‘That is the funny thing. They were there for a few hours, and then they went away, back to their barracks.’
‘Do you know,’ Anna said, ‘I feel like opening a bottle of champagne. Will you join me in a glass?’
*
‘What exactly happened here yesterday, Anna?’ Himmler asked on Monday morning.
‘I don’t know, sir. It was very odd.’
‘I am told that it was an exercise. But now Stieff is unavailable for comment. Yet it was carried out on his orders. Here in Berlin! What enemy is he expecting to take over the city, this far from any fighting front? Unless . . . Have you got him on your list to be investigated?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Why not?’
‘Well, there is no suggestion that he is, or could be, associated with any of the conspirators.’
‘He may be smarter than you think – even you, Anna. Get me everything you can on him, before Thursday.’
*
It was Wednesday morning before Essermann again came to her office, and then only because she sent for him. In that time she had heard nothing from Steinberg. But she could work out what must have happened. Freddie must have made the telephone call, had no reply, and passed the word for Stieff to move – without waiting for confirmation. It must have been only after that that Stauffenberg had discovered that neither Himmler nor Göring were attending the Berghof that day, and been able to contact Freddie and abort the action. As she had felt from the start, it had just been too complicated. They had been enormously lucky that no one had actually been arrested, that no attempt had been made actually to take over any government departments – though that was itself redolent of looming disaster, in that Stieff’s failure to take immediate, decisive action pointed to a great deal of uncertainty on his part.
But now she had no choice other than to wash her hands of the whole thing, and obey Himmler’s directive. ‘Where have you been?’ she inquired.
‘Working,’ Essermann replied.
‘Without referring to me?’
‘I had gained the impression that you were no longer interested in my opinion.’
‘Really, Hellmuth, you are behaving like a teenager. So we had a difference of opinion. Do you expect us to agree on everything all of the time?’
He looked suitably abashed.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘The list is complete, and will go to the Führer tomorrow. So . . .’ The phone rang. For a moment she hesitated before picking up.
‘Are you alone?’
Shit, she thought. Shit, shit, shit. He was the last person on earth she wished to hear from at this moment. ‘No.’
‘Well then, just listen. Did you know that Rommel has been blown up?’
‘My God! He’s not . . .?’
‘He’s not dead. His car was strafed by one of those RAF things – a Tornado. But he is very badly hurt and will be out of action for some time. One more blow, eh? The Führer is very upset. He wishes to see you.’
‘Me?’ Anna could not prevent her voice rising.
‘Yes, you, you silly girl. Who else would he want to see?’
‘But . . . when?’
‘Be at Rangsdorf at six this evening. It will be the same procedure. You will return tomorrow.’
Anna stared at the phone. She could not believe this was happening.
‘Did you hear me, Anna?’
‘Yes, Herr – sir.’
‘Then is something the matter?’
‘No, sir. I was surprised. I had not expected to be called again.’
‘You are too modest. He adores you. He feels that you can relieve the tension. Six o’clock. I look forward to hearing from you when you return.’
The phone went dead. Anna slowly replaced the receiver.
‘That sounded like bad news,’ Hellmuth suggested.
‘What makes you think that?’
‘You look quite concerned.’
‘It is very bad news. Field Marshal Rommel has been badly wounded. His car was strafed by the RAF.’
‘His name is on our list.’
‘I know that. But as he is going to be out of action for some time, I think we can leave him off for the time being. But you will deliver the other names to the Reichsführer tomorrow morning.’
‘You do not wish to do this yourself?’
‘I will not be here. I am going out of town tonight.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘That is my business, Hellmuth. But I can tell you that it is state business.’
He snapped his fingers. ‘That telephone call! Who was it from?’
‘That also is state business. Now, I am going down to my apartment to change my clothes. I shall be leaving in a couple of hours. I will see you tomorrow.’ She got up and went to the door. ‘Believe me, Hellmuth,’ she said. ‘There are some things it is better for you not to know.’
