December, 1930–May, 1931
Christmas Eve, Tubingen, Germany
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
Alles schläft, einsam wacht
Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh.
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund,
Christ, in deiner Geburt,
Christ, in deiner Geburt.
The baron bent and poked the logs in the fireplace. “Sean, will you get me some more wood from the basket?”
“Ja, Opa.”
“Now we must have a song from Britain, Elizabeth…and then America, Jane. But Elizabeth first; she must begin it.”
“Me?” Lady Preston laughed, her fingers fluttering to her mouth and face. “Don’t be ridiculous, Gerard. Catherine and Libby can do that far better than I can.”
“Oh heavens.”
“Mum,” Catherine said as she rocked Angelika in her lap, “you have a lovely voice.” Angelika was mesmerized by the firelight.
“Victoria has the voice, my dear.”
“Where do you think she got it from?”
Libby jumped in. “Oh come, Mother. You’d think he’d asked you to sing The Messiah.” Libby got up from her chair and plopped down next to Lady Preston on the couch. “I’ll help you. I have the perfect song. I’ll start but you have to come in.”
“Of course, my dear.”
“You all have to come in, all right?” She raised her eyebrows at Jane and Eva. “All right?”
Jane smiled. “Yes, Mum. We’ll raise the roof.”
“Ach, don’t do that.” Albrecht was mixing hot apple cider in a pot by the fire. “It’s snowing.”
Libby started singing an old French carol, and soon the other women joined in:
The holly and the ivy,
Now both are full well grown.
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Savior.
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
Oh, the rising of the sun,
The running of the deer.
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
The rising of the sun
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
Montgomery and Skitt stood just outside the alcove in the great hall where the family had settled in with cider to sing carols and open presents.
“Well, they won’t be needing us for a while,” Montgomery said in a low voice. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
“What if they ask for something?”
“They have German staff who are always at their beck and call and come at a quick march as if trying to show us up.” She seized his hand in her strong grip. “Come on!” She led him down a stone hall that still held centuries-old iron brackets for torches. Dropping his hand, she used both of hers to tug on the handle of a huge oak door. “They made ’em this thick to hold up against arrows and axe blows and fire.”
“Do you need a hand?” Skitt put his hands next to hers and pulled. “Oh! It’s stuck.”
“It’ll open. It always does.”
“How many times have you been here?”
“Enough.” She glanced at his face. “And all alone, don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried.”
The door finally gave with a long moan. A gust of cold air spinning with snowflakes blew over them.
“What does this open to?” asked Skitt.
“A turret.” Montgomery went outside, hugging herself with her arms. “Brrr. It’s nippy but the view is worth it.”
“What you can see of it. It’s dark as pitch.”
“The lights of the village are far below. Look.”
Skitt had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders drawn up around his ears. “Lovely,” he said.
“I’m not. I like the sheer drop of thousands of feet. You think I’d land near the sweets shop?”
She punched him in the arm. “Running off on me?”
“Never.”
She opened her fist and ran her hand up and down the sleeve of his butler jacket. “I shall miss you, Skitt. I feel I got to know you better here than I did in England. Especially after we nursed Lady Preston and young Jane together.”
He smiled. His eyes were used to the darkness now so he could make out her petite features clearly. He brushed a cluster of snowflakes off her maid’s cap.
“It strikes me that you haven’t seen much snow, have you?” she asked, still moving her fingers up and down his arm.
“Not much, no. I did see a snowfall once when I was a boy. It was in the Welsh mountains.”
“It snows all winter in New York State.”
“Is that still home?” He brushed at her cap again. His fingers strayed and touched the dark hair pinned up underneath.
“Home’s wherever Jane winds up. Dover Sky. The Rhine. Perhaps Ashton Park one day.”
Now his fingers touched her cheek. “It’s snowing all over you.”
“Have you ever caught snowflakes on the tip of your tongue, Skitt?” she asked.
“I confess I haven’t.”
“You should try.”
“I’d rather try this.” He kept his hand on her face as he bent slightly and kissed her softly on the lips.
