Dennis Wheatley - Traitors' Gate

'Come then, and quietly please,' Huldah gestured towards the stairway. 'I will show you your room and the bathroom. Forgive, gracious lady, that I lead the way.'

Having followed her upstairs, with Levianski bringing up the rear, they were shown a twelve feet square room with a vast double bed in it, and not far from it a bathroom. To an offer of food they declared that they were too tired to be hungry; and, after thanking the Levianskis most warmly, they shut themselves in to get cleaned up.

Both of them would have given a great deal to luxuriate in a hot bath and it would not have been the first they had had together but to make one with the gas geyser would have taken a quarter of an hour and, from fear of being discovered by the Levianski children, they dared not linger there too long. It was, after all, only their faces and hands which were so grimy. Having had a thorough wash and combed their hair, they tiptoed across the passage to the spare bedroom.

The big bed had as its principal covering one of those square goose feather stuffed pillow eiderdowns beloved by Central Europeans. On it the Levianskis had laid out a clean suit of pyjamas and a flimsy nightdress. Sabine had already stripped. Picking up the nightdress she looked at it with a crooked smile, put it on, got into bed, and said:

'It was very kind of Mrs. Levianski to provide me with the bridal trimmings; but I'm far too tired to tease you into making me take them off.'

Gregory returned her crooked smile. 'At the moment I feel too old by a thousand years to care one way or the other,' Slipping on the pyjamas he got into the big bed beside her. and added, 'I never thought I'd break down on a honeymoon, but one lives and learns.'

She sighed. 'I never thought I'd break down on a honeymoon either. We've had the most filthy luck so far. But we'll make up for it before we are much older.'

Five minutes later they were both in the deep sleep of utter exhaustion.

It was more than twelve hours later when they were roused by a heavy knocking on the door, and on Sabine's calling a sleepy 'Come in' Leon Levianski entered carrying a well laden tray. As he set it on the top of a chest of drawers that flanked the bedside, he said:

'I knocked on your door this afternoon when the children were out, but could get no reply. Now, Huldah has just put them to bed, and we thought you must be starving; so she first got this tray ready for me to bring up to you.'

Sabine murmured her thanks and quickly wriggled down to hide her bare shoulders under the bedclothes; but Gregory sat up and said, 'I had no idea we had slept so long. We were hoping to get out of the city tonight but it seems we have slept away the chance to make any preparations.'

Levianski shook his head. 'It would have been foolish to rush matters and so increase the likelihood of your being caught. Much better stay here till tomorrow night. By then you will be fully recovered and far more capable of making a. successful getaway.'

He was so obviously right that they did not attempt to argue the matter, but again thanked him for his most generous hospitality. With good appetites now, as soon as he had left them they set about the meal. Shuddering slightly, they covered the pickled herrings garnished with circles of onion with a plate; but the ample portions of cold goose and apricot compote washed down with a bottle of Bullsblood of Badascony tasted as good as anything they could have got at the Ritz Grill of the Donau Palata.

When they had eaten, knowing that the children were in bed they crept across to the bathroom, and enjoyed a hot bath. Then, banishing the thought of the perils they must soon face again and, living only for the moment, they spent what they later agreed to be one of the never to be forgotten nights in a lifetime.

In the morning, although Huldah Levianski did not bring along their breakfast until her two boys had gone to kindergarten, she found them fast asleep. She told them that she had sent her daily help, Rosa, out to do some shopping, so for the next hour they could use the bathroom without fear of discovery. Then she produced the morning papers and pointed out in them the accounts of the attack on the Tuzolto Palace.

The newspapers gave only a garbled version of the affair. It was stated that a rumour had got round that the Baroness had had staying in her palace the Commandant Tavenier, who had recently been received into Budapest society; and, believing him to be engaged in spreading propaganda in favour of the Allies, the Arrow Cross had given a violent demonstration of their disapproval. Many windows of the palace had been smashed by smoke bombs being thrown through them, and these had driven its inmates out into the street. The Baroness and her French friend had not been recognized; so it was believed that they must have disguised themselves before leaving in order to escape a rough handling by the young hooligans outside. No mention was made of the fight in the Arizona on Friday night, of Gregory's arrest or of the disturbance's having been inspired by the Germans. In two of the papers the accounts ended with an indignant denunciation of the Government's attitude in allowing the Arrow Cross to carry out acts of violence against private property and citizens who had not been officially accused of any crime.

From this it was clear that the police had not yet issued a 'wanted' notice of Gregory and Sabine; but they felt sure that by this time Grauber would have forced the Regent's hand, and that the omission was a trick inspired by Grauber to lull them into a false sense of security while the whole police force of Budapest was actually alerted to keep a sharp lookout for them.

When they had discussed the reports of the affair with Huldah Levianski, and given her a more detailed account of their escape than they had done on their arrival, she raised the question of clothes and offered to go out and buy everything they needed.

They made a short list, and Sabine was able to reel off her measurements from memory, but Gregory's had to be taken from his much soiled dinner jacket suit. For two suits 'off the peg', readymade underclothes, two dressing gowns, toilet articles and a cheap suitcase to pack them in, Huldah reckoned that a thousand pengoes should prove ample; and Gregory

having given her that sum she went off to shop for them while they spent a drowsy morning in bed.

Once when Gregory turned over and his body came in contact with Sabine's warm thigh, he thought for a second that he was back with Erika. Realization that he was not came as a sudden shock, but he quickly put it from his mind and dozed off again.

It was half past two before Huldah brought them their lunch, and she explained that she had had to wait until she could get rid of her two boys for the afternoon with a neighbour. While they were eating she brought in a second-hand suitcase and produced from it the purchases she had made for them. Then she said:

'Now you have clothes, Leon suggests that you should have dinner with us this evening; then I shall be able to give you a hot meal. My woman goes at six and I shall have the boys in bed by half past seven; so by eight o'clock the coast will be clear.'

'We should love to do that,' smiled Sabine, 'but isn't there a risk that one of the boys might be taken ill, or come along to you for something, and find us with you?'

'No. You must continue to be very careful about using the bathroom in the daytime, although Rosa is unlikely to come to, this end of the apartment; but it wouldn't matter if one of the children found you with us this evening. We should simply say that you were two friends we had asked in to dinner.'

When Huldah had left them they saw no point in getting up and, even without the aid of some books she had brought them, they found no difficulty at all in whiling away the afternoon most pleasantly. Soon after seven they roused from a nap and started to dress. The clothes were a long way from being the type they would have chosen for themselves, and Sabine groaned at having to put on garments in such flamboyant taste; but Gregory pointed out that being so far removed from the creations in which people were used to seeing her made it much less probable that she would be recognized when she had to go out in them.