Becoming Lola

by Harriet Steel

  Ludwig groaned. Wallerstein would be arriving at any moment for a meeting. No doubt the bad news was not over.

  ‘Well, what have you to tell me now?’ he snapped when the prince sat before him, his face a picture of gravity.

  ‘Your Majesty, my agents say there are factions all over Munich plotting to burn down the countess’s house. Some of them threaten to kidnap her if she will not go of her own accord. I cannot advise too strongly that she leaves Munich immediately. It is not only for her safety. If she insists on remaining, it will be impossible to restore order. I fear there will be bloodshed.’

  Ludwig bent his head and rubbed his tired eyes. ‘As soon as she is well enough, I’ll suggest she goes to my hunting lodge at Starnberg for a few days. She will be safe there. Perhaps I can follow her when everything has quietened down.’

  Wallerstein raised his eyebrows and Ludwig felt his irritation rise. ‘You have something to say about that?’

  ‘Sir, it is my duty to tell you the Reichstadt proposed this morning that you should abdicate in favour of the Crown Prince. In my view, if you will not break with the countess, they won’t withdraw their demand. You will have no support left.’

  For a moment, Ludwig froze then he recovered his voice. ‘How dare they. I am their king. I will be until the day I die.’

  Wallerstein drew a deep breath. ‘I devoutly hope so, Your Majesty, but I truly believe that if disaster is to be averted, there is only one course open to us. The countess must go.’

  ‘I cannot desert her, Wallerstein: she is too dear to me.’

  ‘Then I won’t answer for the consequences.’

  *

  ‘The city is calm now,’ Lola insisted, fully recovered a few days later. ‘No one has come near us since that day at the Theatriner. Even then I’m sure it was just a small group of troublemakers involved. I’ve told the king I won’t leave Munich on their account.’

  Tea had just been brought in and a good fire warmed the room. Berthe and Mathilde Thierry looked at her with anxiety in their eyes.

  ‘I told the king he should reopen the university too. Wallerstein’s talk of revolution has been so much nonsense. The people love their king. If he shows magnanimity, all will be well. Anyway, I long to see Fritz. When he and the others come back, I’ll hold a grand party for them.’

  Berthe crumbled the piece of seed cake on her plate. She has not been out in the streets as I have, she thought. There are posters everywhere calling for her to be banished and the mood is still ugly.

  There were shouts outside and she got up and went to the window.

  ‘What is it?’ Lola asked.

  ‘I can’t see much, these windows are so steamed up, but something must be wrong.’

  Lola shrugged. ‘It’s probably nothing, just the guard changing.’

  ‘No, there’s too much noise for it to be that.’

  Mathilde joined her and peered out.

  ‘That’s odd: I don’t believe there are any guards outside. Perhaps we should send one of the servants to find out what’s happening.’

  Lola frowned. ‘Ring the bell.’

  Several minutes passed and no one came. The shouting in the street was much louder now. Lola marched to the doors that led to the balcony. She flung them open and a blast of icy air rushed into the room, accompanied by a roar of voices.

  Berthe rushed to her side and, looking over her shoulder, saw scores of faces below.

  She gasped. ‘Come back inside, Lola. We must shut the doors. Oh, where is Captain Weber? Surely he hasn’t deserted us?’

  Lola gave a scornful laugh. ‘If he has, I’ll have him whipped, but I’ll show these people I’m not afraid.’

  ‘Lola don’t, you will make matters worse.’

  She tried to grab Lola’s arm and pull her back but it was too late, Lola was already on the balcony. A feral roar broke from the crowd and a volley of stones peppered the balustrade. The blood sang in Lola’s ears. She ran back inside, grabbed her pistol and returned to the balcony.

  ‘If you don’t leave, I’ll use this,’ she shouted. A chorus of jeers and curses answered her.

  She levelled the pistol and was about to fire a shot over the heads of the mob when strong arms grabbed her. The pistol clattered to the floor as she struggled.