She went down to the basement, found an embarrassed Birgit just going out.
‘Countess? I was going to the shops. The queues are terrible. It took me two hours this morning to get a loaf of bread, and the butcher’s was closed by the time I got there. But the sign said they would be opening again at five.’
Anna looked at her watch. It was a quarter to four.
‘I thought I’d get there early,’ the maid explained.
‘That seems sensible. But I will not be in for dinner.’
‘Oh. But . . .’
‘Buy something for yourself. Do not expect me in tonight. I will be back tomorrow.’
‘Yes, Countess.’ She hurried off.
Anna went into her bedroom, stripped off her clothes and ran a bath. She had not yet allowed herself to think. Now she had to. But what was there to think about? she wondered as she sank into the suds. She had no idea if the conspirators would try again tomorrow, when it appeared everything they required would be in place, or if their morale had been too shattered by Sunday’s debacle. She personally would not be involved; she would surely be there and back long before the conference convened. The embarrassment of possibly encountering Himmler could be overcome by referring him to Hitler, and in any event would be irrelevant if he were about to be blown up. The ordeal of having to spend another night with Hitler, or at least part of one, might be a personal catastrophe, compounded by the knowledge that she was having sex with a dead man. Going on what had happened the last time, it was going to be a very long twenty-four hours. But she had endured very long twenty-four-hour – even forty-eight-hour – periods more than once in the past. This one was just compounded by the possible enormity of the occasion. But she could do nothing more than practise what she had always done so successfully. She knew what had to be done, and in what order. It was simply a matter of concentrating, and taking it one step at a time.
*
It was all so dreadfully familiar. Even the mechanic was the same; he greeted her as an old friend. But the flight was completed in daylight and, as before, she was driven directly to Hitler’s bunker.
Frau Engert also greeted her as an old friend. ‘Dr Morell is waiting for you.’
‘Don’t tell me I have to be searched again?’
‘It is the rule, I’m afraid. And he does enjoy it so.’
The Doctor was as sharp as ever. ‘Aha,’ he remarked. ‘I see you have a new shoulder bag.’
‘Why, yes, Herr Doktor. My maid spilled something on the other one, and stained it.’
He was examining the contents. ‘And you have given up using that peroxide.’
‘It didn’t seem to be doing much good.’
‘Such accessories are a waste of time.’ He gestured towards the table.
*
‘You know the form,’ Frau Engert said when the ordeal was completed. ‘Your dinner will be sent in to you.’
‘Do you have any idea when the Führer will be in?’
‘None at all. He is very busy, as you can imagine, what with everything that is going on. However, I know there is a staff conference scheduled for
tomorrow, and also that Il Duce is arriving tomorrow afternoon. I imagine the Führer will wish a good night’s sleep.’ She peered at her. ‘Does he sleep, when he is with you?’
‘Of course.’
‘Before, or after?’
‘It was after, the last time.’
‘But only briefly. Do you not remember? He woke up only minutes after you had left, and found that you had forgotten your bag. And immediately sent it after you. He is genuinely fond of you. If you do not do or say anything stupid, you may have a brilliant future.’
My future, or certainly, the future of which you speak, is not in my hands, Anna thought, had her supper, and prepared herself for bed. She knew the drill now, fell asleep, and awoke at Hitler’s entrance.
He seemed more ebullient than the last time, and certainly pleased to see her. ‘Anna!’ He embraced her, holding her very tightly. ‘You are, as always, a breath of Heaven.’
That was a remarkable compliment, coming from the ruler of Hell. ‘As you are, my Führer,’ she assured him, ‘I am so happy to see you looking so well.’
‘Why should I not be looking well? We are on the verge of great things. And you know, I feel that I will accomplish great things, with you, tonight.’
Oh Lord! Anna thought. But she could not resist asking, ‘And the war is going well?’
