‘That’ll be the day,’ Murdoch said.
‘It does not matter if you are a general...’ she shuddered.
‘It does here. As a matter of fact, it matters if you’re a private. The police can’t arrest anyone for taking a young lady to his flat...as long as she doesn’t shout for help.’
She looked up at him, then down again, and the lift was stopping. He found his latch key and let her in.
Not quite as sumptuous as your mother’s house, I’m afraid, but it does for us. Now...’ He guided her into the lounge and sat her on the sofa as close to the central heating radiator as he could. ‘Bacon and eggs?’
‘Bacon and eggs?’
‘Why not? I’m going to have some. Just sit there. First, some medicine.’ He went to the bar, poured two goblets of brandy, gave her one. It’s very good to see you,’ he said, and sipped.
She sipped also, staring at him, and he went into the kitchen. It took him fifteen minutes to prepare a meal. As he carried the tray into the dining room he looked through the arch at the sofa, and saw that she had drunk the brandy and was fast asleep, the goblet drooping from her fingers.
He removed it, stood looking down at her. She had unfastened her coat, and her dress was crushed and soiled. Her stockings where laddered, her shoes scuffed. She smelt of sweat and fear, and misery. He knew what needed to be done with her and debated whether he should do it, then breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a key in the latch.
‘Hello,’ Lee said. ‘You were early.’
‘Perhaps fortunately,’ he said.
She came into the lounge, looked down at the sleeping girl. ‘Your Christmas present? She looks a little tatty.’
‘Don’t you remember her?’
Lee frowned. ‘Good Lord! Annaliese von Reger. Where on earth did you pick her up?’
Murdoch told her.
‘But what is she doing here?’
‘That she hasn’t told me yet. She’s terrified, she’s hungry, she’s exhausted, she’s cold, and she’s filthy.’
‘Yes,’ Lee agreed. ‘And you wish to keep her here rather than send her to a hospital or a police station.’
‘I would like to do that, yes,’ he agreed. ‘At least until we find out what she’s running away from. If you have no objection.’
‘Good lord, no. I’m as curious as you are. Right. First thing, a hot bath.’
‘I thought of that, but...’
‘The idea of undressing a nubile young woman didn’t excite you.’
‘It excited me very much. Which is why I was hesitating.’
She stuck out her tongue at him. ‘Well, then, tonight is your lucky night. I bet she looks like her mom did, forty years ago.’ She blew him a kiss. ‘Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out to be my lucky night as well. I’ll run the bath. Is that breakfast I smell?’
‘It’s untouched.’
‘It won’t be for long. I’m starving.’ She hurried into the bathroom, turned on taps. Murdoch remained looking down at Annaliese. She really was a most beautiful girl, even more so than when last he had seen her. The suggestion of emaciation had removed some of the fullness from her cheeks, and the slight downturn of her lips gave her expression a seriousness it had previously lacked.
‘Okay, lover, bring the victim in,’ Lee said. She had also undressed, wore a dressing gown with the sleeves rolled up. Between them they removed Annaliese’s clothing, Lee wrinkled her nose as she dropped each garment on the floor. ‘I don’t think she’s changed any of these for at least a week. Where’s her suitcase?’
‘She didn’t have one.’
She raised her head to look at him. ‘Curiouser and curiouser. Holy cow!’
She had noticed something, and now she half rolled the girl on to her side, to show him the weals on her buttocks. ‘Great God in the morning. The bastard!’ Murdoch said.
‘What bastard?’
‘Her father. Has to be her father.’
‘Her father?’
‘He beats Margriet. I never told you that, but she told me.’
‘I can’t believe that. Can you put her in the bath?’
Murdoch took off his dinner jacket, rolled up his sleeves, picked up the naked girl and carefully lowered her into the hot water.
Annaliese awoke with a start and screamed.
‘Just relax,’ Lee told her. ‘We’re old enough to be your parents. And we’re your friends.’
Annaliese stared at her, and then at Murdoch, who was holding her head and shoulders to prevent her slipping beneath the water.
‘Think you can soap yourself?’ Lee asked.
Annaliese’s head moved up and down, slowly.
