‘Do you think Eicke got any inkling of you being a double agent?’
‘I doubt that very much, Mr Dynes. The communication was not long. But my fear is that the Browns might appear, or become aware that we are meeting.’
‘Don’t you worry about the Browns. Their natural home is in London. They are employees of the German Embassy. They caught the early train from Inverness the morning after your meeting.’
‘I see. So I need not worry about them?’
‘It only takes a day for them to return, remember.’
Thornton was right. She must not let her guard down at any time.
During a light lunch of Cullen skink, Mr Dynes asked to see the radio for himself.
‘That might be awkward. I can’t let you follow me up to my room in the attic. That would not be appropriate. It would arouse suspicions.’
‘I see what you mean. Have you any other suggestion?’
She was not sure why they wanted to see the radio, other than for nosiness. However, who was she to question her spymasters?
‘I can bring it down concealed in a bag. If you were to wait in the car, I could come out at a safe time. I’d have to make sure I didn’t give my mother any cause for concern, or curiosity for that matter.’
There was a brief silence. ‘What if we found you alternative accommodation? That would make it easier for you to send messages and avoid any suspicion,’ Thornton suggested.
‘I can’t see how that would work. My father is poorly and my mother enjoys the extra help I can give here at the hotel. If I were told to stay nearby, that would invite curiosity. I have perfectly good accommodation here.’
Dynes pursed his lips. His thoughts seemed to be already turning to other matters.
‘Does your mother know about you returning to Hamburg?’
‘No, I plan to tell her after Christmas.’
The sound of footsteps put Hilda on the alert. ‘Shh… change the subject,’ she hissed.
Her mother appeared in the doorway. ‘Darling come quick, it’s your father…’
The two men stood up.
‘I think we should leave. There is nothing more we can say today. But we will keep in touch,’ said Dynes.
‘Do stay, finish your lunch. Coffee will arrive soon. I will be able to join you later. Please stay.’
‘If you put it like that… thank you very much,’ said Dynes, sitting down again.
‘I hope your father is all right,’ Thornton added.
‘Thank you. Excuse me, I need to go.’
She hurried to her father’s bedroom, where her mother sat holding his hand. Father looked pale and his eyes were unfocused. Mother wiped his brow with a damp cloth, and it seemed to revive him momentarily.
‘Hil… da,’ he said with difficulty. ‘I’m sorr… sorry. For… gi…’
‘Father you have nothing to be sorry for,’ she said as his voice trailed away. It had been a real effort for him to speak.
He seemed to fall into a deep sleep, and after a few moments, Hilda saw he was no longer breathing.
‘Dr Graham should be here soon, darling,’ said Mother, her voice thick with emotion.
Hilda laid her hand on his brow. She was reluctant to cover his face with the sheet just yet.
‘It’s too late for the doctor,’ she said softly. ‘Mother, all he’ll do is to confirm what we already know.’
She looked at her father for several minutes, unable to take her eyes off his peaceful face. Only when she heard the hotel front doorbell ring did she realise there were tears in her eyes. She went to meet Dr Graham and followed him back to the bedroom.
‘Frau Richter, I’m pleased to see you. Are you home permanently now?’ he asked.
‘Yes, for the time being, Dr Graham. May I ask you to refer to me as Mrs Richter? I am a widow living in Scotland. I do not want to complicate matters. I am sure you will understand.’
The doctor turned round to face Hilda. ‘Indeed I do. Now, your father…’
‘Yes. I’m afraid you will find it is too late.’
Retired Major James Campbell had taken his final breath that Tuesday afternoon at 1.15 p.m. Both Hilda and her mother took comfort in the knowledge that father and daughter were together before he died.
The funeral followed exactly a week later. At the gathering at the hotel, there were representatives of his former regiment and the town’s bankers and clergy, not to mention the regulars who frequented the hotel’s public bar most nights. The Masonic brotherhood attended too. In fact, most of the townsfolk came to the funeral, and Hilda could see how well respected her father had been. Although she recognised some, many were unknown to her. She moved from group to group, accepting their condolences, until she spotted the familiar face of a woman some years younger than she was herself. Her face lit up and her steps quickened as she opened her arms.
‘Vera, how kind of you to come.’
‘My condolences, Hilda.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’m a married woman now. No longer Vera Caldwell. I married Tim Wild.’
‘Wild? That’s a name to conjure with.’ They both laughed.
‘It’s a Wiltshire name, Hilda.’
‘Wiltshire? My, you have travelled far. Where are you living?’ she asked holding on to her arm.
‘Tim is the manager of Randall’s shoe shop in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. We live above the shop, in a three bed roomed tenement flat.’
‘And you? Are you working? It was pharmacy you were about to study, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, I’m a pharmacist in the local chemists.’
‘Local, as in Sauchiehall Street?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you must have been travelling all night.’
‘It feels like it.’ Vera smiled wryly.
‘Are you staying overnight? You are very welcome to do so.’
‘No, if you don’t mind, Hilda, not this time.’
Hilda looked at her niece. Her last sight of her had been in 1914, just after the war began; Vera hidden in a car, headed for the Danish border. Now she had grown into a beautiful woman. Hilda gave her a long overdue hug.
‘Vera… I suppose you still blame me for bringing you to Germany on the eve of the war to end all wars?’
‘Now I look back on it, it was the most exciting time of my life, Hilda. Nevertheless, I would not do it again. I would be petrified of what might happen if I was detained again.’
‘We couldn’t have let that happen – we knew we could get you out of Hamburg. The war hadn’t even got properly underway at that stage.’
‘All the same, we were treated like cattle until we got on that boat to Harwich.’
They exchanged nervous looks; they both knew how scared they had been back in August 1914.
‘When are you going back to Germany?’ Vera asked.
‘I’ll stay here a little longer.’
‘Yes… yes, that’s a good idea.’
Mother was a few feet away, offering a plate of sandwiches to a group of men. Her eyes seemed glazed with tears and she looked a little lost. Hilda reached out and touched her arm.
‘Mum, here’s Vera.’
‘Ahh Vera, thank you so much for coming,’ Mother said, taking hold of Vera’s hand. Hilda gently relieved her of the plate of sandwiches and left her in Vera’s care.
The rest of the day passed too quickly. Family and friends drifted away with good wishes and promises to keep in touch. Hilda hoped they would, for her mother’s sake.
When everyone had left, she found her mother sitting by the stove in the kitchen on her own.
‘Mum… can I ask you something?’
‘Of course, darling.’ Madge was fully alert and relaxed in the kitchen, in mind as well as body. Hilda hesitated for a moment but decided to launch straight in.
‘Before he died, father seemed to be asking for forgiveness. Did you understand what he was trying to say?’