‘As well as we could wish. Oh, the Allies are making some progress in France, and poor Rommel has managed to get in the way of a bomb, but they must know that they are lost.’
‘Ah . . .’
He began to undress. ‘My V-bombs, Anna. My V-bombs!’
‘They are being successful?’
‘Oh, indeed. The V-1s have not been quite as deadly as I had hoped. They are not fast enough, and these new RAF planes, the Mosquitoes, can catch them. But our new model, the V-2, flies at a thousand miles an hour, and is unstoppable. They will have to negotiate a peace long before they can exploit any victories they may be gaining in France. Anyway, it is in their interests to do so. Even that madman Churchill, for all his rhetoric, must realize that Soviet Russia, were she to succeed in defeating us, would be the greatest threat to world peace since Genghis Khan. Did someone not once say, “If Germany did not exist, it would be necessary to invent her”? – just to keep out the Asiatic hordes. Oh, yes, we shall be fighting shoulder to shoulder with the British and the Americans before the year is out. Now, no more politics.’ Naked, he took her in his arms.
It was no less exhausting than the last time, but at least he managed to enter her and ejaculate in her, which apparently pleased him enormously. When she made to move afterwards, he said, ‘Stay. I want to sleep with you in my arms.’
She could only hope that he did not mean to try again, but actually fell asleep, to awake when Hermann brought breakfast in. She looked at Hitler, who was also awake.
‘Hermann,’ he said. ‘What time is it?’
‘Eight o’clock, my Führer. You said you wished to be called at eight o’clock.’
‘Yes. Thank you, Hermann.’
The valet cast another hasty glance at Anna, who realized that she possessed only a fraction of the sheet; but it would have been juvenile to react. Anyway, this man had been present on both occasions when she had been searched.
Hitler got out of bed, put on a dressing gown, and sat at the table to pour coffee. ‘For you?’
‘Thank you.’ Anna also got out of bed, and reached for her own dressing gown.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I prefer to look at you as you are. I think that you, naked and tousled, are the sight any man would wish to carry with him through all eternity. You are Eurynome come to life.’
My God, she thought. Can he be prescient? She sat opposite him, sipped orange juice. ‘You are my Führer. Should I not be preparing to leave?’
‘Your aircraft will wait until you are ready. I have a tiring day ahead of me. This morning there is a conference, at which everyone will present his own gloomy point of view. They are incapable of seeing the greater picture. They lack vision. And then I must entertain Il Duce. Oh, he is a great man. I have never doubted that for a moment. But even he has become a pessimist. I do not blame him, after the way he was stabbed in the back by the very men he led to greatness. But he is a difficult conversationalist. You were to report to me on the progress of your investigation into this conspiracy.’
Accustomed as she had become to his habit of interjecting questions into apparently innocent conversations, Anna was still taken by surprise. But her wits were quick enough to respond. ‘You were going to send for me, my Führer.’
‘So I was. I have been busy. Is there a conspiracy?’
As Himmler was in possession of her findings, she could take no chances on being caught out, even if they were about to be blown to perdition. If they were not, if the conspirators missed this chance as well, they would have to fend for themselves; she did not see them getting another and, in fact, they would not deserve one. ‘I’m afraid there is, my Führer.’
He had been munching a piece of toast, which he lowered to the plate. ‘And you have done nothing about it?’
‘I have reported my findings to the Reichsführer. He was to present them to you on Sunday, but the meeting was cancelled. I understand he is bringing them with him today.’
Hitler resumed eating his toast, while staring at her. Then he asked, ‘Are your findings conclusive?’
‘That is for you to determine, my Führer. My evidence consists of reported meetings, telephone conversations . . . As to whether these are sinister or merely grumblings . . . As you have just said, there seems to be a tendency to pessimism at the moment . . .’
‘Do you share in that?’
‘Of course I do not, sir.’
‘Why not?’
‘I have absolute confidence in you, my Führer.’
