soft music and in candle-light. One might even adopt the procedure of the Ancient Orders of Chivalry, where squires who were to receive the accolade spent the night on their knees, in prayer, before the high altar of a church.’
‘I get you,’ Gregory grinned. The night would not be spent in prayer, but the lady would receive her decoration in the morning.’
‘That’s it.’ Paula’s hand brushed his as she reached out for a chocolate. ‘Now, what sort of man d’you think I should choose for my initiation?’
Her question was an open invitation for Gregory to describe himself, and in other circumstances he would have done so without hesitation, but now he had Erika to consider. Quite apart from the fact that, being in love with her, he was not in the least interested in any other woman, he had to make allowance for her possible reactions to any signs of Paula and himself becoming somewhat more than friendly. Erika would, of course, say that she trusted him completely and did not at all mind his entering on a flirtation with Paula for the sake of the interests they served, but Gregory owed much of his success with women to the fact that experience had taught him a great deal about the workings of the female brain. Erika would quite honestly mean it when she said that she trusted him, but that would not affect the fact that it would make her extremely unhappy if he played up to Paula very far and that was bound to have an adverse effect upon their own happiness.
Fortunately his acquaintance with Paula was still so slight that she had had no time or opportunity to develop a real interest in him. It was just that she was a gregarious young woman who was obviously prepared to have an affair with any attractive man whom she might meet and, having put Gregory down as a desirable property, she had evidently decided that it would be rather fun to try to take him away from such a handsome rival as Erika. He therefore made up his mind at once that before he was drawn further on to this extremely dangerous ground he must side-track Paula by conveying to her that he was not really a very desirable property at all.
After a moment he looked up at her and smiled a little weakly. ‘I must say I’d envy the chap who got the job and I’d apply for it myself if I thought that I had the least chance.’
‘Nothing venture—nothing win,’ she murmured, lowering her long lashes.
‘The trouble is,’ he admitted slowly, ‘that I’m always a damned sight too honest with myself, and knowing my limitations so well I’m quite certain that when it came to the point I should let you down.’
‘Why?’ she asked in an astonished voice. ‘Whatever makes you think that?’
‘Well, the sort of man you want is a chap with a will of his own who wouldn’t stand any nonsense and if he saw you flashing those lovely eyes of yours at anybody else would take you home and give you a good spanking.’
Paula’s colour deepened a little under her make-up and Gregory knew that he had judged her rightly. She was a strong, highly-sexed young woman who would thoroughly enjoy occasional rows with her lovers and derive tremendous kick from a mild beating-up in which she was finally possessed forcibly, so that her sobs of anger gave way almost imperceptibly to gasps of passionate emotion.
‘Well,’ she admitted slowly, ‘if one loves a man one naturally expects him to assert himself at times, otherwise how can one possibly respect him?’
‘That’s just it,’ Gregory nodded, ‘and although I don’t think I’m really a weak character—certainly not as far as my job is concerned—once I fall for a woman I find it utterly impossible to say “no” to her. I just follow her around saying, “Yes, darling,” “Of course, darling,” and give way to her in every single thing. I suppose you’ll think me an awful fool to have told you that, but it’s just a stupid weakness that I can’t get over.’
‘I see,’ said Paula with a tinge of disappointment in her tone.
‘Still,’ Gregory went on more hopefully, ‘some women prefer a quiet life and having their own way in everything without any trouble.’ He lowered his voice to a murmur. ‘Of course, I’d have to be careful about Erika, but if you think I wouldn’t bore you too much—couldn’t we—er—meet somewhere just for—er—a quiet meal?’
Paula stiffened slightly. ‘I’m afraid you’ve rather misunderstood me, Herr Oberst-Baron; but perhaps that is owing to the turn our conversation took. We were only talking nonsense, and, in any case, it’s one of my rules never to pinch my girlfriends’ men, so let’s say no more about it.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Gregory murmured awkwardly, and as he spoke his face wore such a hang-dog look that Paula almost laughed. She would have been livid with rage if she had known the real Gregory and how inside himself he was laughing at her and the thought that he had got her just where he wanted her.
He was, however, very far from laughing when he and Erika had returned to their hotel and were discussing matters together.
‘It’s incredible!’ he exclaimed. ‘D’you realise that if what Paula said last night is true, about her knowing at least forty German girls of her own class who have been sent over here on this job, there must be scores of them having affairs with half the leading men in Norway. They’re undermining the whole political structure of the country and if we can’t do something to stop it the place will fall into Hitlers’ hands without a shot being fired.’
