A Silver Lining

by Anne Douglas

  ‘So glad,’ Jinny replied, taking his arm as they turned to make their way to Comrie’s. ‘I can tell they were very impressed with you.’

  ‘Can’t believe that. But May, she’s so lovely – and Vi, she’s like you! Very sharp, too, I should say. I can see her doing well in politics.’

  ‘Anything that will let her make things better for ordinary folk.’ Jinny glanced up at Viktor as they splashed along the streaming pavements. ‘Viktor, I’m sorry you’re so worried about things back home. I can tell you are, but it may all work out well, you know. You’re right, I’m sure – Hitler can’t force a union of Germany with Austria if the people don’t want it.’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I think. Or, at least, I hope.’

  But only a few weeks later they had to read in the paper that Hitler and his Nazis had marched in triumph into Vienna and been accepted by the Austrians. Hitler had cancelled the peoples’ plebiscite, Chancellor Schuschnigg had resigned and might be facing imprisonment, and the Anschluss was now a fact. Austria and Germany were one.

  Thirty-One

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ said Viktor, sitting with Jinny in the lounge bar of a West End hotel, his face so pale, so distraught, he seemed quite strange. They had planned to go to the pictures, but when he met Jinny from work he seemed so low in spirits that as soon as he asked if they could go for a drink first, she’d agreed. After all, the hotel was not a pub, where women would not generally be welcome, and though she knew her father didn’t like her drinking out, a glass of wine wouldn’t hurt. He wasn’t to know about it, anyway.

  ‘I knew you’d be upset when you saw the papers today,’ she said, studying Viktor worriedly, after the waiter had served their drinks – a sweet German wine for her and a Scottish beer for Viktor. ‘You were hoping it wouldn’t happen, weren’t you? This Anschluss?’

  ‘Of course I was. I never thought Austrians would welcome Hitler the way they did.’

  ‘Though you’ve never said much against him yourself, Viktor.’

  ‘Not while he didn’t try to interfere with my country. But uniting us with Nazi Germany makes me see him very differently. There’s always been talk against him, of what he’s doing to Jewish people, for instance, but I never knew quite what to believe. Now I think I can believe anything.’

  ‘I read it was the Austrian Nazis who welcomed him to your country. Did you know about them?’

  Viktor sighed heavily. ‘Oh, yes. My uncle let me telephone my father today. He feels as bad as I do, but he told me a lot of his customers are Nazis and are very keen for the union. So they’re the ones who’ve let it happen.’

  ‘And what does your mother think of it all?’ Jinny asked after a pause.

  ‘Oh, she’s absolutely furious! She’s never wanted to be part of Germany – she remembers the war too well.’ Viktor gave slight smile. ‘She wants me to go home, of course.’

  Jinny set down her glass, her face showing her feelings. ‘Viktor you won’t, will you? You won’t go back home yet?’

  ‘It’s just that everything’s so uncertain, Jinny. Our fate is tied up with Germany’s now. What they’ll do, what we’ll do, and if there’s a war—’

  ‘There won’t be a war, Viktor! There’s no need for you to go home early. We agreed, didn’t we, that we’d give ourselves time before we made things official, and how can we do that if you leave me now?’ While she kept her gaze fixed on his face, she was close to tears, fighting not to let them fall. ‘Tell me you won’t go!’

  ‘Liebchen, don’t worry, I’m not making plans to go back yet.’ He reached across to press her hand. ‘I’ve discussed it with my uncle and we’ve agreed I should stay on unless there is a real threat of war.’

  ‘Thank God,’ she said simply, withdrawing her hand from his so that she could wipe her eyes. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d left me now. I mean, I’m not ready – not prepared—’

  ‘But Jinny …’ He hesitated. ‘You do realize that if Germany does start a war, I’ll have no choice but to go back? Now that we are part of Germany, I’ll be eligible for war service.’

  ‘On their side? Oh, Viktor! How can you fight for Germany when you don’t trust Hitler?’

  ‘What else can I do? I’ll be conscripted.’

  As the words sank in, Jinny shivered. ‘I never thought you’d be talking about fighting – I mean, at all. It’s like a bad dream, a nightmare—’

  ‘But may not happen in real life, Jinny.’