“Oh how I shall miss you when Lady Elizabeth returns to England, my lovely Skitt. I pray Libby, Jane, and I will visit England this summer. I’ll do everything in my power to convince her she ought to marry Commander Terry and move us back across the Channel lock, stock, and barrel.”
“That’s a good plan. You could stir up the Nazis as well. That might help your plans along.”
“Those gangsters! I prefer a wedding between Commander Fordyce and Lady Libby be the reason for our move.”
He put his lips against her neck and shoulder. “I would prefer a wedding too.”
“Now, my dear Jane, I have a special gift for you.”
“But it’s not Christmas morning yet, Grandmother Elizabeth.”
“We won’t tell the others, will we? Jesus was born on Christmas Eve, wasn’t He? So that is a wonderful time to give someone a gift.”
“Unless He was born at two or three. Then that really would be Christmas morning.”
Lady Preston laughed. “You and your wit. Please shut the door, Jane.”
Jane got up from the bed where she’d been sitting next to her grandmother. The air current caused the candle that lit the room to flutter. The girl closed the door, and when she turned to come back Lady Preston was holding up a necklace of rubies that flamed brilliantly in the candlelight. Jane stopped and put a hand to her mouth.
“Merry Christmas, my dear!”
“Grandmother! Not for me?”
“Yes, for you. And this as well.” She patted a hand on a red dress folded up by her side. “Both came from the Far East long ago. You know what the Far East is known as today?”
“China and Japan and—”
“The necklace and dress are from China and fairly traded, I must say, by my great-great-grandfather Welcome Cornwall. He was a great seaman, Jane. Twice he circumnavigated the globe. He was an extraordinary man. We have one of his ship logs and three of his diaries.”
“I should like to read those.”
“I thought you might, and so you shall when you come to Ashton Park, which I pray will be soon.” She set down the necklace and lifted up the dress. It gleamed in the candlelight. “Pure silk. Come. You must try it on. I want you to wear it with the necklace Christmas morning in the great hall.”
“I can’t, Grandmother Elizabeth.”
“Nonsense! Of course you can. You will be fourteen this coming year, but you already look like a lady. You are so tall and perfectly proportioned. You will turn all the men’s heads when you come of age. Why, you already do. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
Jane could feel a blush rising from her neck. “Grandmother, that’s not true.”
“Of course it’s true. You will soon grow into the kind of exceptional beauty men paid a king’s ransom to woo and wed in the days of the great dynasties. Emperors would have courted you with pearls and gold. Now, alas, you shall have to settle for Germans and Englishmen. Hopefully a dashing one!”
Jane giggled. “You’re such a storyteller. I should like very much to wed a naval officer like Terry Fordyce.”
“I don’t blame you one bit. He cuts a fine figure. Hopefully your mother will grasp the fact and make him her husband—the sooner the better.”
“I think he’s very close to asking for her hand.”
Lady Preston’s mouth formed a perfect circle. “Oh? And what will your mother say?”
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“Well, praise God if we have a wedding to look forward to. But now here we are prattling on, and it’s past midnight. Come, off with the old and on with the new.” She shook the dress so that it seemingly burst into fire in the flickering light.
Jane quickly removed her outer clothing and slipped on the sleeveless dress. It held to her figure perfectly.
“Ah, my beautiful child.” Lady Preston gazed at Jane and sighed. “With your long, dark hair and lovely legs and face—well, there are no words adequate for your beauty. You’re stunning, my dear. What a grand way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. You look royal! I wish your grandfather were here to see you.” She stood up and placed the necklace of rubies around Jane’s neck. “I saved this for my first granddaughter, and that’s you, I’m happy to say. It will ride on your throat just above the neckline of the dress. Oh, you look like a queen! These are from Burma, or so the good Captain Cornwall recorded in his diary. The rubies are of the finest hues of scarlet and vermilion.” She kissed Jane on the cheek. “Walk about the room and let me look at you.”
Crimson and gold rippled up and down the silk as Jane moved about the room shyly. Lady Preston clasped her hands together at her chest and nodded her head. Finally Jane stopped in front of a large, freestanding, oval mirror rimmed in dark wood.
“I—I scarcely recognize myself.” Jane’s eyes were dark and wide. “I look so much older.”