‘Well do it. Nice and slow. And soak. Let some of that warmth get to your bones. Oh, and wash your hair as well; there’s shampoo in that bottle. We’re going to leave the door open, just in case you fall asleep again. When you’ve had a good bath, put on that dressing gown and join us. We’ll be eating.’
She went outside, and Murdoch followed her. He opened his mouth, but she shook her head. They ate in silence, and Lee was making another breakfast just as Annaliese appeared, a glow of soap and shampoo.
‘Sit down here,’ Lee told her. ‘And chew each mouthful forty-two times.’ She poured coffee, and sat beside her. Murdoch sat opposite.
Annaliese took a mouthful, and Murdoch could almost feel his own saliva burning his mouth as he watched her expression. ‘You must think I am terrible, coming here like this,’ she said.
‘Eat first, talk after,’ Lee commanded. ‘And you didn’t come here. You were brought.’
Annaliese gave Murdoch a shy glance, and ate some more. ‘I had to come,’ she said. ‘I had to get away...’ she shuddered.
‘From your father?’ Lee asked. ‘You mean you’ve run away from home?’
Annaliese gave a little sob, and drank some coffee. ‘From home, yes. From Germany. It is so terrible.’
‘Tell us,’ Murdoch said.
She sighed. ‘It all seemed so splendid, when Herr Hitler took power. Father was suddenly a very important man, with a position on the General Staff, and a confidant of the Fuehrer. All of us were important. We were invited to all the official functions...’
‘I remember, when we were there,’ Lee said.
‘And then...Klaus was murdered.’ Annaliese’s shoulders hunched.
‘Klaus? Your eldest brother? I mean, after Paul.’
‘Yes,’ Annaliese said. ‘He was in the Sturmabteilung. The storm troopers. He was with Herr Roehm at the spa on the night they were all shot. Ernst was one of those who killed him.’ Her voice contained a sob.
‘Ernst?’ Lee asked.
‘Her other brother,’ Murdoch said. ‘He was in the SS, wasn’t he, Anna?’
Her head flopped up and down.
‘Let me get this straight. The SS were the guys who executed the SA, right?’
‘Yes,’ Murdoch said.
‘So Ernst...’ she gazed at Murdoch with her mouth open.
‘Father went to Hitler to protest about Klaus’s murder,’ Annaliese said. ‘He came back...oh, Sir Murdoch, it was terrible. He looked...broken. We were all broken. Except for Paul and Ernst. They said Klaus had been a criminal and deserved to die. Mama wept and wept and wept. But then Father changed. He became more of a Nazi than ever. He said Paul and Ernst were right, and Klaus had been a criminal. He insisted we start going to receptions again. He made me accept dates with Nazi officers.’ Another sigh. Her plate was empty.
‘You’d better go to bed.’ Lee said. ‘We’ll talk some more in the morning.’
‘I must tell you,’ Annaliese said. ‘I must. There was a party. A great ball. Then we went to a nightclub...’ she glanced at Murdoch. ‘One of those places where men pretend to be women.’
‘Good heavens!’ Lee commented. ‘Do they?’
‘They’re called transvestites,’ Murdoch told her.
Lee looked as if she wanted to know more, but she didn’t want to interrupt Annaliese, wh
o was now talking as if under hypnotism, her voice a flat monotone, her eyes half shut.
‘We stayed there until dawn, then...we were all drunk, I suppose...we went to a camp.’
‘A camp?’ Lee asked.
‘A prison.’
‘A concentration camp,’ Murdoch explained.
‘Yes.’ Annaliese shivered. ‘It was just light, and the inmates were being lined up for roll call. They were women. They wore pyjamas. Striped pyjamas. Oh, Sir Murdoch, it was terrible.’
‘What had they done?’ Lee asked.
‘They were Jewesses, and the wives of opponents of the government.’
‘And they had been locked up for that?’
‘Yes. And they were made to stand there...it was cold. They stood there for more than half an hour. I wanted to leave and go home, but the others made me stay. They said we would see something very amusing. Oh, Sir Murdoch...’