  ‘It might.’

  ‘I was painting the darkest picture, that’s all.’ Viktor sat up, straightening his shoulders, running his hand across his brow. ‘Look, I’m sorry, liebchen, it seems I’ve been unloading all my fears on to you, and I shouldn’t have done because we don’t know what’s going to happen. I may have been frightening you for nothing. There may be no war, no question of my going into the army. Please forgive me.’

  At once she brightened, a smile lighting her whole face, her eyes softening with a look of love as she touched his hand. ‘Viktor, there’s nothing to forgive! If you aren’t going home yet and we can just follow our plan – oh, that’s all I want!’

  ‘I want that too.’ He looked down at their glasses. ‘Would you like another drink, Jinny? Or should we still go to the cinema and see that picture you mentioned?’

  ‘I don’t want another drink, thanks, but I’d love to see the picture. Just to relax for a bit … move into another world.’

  ‘What’s it called, then?’

  Jinny looked a little embarrassed. ‘The Divorce of Lady X – sounds silly, but it’s supposed to be a comedy.’

  ‘About divorce?’

  ‘I think it all ends happily. Merle Oberon’s the star – she’s lovely – and Laurence Olivier.’

  ‘And he’s handsome, I suppose?’

  When they’d put on their coats, hats, scarves and gloves against the winter wind outside and Viktor had paid the bill, he opened the double doors of the hotel and held them wide for Jinny.

  ‘Come on, then, let’s move into this other world and forget ours for a bit.’

  ‘Not all of it,’ said Jinny as she took his arm, and together they ran down Princes Street for their tram.

  Thirty-Two

  As the year 1938 progressed through spring to summer, it seemed strange to those worrying about possible war that everything seemed so normal. Though Hitler’s name appeared in the papers often enough, it was usually in connection with Czechoslovakia or the Sudetenland, and didn’t, to the general public, seem to involve Great Britain. What, after all, was the Sudetenland? Something to do with Germany? Nothing to worry about, anyway.

  In Scotland, there was the British Empire Exhibition, opened by George VI in Glasgow in May, to provide excitement and pride, and even though the weather was dismal, crowds flocked to see the handsome ‘palaces’ and stands concerned with arts and trades, while all thought of the international situation was put aside.

  Certainly, no one discussed it at Comrie’s Bakery, where life continued as usual, except that Viktor’s cakes became ever more popular and he and his assistants had to struggle to meet demand. Which seemed, in fact, to suit Viktor, who threw himself into his work with so much dedication he began to look far from well and excited the motherly attention of Mrs Arrow, who said he needed beef tea and glasses of stout to ‘build himself up’, while Mabel Hyslop even went so far to speak to Jinny about it.

  ‘It’s really worrying to see a young man look so run down,’ she remarked one coffee break. ‘I really think you should have a word with him, Jinny.’

  ‘Why me?’ Jinny asked, flushing and avoiding meeting Ross’s eye.

  ‘You’re the one to do it, dear – everyone knows you two are close.’

  Jinny drank her coffee. ‘As a matter of fact, I have told him he’s doing too much, but he – well, he has a lot on his mind at the minute.’

  ‘Oh, yes, I can quite see that, poor boy, being in a foreign country and so on. I expect he’ll be wantin
g to get home.’

  ‘He’s due home in November, Mabel.’

  ‘Yes, but he might want to go earlier – just in case anything happens. Though it all seems to have gone quiet, eh?’ Saying she’d better get back to work, Mabel collected the coffee cups for washing and removed herself, at which Jinny gave a sigh of relief.

  ‘Poor Mabel,’ said Ross. ‘She’s only trying to help.’ He gave Jinny a meditative look. ‘I take it Viktor is not going home yet?’

  ‘No, he isn’t. But it’s true what I said – he does worry.’

  ‘About the Anschluss? I can believe a chap away from his country would be worried if it suddenly became part of another one. But you’re worried too, aren’t you, Jinny? You’re not looking a whole lot better than Viktor.’

