A Grave Man

by David Roberts

  ‘But who arrested Adam?’

  ‘I’m not sure but Himmler’s thugs, I think. Himmler has called him a traitor for refusing to join the Nazi Party. As we left the concert hall, several men jumped out of a big black car and seized Adam. Before I could do anything, the car had driven off. I screamed and the police came but they did nothing. They don’t want to do anything which might annoy Hitler and, of course, Adam’s a German citizen.’

  ‘So you think he’s back in Germany?’

  ‘Where else can he be?’ She shrugged her shoulders and a tear ran down her cheek. Impatiently, she wiped it away with her gloved hand as though this sign of weakness annoyed her.

  Edward held out his arms and she came and laid her head on his shoulder like a weary child.

  ‘What can I do?’ he asked. ‘I mean, you know I would do anything . . .’

  ‘I was going to ask you if you could see your friend, Sir Robert Vansittart. If the Foreign Office made a fuss, they might let him go.’

  ‘Too late for that, I fear, V,’ he said regretfully. ‘Sir Robert and Mr Eden have just resigned.’

  ‘Then there’s nothing to be done.’ She seemed to have surrendered any little hope she had.

  ‘Look, don’t give up. They’d never dare send Adam to one of those camps. He has too many important friends. How long are you staying in London? We’ll go round to the German Embassy tomorrow. And Weaver . . . if the newspapers . . .’

  ‘I have to get the boat train tonight. I didn’t want to leave Vienna but I thought . . .’

  ‘Is there anything I can do . . . anything at all?’

  Verity grimaced. ‘I’m not sure . . . Well, there is one thing. Before Adam was arrested, he gave me a dog and I smuggled it back here. I couldn’t leave him in Vienna. It’s quite a small flat.’

  ‘And this is a big dog?’

  ‘Not that big.’

  ‘How big?’

  ‘It’s a curly-coated retriever.’

  ‘A curly-coated retriever! I’m sorry, V, but I can’t have a curly-haired dog in Albany. In fact, I can’t keep any animal here. It’s not allowed.’

  ‘I thought you could take it to Mersham. I thought Connie would like the company. I mean, Basil is very good-natured.’

  ‘Basil?’

  ‘Well, he was called Fritz in Vienna but, obviously, I can’t have a dog called Fritz so I changed his name to Basil. Adam liked the name.’

  ‘But V . . .!’ he protested.

  ‘He’ll remind you of me.’

  ‘But V,’ he repeated, ‘I was trying not to be reminded of you. Where is he anyway?’

  ‘He’s downstairs in the taxi.’

  ‘In the taxi?’

  ‘Edward – why do you say you want to forget me? We love each other, don’t we?’

  ‘But I thought Adam . . .?’

  ‘I told you I might take lovers but that I would always love you. Isn’t that enough?’

  Edward started to say that it wasn’t enough but he found, after all, that it was.