Lanny didn’t wait to hear their decision as to the payment of ransom to the Nazis. He guessed it might require some telephoning to other capitals, and it was none of his affair. They asked if the story he had told them was confidential, and he said not at all; he thought the public ought to know what was happening in Naziland, but he doubted if publicity would have any effect upon the extortioners. Olivie, in between outbursts of weeping, thanked him several times for coming to them; she thought he was the bravest and kindest man she had ever known—being deeply moved, she told him so. Lanny was tempted to wish she had said it in the presence of his wife, but on second thought he decided that it wouldn’t really have helped. Nothing would help except for him to conduct himself like a proper man of fashion, and that seemed to be becoming more and more difficult.
VII
Lanny’s duty was done, and he had time to woo his wife and try to restore her peace of mind. When she found that he was trying not to tell her his story, her curiosity became intensified; he made up a mild version, based upon his effort to buy Freddi out of Dachau, which Irma knew had been his plan. He said that he and Hugo had been arrested, and, he had been confined in the very gemütlich city jail of Munich. He could go into details about that place and make a completely convincing story; his only trouble had been that they wouldn’t let him communicate with the outside world. It was on account of the confusion of the Blood Purge; Irma said the papers in England had been full of that, and she had become convinced that she was a widow.
"You’d have made a charming one," he said; but he couldn’t get a smile out of her.
"What are you waiting for now?" she wanted to know. He told her he had had a conference with Furtwaengler, and had a real hope of getting Freddi out in the next few days. He couldn’t think of any way to make that sound plausible, and Irma was quite impatient, wanting to be taken to England. But no, he must stay in this hotel all day—the old business of waiting for a telephone call that didn’t come! She wanted to get away from every reminder of those days and nights of misery; and this included Freddi and Rahel and all the Robin family. It made her seem rather hard; but Lanny realized that it was her class and racial feeling; she wanted to give her time and attention to those persons whom she considered important. Her mother was in England, and so was Frances; she had new stories to tell about the latter, and it was something they could talk about and keep the peace. It was almost the only subject.
There being more than one telephone at the Crillon, Lanny was able to indulge himself in the luxury of long-distance calls without a chance of delaying the all-important one from Berlin. He called his mother, who shed a lot of tears which unfortunately could not be transmitted by wire. He called Rick, and told him in guarded language what were his hopes. He called Emily Chattersworth and invited her to come in and have lunch, knowing that this would please Irma. Emily came, full of curiosity; she accepted his synthetic story, the same that he had told his wife. The episode of Solomon Hellstein was all over Paris, just as Göring had predicted; Emily had heard it, and wanted to verify it. Lanny explained how he had been under detention in Berlin, and there had got the facts about what was being done to the eldest of the half dozen banking brothers. Also Lanny wrote a long letter to his father, telling him the real story; a shorter letter to Hansi and Bess, who had gone to South America, along with Hansi’s father—the one to sell beautiful sounds and the other to sell hardware, including guns. The young Reds hadn’t wanted to go, but the two fathers had combined their authority. The mere presence in Europe of two notorious Reds would be an incitement to the Nazis, and might serve to tip the scales and defeat Lanny’s efforts to help Freddi. The young pair didn’t like the argument, but had no answer to it.
VIII
Early in the morning, a phone call from Berlin! The cheerful voice of Oberleutnant Furtwaengler announcing: "Gute Nachrichten, Herr Budd! I am authorized to tell you that we are prepared to release your friend."
The man at the Paris end of the wire had a hard time preserving his steadiness of voice. "Whereabouts, Herr Oberleutnant?"
"That is for you to say."
"Where is he now?"
"In Munich."
"You would prefer some place near there?"
"My instructions are that you shall name the place."
Lanny remembered the bridge by which he had crossed the river Rhein on his way to Munich; the place at which the child Marie Antoinette had entered France. "Would the bridge between Kehl and Strasbourg be acceptable to you?"
"Entirely so."
"I will be on that bridge whenever you wish."
"We can get there more quickly than you. So you set the time."
"Say ten o’clock tomorrow morning."
"It is a date. I won’t be there personally, so this is to thank you for your many courtesies and wish you all happiness."
"My wife is in the room, and desires to send her regards to you and your wife."
"Give her my greetings and thanks. I am certain that my wife will join in these sentiments. Adieu." Such were the formulas; and oh, why couldn’t people really live like that?
IX
"Now, dear," said Lanny to his wife, "I think we can soon go home and have a rest."
Her amazement was great, and she wanted to know, how on earth he had done it? He told her: "They were trying to find the whereabouts of some of Freddi’s friends and comrades. My guess is, they’ve got them by now, so he’s of no use to them. Also, it might be that Göring thinks he can make some use of me in future."
"Are you going to do anything for him?"
"Not if I can help it. But all that’s between you and me. You must not breathe a word of it to anybody else, not even to your mother, nor to mine." It pleased her to feel that she stood first in his confidence, and she promised.
He went to the telephone and put in a call for his faithful friend in Cannes. "Jerry," he said, "I think I’m to get Freddi out, and here’s another job. Call Rahel at Bienvenu and tell her to get ready; then get her, and motor her to Strasbourg. Don’t delay, because I have no idea what condition Freddi will be in, and she’s the one who has to handle him and make the decisions. You know the sort of people we’re dealing with; and I can’t give any guarantees, but I believe Freddi will be there at ten tomorrow, and it’s worthwhile for Rahel to take the chance. Get Beauty’s car from Bienvenu, if you like. I advise you to come by way of the Rhone valley, Besancon and Mulhouse. Drive all night if you can stand it and let Rahel sleep in the back seat. I will be at the Hotel de la Ville-de-Paris in Strasbourg."
Lanny had another problem, a delicate one. He didn’t want to take Irma on this trip, and at the same time he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. "Come if you want to," he said, "but I’m telling you it may be a painful experience, and there won’t be much you can do."
"Why did you ask me to Paris, Lanny, if you didn’t want my help?"
"I asked you because I love you, and wanted to see you, and I thought you would want to see me. I want your help in everything that interests you, but I don’t want to drag you into something that you have no heart for. I haven’t seen Freddi, and I’m just guessing: he may look like an old man; he may be ill, even dying; he may be mutilated in some shocking way; he may be entirely out of his mind. It’s his wife’s job to take care of him and nurse him back to life; it’s not your job, and I’m giving you the chance to keep out of another wearing experience."