  ‘I’ve got Dad to think about,’ she said after a pause. ‘He was upset before, to think I might go to Vienna, but now it’s a part of Germany he thinks the worst has happened.’ She sighed and looked down at the column of figures she should have been adding up. ‘He always did call Viktor a German – says now he was right all along.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Jinny. Look, if you ever want a shoulder to cry on, you know mine’s available.’ Ross studied her, concerned.

  ‘I do, Ross, and thanks.’ She gave a weak smile. ‘But listen, you might be able to tell me something – I don’t want to ask Viktor as I’m trying not to talk to him about Hitler. But what is this Sudetenland Hitler’s so interested in?’

  ‘The Sudetenland? Well, I’m no expert – only know what I’ve picked up from the papers – but apparently it’s a part of Czechoslovakia. About three million Germans live there from the time it was Bohemia, and Hitler wants them to have self government. The problem is that the Czechs say no.’

  ‘And Hitler’s annoyed?’

  ‘You bet, but we and France are on his side and they’ve told Benes – he’s the Czech President – to do what Hitler wants. Instead, Benes has started mobilizing troops.’ Ross shrugged. ‘Can’t see Hitler accepting that.’

  ‘He’ll go to war?’ Jinny asked fearfully.

  ‘He might.’

  Germany could go to war? Jinny’s heart plummeted. That meant Austria would also go to war. And Viktor too? He’d said nothing, but maybe he was already thinking again of going home? Of becoming a soldier? No wonder he seemed so low recently.

  ‘Hitler hasn’t declared war yet,’ she said, trying to appear calm. ‘Maybe he won’t?’

  ‘Well, we’ll do all we can to prevent it. But if you’re worrying about Viktor, I think he’ll be all right. He’s over here, that’s the good thing.’

  ‘But he might want to go home.’

  ‘He needn’t, unless there’s a definite declaration. There’ll be a lot of diplomatic activity going on behind the scenes, and the whole thing could be sorted out without war. You could tell him that, Jinny.’

  ‘I will, but whether he’ll listen or not, I don’t know.’

  As they’d arranged to meet at lunchtime, at least she’d have a chance to speak to Viktor then, for which she was grateful. Returning at last to her work, she knew she could not have got through the day without knowing what she had to face.

  But it was all right. As soon as Viktor saw her anxious face, he held her hands outside the bakery and managed a smile.

  ‘Liebchen, what have you been thinking? That I’m planning to go home again? No need to worry – I’m not.’

  ‘But Ross was saying that Hitler might be going to declare war on Czechoslovakia, and that would mean—’

  ‘I know what it would mean, but I speak regularly now to my father and he says the talk at home is that Hitler will be holding his fire. Nobody knows, of course, what’s in his mind, but there’s every chance he doesn’t want to start a war at present.’

  ‘Viktor, that’s wonderful! Wonderful! I’ve been so worried – and you’ve been looking so down lately. I thought you were sure to want to go back—’

  ‘Not yet. Come on, let’s have something to eat.’

  Over a secluded table in their usual café, Jinny studied him, seeing beyond his smile the lustreless look of his fine eyes, the dispirited air that had replaced his confident manner, and she shook her head.

  ‘You are feeling low, aren’t you? People seem to be noticing … Are you ill—’

  ‘I know, I get advice on all sides. Should have a holiday, should have beef tea, should have milk stout, whatever that is!’ He shrugged. ‘But there’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just that I feel weighed down by what’s happened to my country. And that my people let it happen. You can understand that, Jinny?’

  ‘Of course I can! It’s no wonder you feel bad, when Austria has lost its independence.’

  ‘Not just its independence.’ Viktor’s voice was low. ‘It’s lost its heart.’

  They ordered their usual soup but were without appetite, and afterwards had only coffee and called early for the bill.

  ‘I’d better get back to the bakery,’ Viktor told Jinny outside the café. ‘We are having so many orders now we have to work flat out to keep up.’

  ‘It’s too much, Viktor. You’re doing too much.’

  ‘No, it’s good to be busy. Helps me to forget for a while.’

  ‘You know what I think?’ she asked, with an attempt at lightness. ‘You should help yourself to a great slice of your own Sachertorte – that would be better than Mrs Arrow’s beef tea or milk stout!’

  ‘Sachertorte?’ Viktor gave a genuine laugh. ‘Liebchen, have you never realized that I don’t like cakes? Especially my own. I am like someone in one of your sweetshops who never eats a chocolate.’