  ‘You must come inside, countess,’ Captain Weber hissed. ‘My men are overwhelmed. I can no longer guard you here. All the windows of the kitchens are smashed and the stores looted. The house will be next.’

  Lola looked down at the street again. What she had thought were clubs and knives were in fact her own gold candlesticks, kitchen irons and carving knives. A whooping man brandished a half-gnawed leg of mutton above his head. Another hurled a bottle of champagne that splintered against the edge of the balcony in a shower of green glass.

  Suddenly, she felt a chill. These people really hated her. It was no longer a game.

  Weber seized his chance and pulled her inside. He kicked the doors shut.

  ‘I’ve ordered your coachman to bring the carriage to the side entrance. The mob hasn’t found it yet, but we must lose no time, they soon might.’

  Berthe was at her side. ‘Please, Lola,’ she begged. ‘We can’t stay here. Let’s do as he says.’

  Lola’s heart pounded. If the mob managed to break into the rest of the house, they would all be trapped. The noise from outside reached a deafening pitch. She put her head in her hands. ‘All right, I’ll go,’ she muttered.

  Weber exhaled a long breath. A few minutes later, he led the women down the grand staircase and out to where the carriage waited.

  ‘Get us out of here as fast as you can,’ he shouted to Humpelmeyer. ‘All our lives depend on it.’

  Chapter 31

  The village of Grosshesselohe slept under a starlit sky. A week had passed since Lola reached the inn there. Berthe and Mathilde had returned to their homes.

  She had decided to go no further towards Starnberg where Ludwig had wanted her to take refuge. In Grosshesselohe, she was still close to Munich and not far from the village of Blutenburg where she had reports Fritz was hiding. It still hurt her that he had gone without a word, but she was sure he would explain everything when they were together again. In the meantime, she needed to speak with the king.

  The clock on the tower of the village church struck five as she slipped downstairs. She found the servants asleep near the remains of the fire, huddled on pallets under piles of blankets and animal pelts. The room smelt of stale beer and sweat.

  She picked her way over to Humpelmeyer and shook him awake. He grunted and sat up with a jolt, fumbling for the stout stick beside him. His eyes rolled. ‘Have they come for us? Just let ‘em try. I’ll break all their heads.’

  Lola put her finger to her lips. ‘Hush, no need to wake everyone. I want you to go to Munich with a message for the king. If the city is peaceful, come back and take me to him.’

  ‘Countess, I’m not sure it’s wise.’

  ‘Let me be the judge of that. Tell the innkeeper I want him to lend you some clothes. Don’t take my carriage. It’s bound to be recognised. You’ll have to walk.’

  Half an hour later, she watched him disappear down the road to the city, dressed in one of the innkeeper’s jackets and breeches. It would be past dawn by the time he got there but she doubted anyone would recognise him. So many workmen came into Munich in the early morning.

  The rest of the day passed with no news and then the night. In the morning, Lola paced up and down her rooms. What was delaying the wretch? When at last he came, she hurried out to meet him. She turned pale when she saw one sleeve of his jacket was torn off. His face was a mass of bruises.

  ‘Who did this?’ she demanded.

  ‘A coachman from the Goldener Hirsch recognised me. He and his mates set about me with their fists. It would have been worse but a couple of policemen came to my rescue. I’m afraid they weren’t much gentler with me. I spent the night in the cells.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I�
�ll make sure you have your reward when this is over. Did you deliver the message?’

  He nodded. ‘I’d already managed to get to the palace when they spotted me.’

  ‘Was the king there?’

  He looked down at his feet.

  ‘What is it? He’s not in danger, is he?’

  ‘There’s talk the king will abdicate in favour of Crown Prince Maximilian, countess.’

  Lola’s head reeled. Maximilian? He detested her. If Luis abdicated, her position would be desperate.

  She passed an anxious week waiting. No message came from Ludwig or from Fritz. It was too dangerous to go to Munich, she decided, but she could try and find Fritz. Her maid packed a few clothes for her and they set out for Blutenburg.