“You do. You do indeed. And tomorrow you shall have black high-heeled shoes, and we shall arrange your hair by sweeping it back and add a red poinsettia. I purchased long red gloves for you to wear. We shall add some eye shadow and mascara too. You must meet me here at seven, and we’ll make you the toast of Hartmann Castle!”
Jane turned from the mirror. “I am very happy, Grandmother Elizabeth. You should not love me so much.”
“Yes, dear, I should. This much and more, so much more.”
DEAR LIBBY
YOU WILL NOT WANT TO HEAR HOW WARM A MARCH DAY IS ON THE SOUTH COAST OF SPAIN SO I SHALL NOT TELL YOU. INSTEAD I WILL SAY HOW MUCH I ADORE YOU AND THAT I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART. AND SOMETHING ELSE. YES I KNOW THIS OUGHT TO BE DONE IN PERSON AT A FINE RESTAURANT OR BY A LOVELY SEASCAPE BUT I CAN’T WAIT FOR MAY! I AM LOOKING AT WHITE CLOUDS OVER A BLUE SEA WITH WHITE BIRDS IN A BLUE SKY AND I AM THINKING OF THE ASTONISHING BEAUTY OF THOSE BLUE EYES GOD GIFTED YOU WITH—AND GIFTED ME WITH FOR I AM FREE TO GAZE INTO THEM AS A SAILOR GAZES INTO THE VAST IMPENETRABLE DEEP.
MY DEAR LIBBY I WANT TO MARRY YOU. I WANT YOU TO BE MY BRIDE. I WANT TO LIVE WITH YOU FOREVER AND A DAY. YES I AM ASKING YOU BY TELEGRAM! I MEAN IT WITH ALL MY HEART. PERHAPS BY ASKING YOU IN MARCH IT MEANS WE CAN BE MARRIED THIS SUMMER AS SOON AS I STEP OFF THE SHIP IN GOOD OLD ENGLAND. LIBBY I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE SAY YES YES YES!
YOUR GALAHAD
TERRY
GALAHAD
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY MAD BUT YOU’RE RIGHT. I’D LOVE TO MARRY YOU AS SOON AS YOU SET FOOT ON SHORE. WE CAN EVEN BE WED ON THE GANGWAY OR ON THE DECK IF YOU’D LIKE. OR RIGHT IN THE WATER WITH WAVES BURSTING OVER OUR HEADS. I DON’T CARE. THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO DO IT. I SHALL MAKE ALL ARRANGEMENTS. SEE YOU IN MAY MY LOVE.
YOUR LIBBY
OH AND THE ANSWER IS YES YES YES!
Plymouth and Devonport, Southern England
The Hood docked in May, and Libby was there to welcome Terry home. She waited by the car with Skitt and Jane for two hours as they watched sailors scramble over the huge deck securing the battleship. Finally Terry walked down the gangway in uniform, a sailor behind him toting a seabag over his shoulder.
“I’ve missed you!” Libby cried as she threw her arms around him. “Look at your tan! I’m jealous.”
“You look wonderful. A woman like you doesn’t need a tan. Besides, ginger-haired women burn and peel.”
“Not this ginger. Our honeymoon is still on, isn’t it?”
He laughed and stroked her cheek. “As long as the wedding’s still on.”
“Oh, it’s on all right. I can hardly wait to get away with you to the Mediterranean and take in some very hot sun.”
“Mum!” Jane was at Libby’s side, pulling on her dress. “Are you the only one who gets hugged?”
Terry wrapped his arms around the young woman dressed in a red coat and hat. “How tall you are now. And how lovely you are. You must grow a foot every month.”
“I will be fourteen next month. I have to keep growing to keep ahead of the Sweet boys. They’re holy terrors.”
“Are you still one up on them?”
“I am.” Jane smiled up into Terry’s face. “You’re almost as dark as me.”
“But not as pretty.”
“Thank goodness. I want a father, not a flower.” She dropped her eyes and played with the brass buttons on his uniform. “I know the wedding’s not till next week, but can I—may I—call you Dad now?”
He put his fingers under her chin and tilted her head. “I’d love that.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Let’s start right away. How is my daughter today?”
Jane’s smile opened up her face. “She’s fine, Dad. She’s very fine indeed.”