  ‘Oh, Viktor, it’s so good to see you laugh! Promise me we’ll be happy again one day, when all this is over!’

  ‘When I think of you, Jinny, I’m happy now,’ he said seriously, and touching his thin cheek, she wondered – could she believe him? But as they separated, he to return to the bakery, she to Accounts, she knew in her heart that at that time it would take more than thoughts of her to make him happy.

  Thirty-Three

  She found only her father and Vi at home when she let herself into the flat, May being out with Allan, but Vi was busy cooking and Josh was listening to the wireless.

  ‘Let’s just get the news,’ he told Jinny, meaning she was not to talk, which was no hardship as she didn’t feel like talking anyway. Vi, though, was ready to chat when Jinny joined her at the gas cooker, first asking how poor Viktor was, as he’d been so down in the dumps when they’d all gone to a play recently. And then, keeping her voice down, she reported that she was sure something was up with May.

  ‘How d’you mean?’ asked Jinny, beginning to strain the potatoes ready for mashing.

  ‘Well, when she went out she just seemed, you know, all agog about something.’

  ‘She’s usually in a happy mood when she’s meeting Allan.’

  ‘Aye, but this was something special. I didn’t ask her what was going on – she was in a hurry – but we’ll see how she is when she comes back.’ Vi was opening the oven and inspecting her fish pie. ‘This looks done – thought I’d give you a change from my fried haddock. Let’s serve up and get on – I’ve a meeting tonight.’

  Oh, good, thought Jinny as they served the meal and called to Josh to the table. It looked like she’d have a nice quiet evening to herself, maybe do her mending, listen to the wireless and try not to think how much she’d rather have been with Viktor. Down in the dumps he might be, but he was still the one she wanted to be with, and always would be. Lucky May, out with her dear Allan!

  Lucky May indeed, for when she came home – quite late – she brought Allan with her and a piece of good news too, as her family only needed to look at her to realize. Josh was back from the theatre, Vi from her meeting, and Jinny, feeling virtuous, had finished all her mending, but all eyes were on May, looking so flushed and lovely in her blue jacket and matching dress as she stood in the doorway next to a smiling Allan.

  ‘What is it?’
Josh asked shortly. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Oh, Dad, Vi, Jinny – we have something to tell you!’

  ‘Not that it’s really news,’ put in Allan.

  ‘It’s official news,’ said May, and she held out her left hand, on which a ring was glittering. ‘We’re engaged!’

  There was a short silence, then Vi and Jinny sprang to their sister and hugged her, while Josh rose slowly to his feet.

  ‘Engaged,’ he repeated.

  ‘I know I should have spoken to you first, Mr Hendrie,’ Allan said hurriedly, ‘but I think you knew what was going to happen, didn’t you? We did say, right from the beginning, didn’t we? I’m afraid I told May I’d be collecting the ring today, and when we met I couldn’t resist putting it on her finger.’

  ‘Collecting the ring?’ Josh repeated. ‘It’s no’ from your shop, then?’

  ‘Oh, no, I’ve nothing in stock I’d want to give May. I knew the very one she liked – we’d seen it in the window of a jeweller’s in town and I had her finger measurements, so I went back and got it, and here it is!’

  Everyone, even Josh, studied the diamond ring on May’s finger, which was beautifully set in a little circlet of pearls and was, apart from Jinny’s Edelweiss brooch, the prettiest thing they’d ever seen.

  ‘It’s truly lovely,’ Jinny said softly, and kissed first May and then Allan. ‘And we’re all so happy for you, aren’t we, Dad?’

  ‘Come on,’ ordered Vi. ‘Congratulate them, or at least Allan. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?’

  ‘You are happy, Dad?’ May asked, her voice trembling. ‘I want you to be pleased – so much.’

  ‘Aye, all right, then,’ he said gruffly. ‘If you’re happy, I’ll … I’ll say I am.’

  ‘Oh, Dad!’ She threw her arms round him and kissed him, while Allan stood waiting to shake his hand.

  ‘Pity we’ve nothing to offer in the way of celebration,’ said Vi. ‘You should have given us warning.’