‘Go on,’ Murdoch said. ‘You have to say it.’
Lee stared at them both.
Annaliese sighed. ‘One of the women fell down. She was not old, I don’t think. I don’t think she was much older than me. But she fell down because of the cold. So the guards held her wrists and dragged her out of the line. They took away her pyjamas...’
‘My God!’ Lee commented.
‘She was blue, and she was screaming, and then they began to beat her. They tied her wrists to a stake in the ground, and they flogged her, with whips.’
‘You can’t be serious,’ Lee protested. ‘Not even...’ she bit her lip. Murdoch knew she had almost said, ‘Not even Chand Bibi had done that.’
‘They beat her,’ Annaliese said. ‘They beat her and beat her and beat her. There was blood running down her legs. When she fainted they poured cold water on her face and beat her again. I could not stand it. I was sick.’
‘I should think so,’ Lee said. ‘Those men must have been savages.’
‘They were women, Lady Mackinder.’
Once again Lee stared at Murdoch with her mouth open.
‘I went home,’ Annaliese said. ‘I burst in on Papa and Mamma and I told them what I had seen. I told Papa he had to see Herr Hitler and have such things stopped.’
‘Good for you,’ Lee said.
‘Then he beat me.’
‘What?’ Lee screamed.
‘You have undressed me. You have seen the marks.’
‘Your own father did that to you?’
‘He tied my wrists to the bed, just like the woman in the camp. Then he flogged me with his riding crop.’
‘Oh, my God! But your mother...’
‘She tried to stop him, and he hit her. She fell down. She begged him to stop, but she could not get up. Then...’ her shoulders slumped.
‘Then he beat your mother as well.’ Murdoch said quietly. ‘In front of you.’
Lee was speechless.
‘Yes.’ Annaliese raised her head. ‘How did you know?’
‘He’s been beating her for years. But they always managed to keep it a secret.’
‘But...he didn’t say anything, while doing this?’ Lee asked.
‘He kept saying that whatever the Fuehrer did was right. That it was necessary for Germany to be strong, and for those who did not wish a strong Germany to be punished. He was raving like a madman. Then he let me go. I went to my room and I ept. But Paul was home. I went to Paul’s room and I told him what had happened.’
‘Paul,’ Lee said. ‘Yes. He was the one to tell.’
‘He told me Papa was right to beat me,’ Annaliese said.
‘And Mamma.’
‘He said what?’
‘That is what he said, Lady Mackinder. My brother. I loved him.’
‘So you ran away,’ Murdoch said.
‘Yes, Sir Murdoch. I could not stay there any longer.’
‘How did you run away?’ Lee asked.
‘I left that night. I could not take much. Just a small case, with some clothes.’
‘Where is it now?’
‘It was stolen.’
‘You poor kid. You have had a time. But you had money.’
‘A little,’ Annaliese said.
‘Enough to get you here, anyway.’
Annaliese looked at Murdoch. There were pink spots in her cheeks.
‘You mean there wasn’t?’ Lee pressed.
‘She got here,’ Murdoch said. ‘That’s what matters. Now you have to go to bed, Anna. Sleep is the most important thing in the world for you right now. And remember, you’re with friends.’
‘You won’t send me back?’ Annaliese begged. ‘If I go back Papa will send me to a camp. He threatened to do so. I will be flogged like that woman. Please don’t send me back, Sir Murdoch.’
‘No one is sending you anywhere, Anna,’ he promised.
*
Lee tucked her up in the spare room, came back and poured herself some more coffee. ‘Three thirty. Jesus, the mother of the bride is going to look like a wet dishcloth. Murdoch, what are we going to do?’
‘I’m brooding on it. She’s over twenty-one.’
‘So she can do what she likes.’
‘Here. Not apparently in Germany.’
‘Oh, I know we can’t send her back. But...shouldn’t we let Margriet and Paul know where she is?’
‘That’s what I’m brooding on. If what she said was true...’
‘I can’t believe it,’ Lee declared. ‘Any of it. I just can’t.’
‘Well, I’m afraid I do believe it.’
‘You mean Margriet did tell you about Reger’s treatment of her?’
