by David Boyle
“Let me ask you a question, Miss Schneider. Do you love him for what he is or despite what he is? The reason I ask” – he said, racing ahead before she had the chance to come up with an answer – “is that love is about courage. It is not, or should not be, about what you can receive through love – it is about what you can achieve through it. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
“Very well then, let us come to some kind of arrangement. I am feeling friendless at the moment. If you will come to the flicks with me next week, then beforehand we can discuss the question and see whether it is a real problem or just a confusion of terms. What do you say?”
“The flicks?”
“You know – cinema, movies. Have you seen Stagecoach? Because I think life is a little like that. There are terrifying ordeals along the way and challenges and important decisions too. But in no way is it supposed to be fun. Do you understand what I mean?”
Xanthe stared at him, trying to work out what to say.
“You are a serious young lady. I was impressed with you when we met the first time. It seemed to me that you had risen above the narrow dictates of wartime, and you had kept your humanity. I hope you will not be insulted when I say that you have not been educated into uselessness, like so many of the people I have met in Cambridge. You will not understand my philosophy, but then almost nobody does.”
“I really can’t pretend I’m a philosopher.”
“My dear Miss Schneider. That is precisely why I am willing to help. I promise I will think about your problem, and together, we will come up with an answer. Then we will go on to the Picture Palace and see They Died With Their Boots On. How about it?”
“Thank you so much, Pro… I mean Dr Wittgenstein. I would be ever so grateful.”
Author’s Note
It is true that many of the characters in this story existed in real life, including, of course, Alan Turing and Ian Fleming. Ambassador Ruperto Santa Cruz did not; he is entirely fictional – as is Ralph Lancing-Price. The sophisticated scheme to persuade the Nazis that there was no point in invading was entirely true, though its story remains shadowy and has never been properly told. The character and work of John Lomax is set out in his book, The Diplomatic Smuggler. You will find in there the original anecdote about an unnamed South American ambassador which I have embellished here.
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