  He was, as she had hoped, at the ancient hunting lodge there. He looked tired and careworn. It saddened her that he did not seem overjoyed to see her, but she held her tongue.

  *

  A week after her arrival, she sat alone in the bedroom they shared. It was a comfortless room with damp, roughly dressed stone walls and bare floors. The fire in the small grate belched smoke that made her eyes sting.

  At least, she consoled herself, the place was cleaner than it had been when she arrived. On her orders, her maid and the few servants the Alemania had brought with them had scoured all the floors and swept out the spiders and cockroaches that lurked in the corners of the rooms and behind the dilapidated furniture. She had also made the servants tear up old sheets for rags to clean the windows and take down and beat the curtains before re-hanging them – an operation that had choked them all with clouds of dust.

  She stretched and stood up then went to open the door. The draught caused another balloon of smoke from the fire. Voices drifted up from the great hall below. No doubt Fritz and his friends were polishing off some more of the wine they had found in the mouse-infested cellar. She banged the door shut and went back to her armchair by the fire. It was no use pretending all was well between her and Fritz. When they talked of their future together, she heard the reluctance in his voice. She was not sure she cared any longer. She had already lost so much.

  Deep in thought, she didn’t even notice he had come in until he spoke. ‘I’m sorry. I hope I haven’t woken you.’ His voice was slurred and he swayed a little.

  ‘I wasn’t asleep.’

  He came over to the fire and spread his hands to the flames. ‘It’s no warmer here than in the hall,’ he remarked with a shiver.

  ‘But you appear to have found the company more diverting.’

  He turned to face her, his brown eyes wary behind his round spectacles. He pushed a lock of his dark, wavy hair off his forehead. She saw beads of perspiration there.

  ‘Lola—’

  ‘You think it is time we talked frankly? Did you need to drink so much wine to give you the courage to tell me so?’

  He reddened to his ears. Before he could say anything more, she put up her hand to silence him. ‘Poor Fritz, you had a great deal to give up, didn’t you? You were clever and respected. You had a bright future in Munich. I think you still do. You should go back when the university reopens: make your peace with the fraternities and the officials. I understand the king well enough to know he won’t harbour a grudge.’

  Fritz hung his head. ‘But I love you.’

  ‘And I you, but it’s not enough. You wouldn’t be happy living as an exile. I won’t ask it of you.’

  The look of ill-concealed relief on his face almost made her smile.

  ‘I would - if you asked,’ he said awkwardly.

  She put her finger to his lips. ‘Just kiss me. Let us have one more night for old time’s sake. Then tomorrow we will go our own ways.’

  Chapter 32

  Dressed in a dark coat and a soft hat pulled low over her face, Lola arrived in Munich late one snowy night. It was too cold for there to be many people about and she felt safe enough in her disguise.

  The carriage stopped outside the house of the Wegner family and Humpelmeyer jumped down from his box and came to the window.

  ‘Perhaps I should go in first, countess.’

  ‘Nonsense, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Help me down.’

  At the front door, they rang the Wegners’ bell and waited but no one came. Lola tried again. On the fourth attempt, they heard the rasp of bolts drawing back. The door opened a crack and a maid peered out. She goggled at the sight of them.

  ‘We wish to see Herr Wegner,’ Lola snapped. ‘Let us in at once.’

  ‘What is it, Lisle?’ a woman’s voice called. ‘Who is calling at this hour?’

  Wegner’s daughter, Caroline, stood at the top of the stairs. She wore her night clothes and carried an oil lamp. When she was halfway down to the hall, her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Countess, is it you?’

  Lola pulled off her cap. ‘Yes. I need your help, Caroline. May I come in?’

  Humpelmeyer left them and drove the carriage away to a side street for safety. As Lola followed Caroline up the stairs, she didn’t notice the light under one of the doors on the ground floor. The policeman who lived in the apartment closed it softly and went back to his bedroom. He started to pull on his clothes.

  His wife sat up in bed. ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  ‘It’s a funny time of night for the Wegners to have a visitor. There’s something not quite right about it.’

