'The conversation we have already had naturally inclines me to feel at ease with you, and I am glad to have the Baroness's confirmation that I may be so. However, the very fact that she did write it and that you asked me to come here indicates that you have something more to say to me.'
Gregory nodded. 'You are right about that. And I will be frank. I am not proposing to mask your activities by throwing suspicion on Nichoulic solely because I would rather see Russia defeated than Germany. It is because I am contemplating an undertaking in which I need help; and the sort of help I require can be given to me only by someone like yourself, who is actually in touch with the Germans.'
'What is this undertaking?' asked the Colonel cautiously.
'It is to rescue Sabine from her prison.'
The bulky Moldavian sat up in his chair with a jerk. 'But is that possible? It must be far from easy to get an ordinary prisoner out of a modern prison, and I imagine she is particularly carefully guarded.'
'She is not in a modern prison. She is in the Tower of London. Mind you, it may prove every bit as difficult to get her out of there. I am by no means sure that I can yet; but I mean to try. I have managed to escape myself from several prisons and prison camps; so I know quite a lot about that sort of thing, and this time I have the advantage of being outside the fence. You see, I am assisting in her interrogation. That enables me to see her at any time I like and, without being suspected, concert arrangements with her or, if desirable, take in to her some form of disguise.'
Kasdar drew heavily on his cigarette. 'As it was you who brought her into England, I was much surprised to learn that they had allowed you to see her. It was clever of you to get yourself called in on her interrogation. But I fear I cannot aid you in helping her to escape. Much as I should like to do so, I am not prepared to take that risk. If I were caught it could be ruled that I had exceeded the limits of diplomatic privilege. Then I would find myself in a British prison.'
'I am not asking your help to get her out of the Tower,' Gregory said quickly. 'It is getting her to some place of safety afterwards that would prove too much for me alone. There would be no sense in rescuing her if she was likely to be caught again within twenty-four hours; and she almost certainly would be if she remained in London.'
That is true. What are your proposals to meet this situation?'
T have none; because I don't know how the German system works for smuggling people in and out of this country. But I take it you do, or could find out.'
Instead of replying, the Moldavian asked a question. 'Tell me, Wing Commander, what lies behind all this? The risk to yourself is immense. If you are caught you will be cashiered and receive a prison sentence long enough to ruin your whole life. I cannot believe that you would lay yourself open to such a terrible penalty solely because you are a friend of Reichs Marshall Goering and would prefer a Fascist dominated Europe to a Communist one.'
'Of course not!' Gregory had been ready for this. 'That is one reason; but I have two others which weigh much more with me. The second is that I am in love with Sabine. Circumstances dictated that once having got her to London I should refrain from going about with her for a while. But perhaps she told you this in Budapest we became lovers, and all through our long journey to London we lived as man and wife.'
'Yes; she told me that.'
'You will understand, then, that the thought of her in prison is torture to me. Desperation at the knowledge that she will be left there for years to rot, unless I can restore her to freedom, drives me to this act. Even if I cannot reap the reward for saving her, I owe it to her for the happiness she has given me.'
He paused a moment, then went on, 'My third reason is an entirely selfish one. I am convinced that Herr Hitler will win this war. I hope it will end in the utter destruction of the Russians and a compromise between Britain and Germany. But it may not. Churchill is incredibly pigheaded. He is the sort of man who will refuse to recognize when we are beaten. To bring an end to hostilities Herr Hitler may be compelled to land troops here and subdue Britain by force of arms. That would mean years of great misery for the population. All my life I have lived well. I hate poverty, indifferent food and discomfort. I was well thought of by the Nazis before the war. If I can put myself definitely on the right side by doing them some signal service such as restoring Ribbentrop's beautiful mistress to him I should be made a member of the Parti, and t rewarded with some responsible position under the occupation Government. They might even make me a Gauleiter, or something of that sort. You see, I am being completely frank with you.'
'Admirable, admirable,' purred the tall Moldavian. 'You and I are birds of a feather, Wing Commander; sensible people who know which side our bread is buttered.'
After his great effort Gregory gave a silent sigh of relief. He felt confident now that he had really won his visitor's confidence, and got him exactly where he wanted him. Next moment he suffered bitter disillusion.
Finishing his whisky, Kasdar said, 'I envy you the joy you had of the little Baroness. I had aspirations in that direction myself. But I lack your altruism in being prepared to run risks for her only to hand her over to Herr Ribbentrop. As for your ambitions, I find them most laudable; but they are no affair of mine. She has had the bad luck to get caught, and as far as I am concerned that is the end of the matter. The cooperation which you ask might well bring about the ruin of my career; and nothing would induce me to play ducks and drakes with that. I repeat nothing.'
Playing With Dynamite
Chapter 24
The Moldavian stood up to leave. Gregory stood up too, 1 but instead of turning towards the door he picked up the whisky bottle and said in a casual voice:
'You might as well have the other half before you go.'
Without waiting for a reply he began to pour out. While he did so his brain was working with the speed of a dynamo. If he could not, here and now, secure the Colonel's promise to help him he might not get another chance. Knowing what he intended to attempt Kasdar might consider it dangerous to have anything further to do with him.
He could, of course, try blackmail threaten to have Sabine tell the truth about the Colonel's having been her contact instead of saying that it was Nichoulic but he had a feeling that would not come off. Gregory was a shrewd judge of character. In his secret work he had to be, for there were times when a mistake in assessing trustworthiness could have cost him his life. In the past half-hour he had summed up Kasdar and would have reported on him as:
'A typical Balkan soldier of good family. Not very clever, but brave, proud, ambitious, honest according to his lights, and likely to be very touchy about anything reflecting on a somewhat outmoded code of honour that was held by his class.'
His acting, although a neutral, as a Nazi Agent could no more be held against him than it could against Gregory that he, in the previous year, had gone as a spy to Russia, although that country was Britain's ally. The great majority of upper and middle class Central Europeans, having for the past twenty years lived under the menace of their countries being overrun by the Soviets, had seen their own protection in entering the Fascist and Nazi camps; so it was natural that most of the Moldavians were hoping that Germany would win the war. It was that, no doubt, rather than payment for information received, which had led Kasdar to help the Nazis. In fact, if he were well off and most military attaches were chosen from among the richer officers of their armies he might strongly resent an offer of money from either side. The odds were still greater that he would resent an attempt to blackmail him. It was liable to arouse in him all the primitive instincts of his type anger, courage and defiance. The only hope was to handle him with velvet gloves and to titillate his ambition.