For a moment Gregory paused for breath, then he went on. `And, mein Fьhrer, I can claim that I have. You have honoured me with your confidence; and during the past few weeks with the aid of my Turkish servant I have obtained for you from occult sources much valuable information.'
Up till that moment Gregory had played his poor hand as though inspired. While succeeding in neutralizing Ribbentrop, he had recalled his extraordinary feat of enabling Sabine to escape from Britain, and it could not be proved that he had not been imprisoned for doing so. He had cashed in on the assumption that the shrewd Goering believed him to be a fanatical pro-Nazi, and derided Grauber as a blundering fool for having earlier refused to believe in his honesty and driven him out of Germany. But in mentioning the occult he had made his one fatal error.
Hitler's face suddenly went livid. His semi paralysed arm began to shake and he raised the other accusingly. Foam flecked his lips and his rage was such that he could hardly get his words out.
`You… you… you filth!' he cried. `You came here under false pretences. Goering must have been insane… insane to have believed in you. I put my trust in you and… and like all others you have betrayed me. You have used your occult affinities to make predictions. And they came true. But why? Why? Why? So that in the big thing… the thing that mattered, I should believe you. You buoyed me up with false hopes. You promised me a miracle. It was a lie! A lie! A deliberate lie because you hoped that when your prophecy failed to mature I should be driven to despair.'
Turning to Grauber he yelled, `Take him away, Herr Obergruppenfьhrer. Take him away. Do what you like with him.'
His outburst was followed by a moment's complete silence.
Grauber's thin mouth broke into the sort of catlike smile that came to it when he watched his victims being reduced for his amusement to whimpering idiots, as he had the skin flayed piece by piece from their backs.
Bormann shrugged and said to von Below, 'Herr Oberst, call the guard.'
Gregory's mouth was parched and he felt the blood going to his head.
During the past few weeks he had frequently contemplated attempting to kill Hitler. Owing to the thoroughness of the search to which they had to submit no one could ever have smuggled a weapon down into the bunker; so to assassinate him would have been extremely difficult and, whether the perpetrator succeeded or failed, it would have resulted for him in a most ghastly death.
But now that a ghastly death at Grauber's hands was inevitable Gregory nerved himself for the attempt. He was standing within two yards of Hitler. One spring and he could be upon him. As none of the others had weapons they could not shoot him through the head. Between them they would haul him off; and in much less time than it would have taken to kill a normal, healthy man. But Hitler was already a physical wreck. A grip on his throat with the left hand, and an all-out blow over his heart with the right, could well be enough to finish him. White as a sheet and with the perspiration standing out on his forehead, Gregory gathered himself for the spring.
He was actually on his toes when a shout came from the outer door of the passage. All heads turned in that direction. Heinz Lorenz burst in among them. Shooting out his right arm, he cried wildly:
`Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Tremendous news, mein Fьhrer. It's just come over the air at the Ministry. I ran all the way here. The President is dead! Roosevelt died last night. It is official, announced by the Americans. Sieg Heil l Sieg Heill Sieg Heill'
Again there was a moment's pregnant silence. Hitler let out a long whistling breath. Then he whispered, `A miracle! The Miracle of Brandenburg has been repeated. The Reich is saved. I knew it! I've always known it. The decrees of fate are unalterable and it is decreed that I should triumph over my enemies.'
His voice had risen to a shout. At the sounds of the excitement Keitel, Jodl, Koller, the new Chief of Staff General Krebs and the Admiral Vons, who represented Doenitz, had all come out of the conference room, while several others, including Johannmeier and Hogel, Chief of the Fьhrer’s personal S.S. guard, had emerged from the far end of the lounge passage. Now they all raised their arms with shouts of Heil Hitlerl Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
When the tumult had died down Hitler said to Gregory, 'Herr Major, you have justified yourself. I have been under a great strain-,a great strain. For a moment, just for a moment, I lost faith. That a man should not be born a German is not his fault. At this moment there are thousands of Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Czechs, Danes, yes and even Russians, fighting beside us for our ideals. That you should share them is enough. You will remain here and may count upon my friendship.'
Still sweating, but now from relief at his miraculous escape, Gregory shook the limp hand extended to him. As Hitler withdrew it he scowled at Grauber and said, `You understand, Herr Obergruppenfьhrer’s. You have been mistaken in this man: Your campaign of malice against him is to cease. Should any harm come to him through you, you will answer for it to me with your head.'
Then, smiling round, his lips trembling and slobbering a little, he cried, `And now we must celebrate. Champagne Champagne for everyone.'
If ever anyone had needed a glass of good wine it was Gregory at that moment; but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would clink glasses with Grauber, yet ten minutes later that was what Hitler made them do.
The following day Hitler again took Gregory up to walk with him while he gave his dog Blondi a run in the garden. For a while they talked of reincarnation and Gregory was asked what he thought would become of the ego that had been President Roosevelt. He replied:
`According to the ancient wisdom, mein Fьhrer, he is thoroughly enjoying himself, not only because he has now cast off all his responsibilities, but because he is meeting again a number of people many of whom were not in incarnation during his most recent life but were dear to him in others. It is said that between each life we are granted a period of carefree happiness, like a holiday between terms at school; then, when we are fully recovered from the strain to which we have been put here, we are born again and given new tasks to perform. Having achieved such a high position in his last life it is certain that Roosevelt 's accumulated experience will qualify him for leadership again in his next. But the probability is that it will be on a Planet of some distant star.'
Hitler only grunted, as his mind was too occupied with new plans to pursue the subject. He said that since the opening of the last Russian offensive, which looked like spelling the doom of Berlin, he had been seriously considering remaining there and making the great gesture of sacrificing himself on the altar of the ideals for which he had striven so hard. But Roosevelt 's death had fired him with a new faith in his star… It could be only a matter of weeks now before the Americans offered terms, during which there would be no difficulty in holding the Bavarian redoubt. Even if the Russians did take Berlin the Western Allies could not be so crazy as to allow those Communist swine to advance further into Europe. For him, of course, politically it would be the end. Churchill would never agree that he should continue to lead Germany against Russia. That was a tragedy, because the Allies would deprive themselves of his abilities as a strategist, which everyone acknowledged equaled those of Napoleon. But he would make the final sacrifice for the sake of the German people. When terms had been agreed he would retire from public life. He had long wished to do so. He would spend his declining years in his old home town of Linz. There he would live with Eva Braun, the one friend he could utterly trust: the only creature other than his dog Blondi who, whatever happened, would remain unshakably loyal to him. He was, too, already planning to build an Opera House there and a big gallery to hold his fine collection of pictures.