She nodded. ‘It’s rather amazing that we should so quickly have tumbled to what is going on. I don’t suppose the real Norwegian people have any idea of it at all, and we shouldn’t have, either, if we hadn’t happened to run into Paula last night; but, naturally, she assumed that I was just one more of the lovelies whom the Nazis had sent to do their dirty work and opened up the whole business to us. What’s our next move?’
‘We must stick close to the von Steinmetz, then she’ll lead us to the other women who are playing the same game and we can find out which Norwegian leaders are still trustworthy and which have succumbed to Hitler’s fascinating secret weapon.’
‘That shouldn’t be difficult. I saw her making a play for you at the end of lunch.’
He grinned. ‘She cooled off when I intimated that, although I’d love to play, I’m really a bit of a weakling when it comes down to brass tacks.’
‘Oh, darling,’ Erika roared with laughter and flung her arms round his neck, ‘what delicious nonsense! And she really took that in?’
‘You bet she did! And she promptly changed her tactics, becoming one of those high-principled girls who never snatches her friends’ men. She even declined a stolen meeting on the first occasion that I could get you safely out of the way, but as I paid her the compliment of appearing to get all hot-and-bothered about her, honour is satisfied. She now has no use for me at all in the role of prospective lover but will continue to play ball. It is a case of no offence given—and none taken, I’m sure.’
‘You adorable swine. Then we can tell her that we know hardly anybody here and suggest throwing a dinner-party to which we’ll ask her to bring her friends.’
‘I think we should go further than that. I’m certain that Paula is the type who thoroughly enjoys a playful spanking, and since I disappointed her by deliberately labelling myself “tame cat” we must arrange for the lady’s requirements to be satisfied elsewhere.’
‘Stefan!’ said Erika.
‘Exactly,’ grinned Gregory. ‘Paula can’t be getting much fun with that old Norwegian Major, who is obviously her duty boyfriend at the moment, and Kuporovitch is like a dog with two tails to wag, he’s so full of beans after his escape from the Soviets. These Russians have the hell of a reputation with the girls so I don’t think Stefan should find much difficulty in making the running. The question is, though, would he be prepared to play a hand with us against the Gestapo?’
‘True. He’s a neutral, and there’s no earthly reason why he should involve himself in our affairs, but I’m sure that we can trust him not to give us away, and he’d be splendid bait for Paula. Let’s tackle him this evening and see how far he is prepared to go.’
That night a
fter dinner, in a quiet corner of the lounge, Gregory explained to the Russian the reason why he had cancelled his departure for England at the last moment, and as Paula was really a very attractive young woman he was able to describe her without unduly overpainting the picture, which might have led to Kuporovitch’s being disappointed when he later saw her in the flesh.
‘She sounds a most delightful person,’ the Russian remarked, ‘and although my blonde is a nice little thing she is exceedingly stupid so I should much prefer a mistress of my own class. It was most charming of you to think of me, but’—his blue eyes narrowed slightly—’what is the catch in it?’
‘There is no catch in it at all,’ Gregory assured him. ‘If you can get her, Stefan, it will be all for love and should be excellent fun for you, but while we are on the matter I’d like to know what you really feel about the war.’
‘What has that to do with it?’
‘Just this. We’ve told you how we met Fräulein von Steinmetz and what she’s up to here. Erika and I are two of the considerable number of people in this world who have made up their minds that Hitler has got to be slogged for ten and counted out for keeps, and we don’t particularly mind if we lose our own lives in helping along the process. You probably don’t feel so strongly that way—or you may even admire the Nazis, for all I know, although I suppose the real fact is that you don’t give a hoot for any of us. What I really want to get at is if you would be prepared to pass on to us any information you may be able to get out of Paula should you succeed in making the running with her.’
Kuporovitch showed his even white teeth in a wide smile. ‘You are right; I am now a man of no country and no allegiances. My own poor land is ruined beyond repair and I have no interest in Germany or Britain. All the same, I have certain convictions about how people should be governed. I did not like living under an Autocracy where some rascally favourite of the Tsar might say “Off with his head!” about any person he didn’t like, at any minute, and promotion could be achieved only by influence or bribery. Equally, I should not like to live under a Democracy. I despise leaders who are afraid to lead because they must pander to every whim of an ill-informed mob for fear that if they do not they will be thrown out of office at the next election; but even under these two muddle-headed systems something of man’s independence and creative spirit is allowed to survive.
The Black Baroness Page 3
