He stood looking down at her, as the last jeep waited for him, and his driver turned the other way discreetly. Joachim pulled Sarah close to him. “I have loved you more than anyone or anything in my life,” he said, lest by the hand of Fate he never saw her again, he wanted her to know that, “more even than my children.” He kissed her gently then, and she clung to him for an instant, wanting to tell him everything she had felt for him, but it was too late now. She couldn’t do it.
She looked into his eyes, and he saw it all there anyway. “Godspeed …” she whispered. “Take care … I do love you ….” She choked on the words, and then he stooped to Phillip, still holding tightly to Sarah’s hand, wanting to say something to him. They all had been through so much together.
“Good-bye, little man.” Joachim choked on the words. “Take good care of your mother.” He kissed the top of his head, and then ruffled his hair, as Phillip held him and then finally let go. And Joachim stood up and looked at Sarah for a long moment. Then he let go of her hand, and got into the jeep, and he stood and waved until they reached the front gate. She saw him as he left in a swirl of dust on the road, and then he was gone, as she stood there sobbing.
“Why did you let him go?” Phillip looked up at her angrily as she cried
“We had no choice, Phillip.” The politics of the situation were far too complicated to explain to a child his age. “He’s a fine man, even if he is a German, and he has to go home now.”
“Do you love him?”
She hesitated, but only for a moment. “Yes, I do. He’s been a good friend to us, Phillip.”
“Do you love him better than my daddy?”
This time she did not hesitate, even for an instant. “Of course not.”
“I do.”
“No, you do not,” she said firmly. “You don’t remember your daddy anymore, but he’s a wonderful man.” Her voice drifted off then as she thought of William.
“Is he dead?”
“I don’t think he is,” she said carefully, not wanting to mislead him, but wanting to share her own faith with him that one day they might find William. “If we’re very lucky, he’ll come home to us one day.”
“Will Joachim?” he asked sadly.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly, as they walked back to the house, hand in hand, in silence.
Chapter 16
The commanding officer of the American troops was Colonel Foxworth, from Texas, and he was very pleasant, and apologized profusely for putting his men in her stables. But the rest of them pitched tents, and used the caretaker’s cottage she had so recently vacated, and even the local hotel. They didn’t put her out of her house again, so soon after she’d moved back into it with Emanuelle and Phillip.
“We’re used to it by now.” She smiled about the men in their stables. And he assured her that they would do as little damage as possible. He had good control of his men, and they were friendly, but they kept their distance. They flirted a little with Emanuelle, but she had no great interest in them, and they always brought candy to Phillip.
They all heard the church bells toll when the Americans liberated Paris in August. It was August twenty-fifth, and France was free at last. The Germans had been driven out of France, and her day of shame had ended.
“Is it all over now?” Sarah asked Colonel Foxworth incredulously.
“Almost. As soon as we get to Berlin, it will be. But it’s over here at least. You can go back to England now if you want to.” She wasn’t sure what to do, but she thought she should at least go to Whitfield and see William’s mother. Sarah hadn’t left France since war had been declared five years before. It was amazing.
The day before Phillip’s birthday, Sarah and Phillip left for England, leaving Emanuelle at the château to watch over it. She was a responsible girl and she had paid her price for the war too. Her brother Henri had been killed in the Ardennes the previous winter. But he had been a hero in the Resistance.
Colonel Foxworth and his counterpart in Paris had made arrangements for Sarah and Phillip on a military flight going to London, and there had been a great deal of hush-hush talk, telling the air force to expect the Duchess of Whitfield and her son, Lord Phillip.
The Americans provided a jeep to Paris for her, and they circumvented the town as they headed for the airport. They arrived with only moments to spare, and she swept Phillip into her arms, running for the plane, carrying their one small suitcase with the other. And as she reached the plane, a soldier stepped forward and stopped her.
“I’m sorry, madam. You can’t get on this plane. This is a military flight … militaire …” he said in French, thinking she didn’t understand him. “Non … non … ” He wagged a finger at her and she shouted at him above the din from the engines.
“They’re expecting me! We are expected!”
“This flight is only for military personnel,” he shouted back, “And some old—” And then he realized who she was, and blushed to the roots of his hair, as he reached out to take Phillip from her. “I thought … I’m really sorry, ma’am … Your, er … Majesty …” It had dawned on him too late that she was the promised duchess.
“Never mind.” She smiled, and stepped into the plane behind him. He had been expecting some old crone, and it had never dawned on him that the Duchess of Whitfield would be a young woman with a little boy. He was still apologizing when he left them.
The flight to London didn’t take very long, it took them less than an hour to cross the channel. And on the way over, several soldiers spoke to her admiringly for having weathered the Occupation. It seemed odd to Sarah as she listened to them, and remembered how relatively peaceful her life had been, during her four years in the cottage, protected by Joachim. When they arrived in London, an enormous Rolls-Royce was waiting for them. She was to go directly to the Air Ministry for a meeting with Sir Arthur Harris, the commander in chief of Bomber Command, and the King’s private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, who was there by order of the King, and also to represent the secret intelligence service. They had flags and little insignia to give to Phillip, and all the secretaries kept calling him Your Lordship. It was a good deal more ceremony and respect than he was used to, but Sarah noticed with a smile that Phillip definitely seemed to like it.
“Why don’t people at home call me that?” he whispered to his mother.
“Like whom?” She was amused by the question.