‘Yes. Yes, she did.’
‘And showed you her scars, I guess.’ Lee squeezed his hand. ‘I apologize. That was a shitty thing to say. And that girl certainly has scars. So I guess Paul did come over the heavy father. But that story about the camp, in front of visitors...that has to be imagination.’
‘I wonder,’ Murdoch said.
‘I mean, she’s lying about so much else,’ Lee pointed out. ‘She has only a little money, but she manages to walk or whatever right across Germany, and Holland, and get to England...how the hell did she get in and out of two countries with no passport and no money? There has to be more to it than meets the eye.’
‘I wonder,’ Murdoch said again.
Lee frowned at him. ‘I hope you’re not meaning what I think you’re meaning. That little girl?’
‘She’s not a little girl, my darling. She’s twenty-two years old, she’s been brought up in a society whose moral values aren’t quite the same as ours, and she’s been terrified out of her wits.’
‘You are telling me she has prostituted herself across half Europe?’
‘I don’t know. And I don’t intend to ask her. But I would certainly say the only way she got a ship’s captain to smuggle her into this country was by offering to share his bunk for the voyage.’
‘Jesus Christ! I don’t think I could do that.’
‘Here’s hoping you never have to. But I reckon anyone can do anything if it’s a case of survival.’
‘Um.’ She was again thinking of the events at Mahrain, he knew. ‘So what are we going to do about her?’
‘I’d like to help her.’
‘How?’
‘Well, when she wakes up, I’ll have her write down everything she’s just told us. If it’s still as horrendous, I’m going to see the Horne Secretary and ask that she be granted political asylum. Meanwhile, I’d like her to go down to Broad Acres to recuperate. Philippa can look after her. Give her something to do.’
‘You mean we take on another daughter.’
‘Hopefully not. When she gets back her health and her nerves, and is accepted into this country, well, hopefully she’ll be able to stand on her own two feet.’
‘Hopefully,’ Lee said. ‘And what about the Regers?’
‘We’ll get her accepted here first, then we’ll write and tell them where she is. If she’s already been granted asylum, they won’t be able to pull any strin
gs to get her back out.’
‘All very devious. Did I ever tell you that marrying you was the most exciting thing in my life? And it doesn’t seem to change.’
‘Even if there are some experiences you could’ve done without.’
‘No,’ she said seriously. ‘Now we’ve survived them all, I wouldn’t change a thing.’ She gazed at him. ‘Does that make me a fallen woman?’
He grinned. ‘Like Annaliese? It makes you a very brave woman, my dearest girl.’
‘Like Annaliese,’ she commented. ‘Don’t you think we should get to bed? You have a bride to deliver in ten hours’ time.’
*
Obtaining political asylum for Annaliese von Reger was not a difficult task, once her statement, which differed in no way from what she had told Murdoch and Lee, was read. Lee took her down to Broad Acres and installed her there, telling her to stay as long as she wished. Philippa was delighted. So were Fergus and Ian, when they discovered there was a lovely young woman in residence at the family home. Lee was less happy about that, but reassured herself with the thought that neither of them could marry without their commanding officer’s permission until they were thirty, which was not for another couple of years —and she intended, if necessary, to have a word with Colonel Destry.
Murdoch duly wrote to Margriet to inform her where her daughter was — but he never received a reply. In his letter he asked her to confirm or deny that what Annaliese had told them was the truth, but as she did not reply, he showed Churchill a copy of the statement.
‘They are absolute Huns,’ Churchill said. ‘How on earth Chamberlain believes he can deal with them is a mystery to me.’
For on the retirement of Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain had become Prime Minister, and had immediately left no doubt that he regarded the peace of Europe as his principal objective, which was admirable, and that he believed that he and Hitler could sit down and discuss their differences and come to a lasting settlement, which was debatable.
‘I think he should see this,’ Churchill decided.
He made an appointment, and the Prime Minister met both Churchill and Murdoch in his office at the Commons. Murdoch had of course met Chamberlain before, at various official functions, but they had never been more than acquaintances. The Prime Minister was most courteous, however, and read Annaliese’s deposition with grave attention.
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