  ‘Why should it be our business? Come back to bed.’

  He shook his head and fastened his boots. ‘There’ve been rumours agitators plan to torch the grain store in the Wurtzerstrasse. I’m going down to the station to get some help’

  ‘You’re crazy. The Wegners are respectable people.’

  Her husband shrugged. ‘These days, who knows?’

  Upstairs, Lola and Caroline hugged each other. ‘Wait while I wake my father, then you must tell us everything.’ She hurried out of the room.

  ‘We’ve been so worried about you,’ she said when she returned with Wegner. ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘King Ludwig arranged for me to go to Switzerland. He wanted me to stay there for safety but I hated to be so far away. I went to Grosshesselohe and then Blutenberg instead. But I must see him. That’s why I’ve come back. Will you take a message for me?’

  Wegner flushed. ‘Countess, we dare not. Suppose you are found out? The city is like a powder keg. The king struggles to restore peace and respect for the monarchy. The army is on alert.’

  ‘Herr Wegner, you couldn’t blame me any more than I blame myself, but I beg you, help me.’

  Suddenly, there were footsteps on the stairs.

  Caroline started. ‘Who can that be so late?’

  ‘Whoever it is, we won’t let them in,’ her father said firmly.

  But a few moments later, a fist hammered on the door.

  ‘Open up,’ a voice shouted, ‘or we break it down.’

  ‘Quickly,’ Lola hissed. ‘Hide me.’

  Caroline hurried her to another room and helped her climb into the big, oak cupboard that stood in one corner. Through the door, it sounded like Wegner was talking with several men. Then she heard a scuffle and Caroline’s scream. Her head sank to her knees and her arms tightened around them. Her blood froze. There was no escape now.

  A few moments later, the door of the cupboard swung open and hands reached in to pull her out. She blinked as she emerged into the light to see three policemen in front of her. One of them took hold of her cap and pulled it off. The shock on his face might have made her laugh if her plight had not been so desperate.

  He let out a long whistle. ‘My God, it’s the Countess of Landsfeld.’

  Pretending a confidence she did not feel, she faced him defiantly.

  ‘I refuse to speak with anyone but King Ludwig, do you understand? Take me to him.’

  *

  She waited for him in Police Director Mark’s office. Mark, roused from bed, sat at his desk scowling. Lola had kept her silence. She refused to let him intimidate her.
/>   When Ludwig came into the room, she rushed into his arms.

  ‘Leave us, Mark,’ he said in a muffled voice.

  Alone together, she saw his cheeks were wet with tears.

  ‘You’ve come back to me,’ he said in a broken voice. ‘You should not have taken the risk.’

  ‘How could I not? My heart was ripped in pieces. Don’t make me leave you again.’

  ‘I must, for your safety and my own.’

  Lola slipped out of his arms and gave him a searching look. ‘If we are not safe in Munich, come away with me. We’ll talk of art and books. You can write your poetry and we’ll read it together.’ She stroked his cheek with her fingertips. ‘We will forget the rest of the world.’

  ‘It’s not so easy. I have a duty to my family and my country.’

  She saw the sad resolution in his eyes and felt a lump rise in her throat.

  ‘But what of us?’

  ‘Your love will always be the most precious thing I have. I’ll think of you every moment of the day. When I can, I’ll come to you.’

  His voice faltered and he looked grey and tired. She took his hand and led him to a seat by the fire. For an hour they talked of the past and her heart ached for him. He had risked so much for her sake. But sensing the despair beneath his reassuring words her instinct told her it was over. She understood him better than he did himself. He would never fail in his duty.

  ‘After all that has passed between us,’ she said at last, ‘let us part friends.’

  He frowned. ‘You speak as if it will be forever.’

  She gave him a sad smile. ‘Perhaps it will be. I beg you, promise me one thing?’

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘Whatever people say about me, whatever happens, you’ll never believe I am all bad.’

  ‘How could you think I would?’

  ‘We may be far apart. It is easy to believe things then.’

  ‘Never. We will always be one soul. I only live to be with you.’