Again he stared at her for several seconds, and she wondered if she might have laid it on a little too thick. Then he said, ‘You almost make me wish to put you in command of my armies. As for these swine . . .’ Suddenly his voice became shrill and his eyes blazed. ‘I shall destroy them all. I shall make them rue the day they were born. I shall . . .’ Again, with unexpected suddenness the passion ended; he wiped a fleck of foam away from the corner of his mouth. ‘Oh, look at the time. Half past eight. They’ll all be turning up over the next couple of hours; the conference is scheduled for eleven. I’m afraid, Anna, that our little idyll must end. For today.’
‘Of course, sir. May I bathe?’
‘Certainly. May I watch you?’
*
He watched her dress as well. He had said he wanted to carry her image through eternity. She wished him joy of it. When he was ready, he held her in his arms for a final kiss. ‘You have served me very well, Anna. I shall send for you again. Soon.’
Then she was in the car, and able to relax, just a little. That brief glimpse into the molten torment that was his mind had been as frightening as it had been startling. What might happen if he lived to study her report did not bear thinking about. But it was out of her hands, now.
She arrived at the airstrip just after ten. Her aircraft was, as promised, waiting for her, and another plane was just landing. She got out of the car, watched the several passengers disembarking, her heartbeat quickening as she saw the unmistakable figure of Stauffenberg. They came towards her, and several gave her an uncertain smile or nod of the head; they knew who she was even if they could not immediately decide what she might be doing there. To her relief, Himmler was not amongst them; as this conference had definitely not been cancelled, she had to presume that he was either there already or was coming on a later plane.
Stauffenberg walked past her without a greeting, although he certainly also knew who she was. But to him, as to all the others, she was Himmler’s creature.
They got into the waiting cars and were driven off, and she boarded. Her mechanic soon got the message that she was not in the mood for conversation, and they flew in silence, landing just after one
. A car was waiting for her, and she reached Gestapo Headquarters in fifteen minutes, to her invariable enthusiastic greeting from Birgit.
‘Oh, Countess, I am just preparing lunch.’
‘I don’t think I will have any lunch, thank you, Birgit.’
‘Countess? Are you all right?’
‘Yes, I am all right. I just do not feel like eating. I will have a good dinner.’
Her stomach in fact felt tied up in knots. What she really wanted to do was have a stiff drink and go to bed. But she had to act as normally as possible and also be available to go into action the moment things started to happen. She changed into her secretarial uniform, went up to her office, found Katherine typing away.
‘Anna! I did not know if you were coming in today.’
‘Well, I am here now.’ She sat behind her desk. ‘Is there anything important?’
‘I don’t think so. I don’t know what I am supposed to do, now that we have completed our investigation.’
‘I am sure Herr Himmler will think of something.’ She looked at her watch. A quarter to two. Whatever was going to happen must have happened. It seemed incredible that she should be sitting here, in the peace of her office, while the whole German world might already have fallen apart. Hitler, dead. Göring, dead. Himmler, dead. She almost told Katherine, but she didn’t know her sister well enough, after so long a separation. Telling her would have to wait until things started to happen here. She gave her some filing to do, which sent her into the next room, pretended to read some files herself.
She was no stranger to waiting for a crisis to develop, but that was the longest afternoon of her life. It was past three when her door was thrown open and Steinberg almost fell in. ‘Freddie? What . . .’ A look at his face told her the crisis had become a catastrophe.
‘Anna!’ He was shaking, held on to her desk to stay upright, ‘It’s happened!’
‘Freddie . . .’
‘He’s dead!’ Steinberg cried. ‘Don’t you understand? Stauffenberg telephoned before leaving Rastenburg. The bomb went off. Everyone in the conference room must have been killed. He’s on his way here now.’
‘Then . . .’
‘He told us to act immediately. But that idiot Stieff won’t move. He says he must have proof that Hitler is dead. Proof! What more proof does he want?’
Angel in Jeopardy_The thrilling sequel to Angel of Vengeance Page 27