Michael Ridpath - Shadows of War

‘No,’ said Theo. ‘I’d rather you didn’t. But it doesn’t really matter. There’s no point now.’

‘Why not?’ said Millie. Theo was making no attempt to hide his anger.

‘Because it’s not going to happen. Hitler is not going to be deposed.’

‘Have they called it off?’

‘Yes,’ said Theo. ‘We have been ordered to burn all our plans. The generals are too cowardly to take action.’ Theo looked directly at Millie. ‘We’re stuck with him. We are all stuck with him.’

‘I’m sorry, Theo,’ Millie said. Unthinkingly she reached out her hand over the table. ‘I know how hard you have worked for that.’

Theo stared at her hand and made no effort to take it. Embarrassed, Millie withdrew it. ‘Theo? What is it?’

‘Did you see a man named Otto Langebrück yesterday? At a café in the Passage in The Hague?’

‘Y-yes,’ Millie stammered.

‘Do you know who he is?’

‘He works for the Foreign Ministry, doesn’t he, Constance?’

‘He works for Herr von Ribbentrop,’ Constance said.

‘He doesn’t work for the Foreign Ministry, he works in the Ribbentrop Büro, Ribbentrop’s private office.’

‘But Ribbentrop is the Foreign Minister, isn’t he?’ Millie said.

‘Yes. And he’s a dyed-in-the-wool Nazi. He’s one of Hitler’s biggest supporters. He’s not one of us; he’s one of them.’

‘From the point of view of those of us who want peace, it makes sense to speak to people in the current German government,’ Constance said. ‘You said yourself it now seems unlikely Hitler will be overthrown. In that case the British government will have to negotiate with the existing regime.’

‘You went behind my back, Millie.’

Looking at the expression of disappointment and anger on Theo’s face, Millie felt miserable. ‘I’m sorry, Theo, but we had to.’

‘You didn’t have to. You mean your father told you to.’

Millie felt tears springing to her eyes. She had to control them. She had to control them.

‘It was Sir Henry Alston’s idea,’ said Constance. ‘Sir Henry got to know Herr von Ribbentrop on bank business in Germany before the war.’

Millie was grateful for Constance’s support, but Theo seemed unimpressed.

‘I can see why you are upset, Herr von Hertenberg,’ said Constance. ‘But you must understand that this is too important for considerations of personalities to play a role. We are talking about war or peace here.’

‘By “considerations of personality”, you mean trust, don’t you?’ said Theo.

‘I trusted my father,’ said Millie.

Theo stared at her, his eyes cold. Then he looked up at the high dome above him. A grand piano played a waltz inappropriately in the background.

‘Come with me,’ Theo said to Millie. ‘Not you, Mrs Scott-Dunton, just Millie.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Outside.’

‘I’ll get my coat.’

‘No you won’t,’ said Theo. ‘There is something I want to tell you. Come on.’

There was a cold wind outside, and Millie started shivering. Theo led her down some steps on to the beach and she hurried after him as he strode towards the waves crashing on to the beach.

He turned to her. His composure had gone, replaced by a mixture of pain and determination.

‘I’m sorry, Theo,’ Millie said, the tears streaming hot down her wind-bitten cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘We have to trust each other, Millie,’ Theo said. ‘People like you and me and Conrad are on the same side. The side of reason. The side of peace.’

‘I know. But so is my father. And Sir Henry Alston, and Constance. That’s why they got in touch with Herr Langebrück. To bring peace.’

Theo turned his back on Millie to stare out at the grey North Sea, flecked by white foam in the stiff breeze. Millie wrapped her arms around her chest. She was cold. But she couldn’t abandon Theo.

At last he turned to her. ‘All right, Millie. I’m going to tell you something. I hinted at it to your brother when I saw him a few days ago, but I should stop playing games with myself. The British government needs to know.’

‘Needs to know what?’

‘The Duke of Windsor, your former king, is attached to the French general headquarters and over the last couple of months he has inspected the French lines. He is a surprisingly acute observer. And he has been passing his observations on to someone who has been passing them to me. Vital information about the French deployment and in particular its weak points.’

‘Edward is a traitor?’ Millie said. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. He was our king three years ago.’

‘I can’t be sure if he is doing this intentionally or if he is just indiscreet. But I can assure you he is doing it. And it is very useful information to our intelligence people.’

‘That’s not right, Theo. Someone is lying to you.’

Theo reached out and grabbed Millie’s arms. ‘I said we have to trust each other, Millie. I am not lying. Your government has to do something about it; they have to stop him. And you must tell your father this — not Alston, your father. Do you understand?’

Millie met Theo’s intense stare. There was no doubt he believed what he was saying. She nodded. ‘I will tell him,’ she said. ‘But do you have any evidence? I mean, he might believe me, but will the government believe him? There are all sorts of rumours flying around at the moment, Father says.’

Frustration flashed in Theo’s eyes, but then he seemed to see Millie’s point. ‘Very well. I will try to get you some evidence. I’m not sure what yet, but I will think of something. How long are you staying in Holland?’

‘Another three or four days,’ Millie said. ‘We are waiting for a response from Herr Langebrück.’

‘I’ll bring you something in the next couple of days.’ Theo touched Millie’s cheek. ‘In the mean time, be careful. Don’t trust Langebrück or Ribbentrop. Don’t trust anyone.’

‘Apart from you?’

‘Apart from me.’ To Millie’s enormous relief, Theo smiled at the irony. ‘You should go back inside, you are freezing. I’ll see you again soon.’

Millie’s emotions were in turmoil as she hurried back across the sand to the warm glow of the Kurhaus. She was ashamed that she had gone behind Theo’s back; she was angry with her father for letting Alston open up a dialogue with such Nazis. She was also shocked by what Theo had said about the Duke of Windsor. She had met him once when she was nineteen and he was Prince of Wales. Like most people her age, she had been pleased to see him succeed to the throne in 1936: a young, modern king who understood the twentieth century. The politics of his abdication had baffled her, but she couldn’t help admiring a man who had put his love for a woman before everything else, even his throne.

Her father knew the duke quite well. He had railed against his interfering in the Hoare — Laval pact during the Abyssinian crisis in 1935, over which Lord Oakford had resigned his position in Cabinet. But he had been uneasy about turfing a king off his throne. Would he believe her?

She had been right to ask for evidence from Theo. She believed him, she had to believe him, but it was going to be very difficult for Oakford to persuade the government that their former king was a traitor.

But if he was, if the duke really had been passing vital secrets to the Germans, then something had to be done about it.

Constance was hovering anxiously, waiting for her in the lobby. ‘Are you all right, Millie?’

‘Oh, leave me alone!’ Millie snapped.

‘What did he say?’

‘Sir Henry Alston is a Nazi, isn’t he, Constance?’

Constance was taken aback. ‘Don’t be an ass, of course he isn’t. He just wants peace, like your father.’