They hugged again. Looking on and thinking of Michael and then the death of Jane’s birth father, Libby’s eyes glittered with tears she brushed at with her fingers. Thank You, God. Thank You for this miracle. Thank You, my God.
Dover Sky
Lord Preston put his glasses on his nose to read the list in his hand. “The photographer arrives the morning of the wedding. We must get the family pictures taken after the ceremony. And special baby pictures—Catherine with Angelika and Shannon with Patricia Claire.”
Lady Preston was at a table nearby with a pen and a pad of paper. “For heaven’s sakes, William. Patricia is hardly a baby—why, she’s almost three.”
“How big can she have gotten?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Aren’t you and Harrison picking them up at the pier in Dover?”
“Yes, yes, after lunch.” He glanced over his glasses at his wife. “What are you jotting down?”
“These are meal suggestions for Mrs. Longstaff. She and Norah have matters quite in hand, but I didn’t see Harrison’s Cock-a-Leekie soup here or your Welsh rarebit on the menu.”
“But the pheasant—we have the pheasant? There are hundreds of guests coming.”
“We have dozens of pheasants. Not to worry, Dear. Stick with your own list, please.”
Lord Preston removed his glasses and placed them in his coat pocket. “I must see how my aviation room is coming along. Ben and Victoria are flying down with the children before supper.”
Lady Preston scribbled on her pad. “Oh you and your aviation room. By all means, look in on it, William. There’s nothing more pressing than that.”
The day of the wedding began with a May shower, but by noon the sun was shining. The ceremony was held down near the pond, the swans keeping their distance and paddling about in the middle of the water. Kipp and Caroline’s daughter, Cecilia, who would be two in October, and Robbie and Shannon’s daughter, Patricia, who would turn three in September and was quite noticeably not an infant anymore, were the flower girls. Jeremy and Emma’s twins, Peter and James, both thirteen, their younger brother, Billy, ten, along with Caroline’s son, Charles, aged nine, Kipp’s son, Matthew, aged eight, Ben and Victoria’s son, Ramsay, also eight, and Edward and Charlotte’s Owen, who was eight too, were chosen to usher the lords and ladies and other guests to the chairs arranged neatly on the lawn by Harrison and Skitt. Jane held the rings on a red-velvet cushion by the outdoor altar where Reverend Jeremy Sweet, St. Andrew’s Cross, Church of England, London, assisted by Ben Whitecross, Methodist Chapel, Lime Street, Liverpool, brought Commander Terrence Fordyce and Libby Danforth Woodhaven into holy wedlock before God and people on the late Queen Victoria’s birthday.
After the ceremony, the photographer was trying to arrange the large Danforth family on the grass for family photographs but the children kept bolting and chasing each other across the large expanse and the adults kept edging towards tables groaning with soups, meats, and greens placed amid crystal bowls filled with crimson punch.
“Now Ben and Kipp, you are the fliers in the family. You see what we’ve done with this room here? There are so many sea paintings at Dover Sky, I decided it was time to balance out the equation.”
Oil paintings and watercolors of aircraft covered the walls. In some, the planes were lined up on the ground or warming up for takeoff. In most, they were in the air darting through clouds, flying over the whitecaps of the Channel, or navigating above the patchwork quilt of the Kent countryside. Four or five were paintings of war with Sopwith Camels pitted against Fokker triplanes, SPADs looping and rolling in aerial combat with Fokker D.VIIs. Kipp examined one of a Sopwith Camel taking on the red triplane of Baron von Richthofen.
“Is this supposed to be the Red Baron and Roy Brown going at it on April 21, 1918?” he asked as he bent down to peer at the brass plate on the frame. “Well, he’s got the planes and the weather right, but from what I understand, the two never went at it head-on. The baron was after one of Brown’s chums, so Brown dived on him from behind and cut loose with his guns. The baron carried on for a few more miles and crashed behind our lines stone dead.” Kipp straightened and grinned as he glanced about the room. “But it’s marvelous, Dad! Really quite something. I’ll make this my official headquarters when I’m home for the weekend. I’ll do all my airline paperwork in here.” He walked behind an oxblood leather armchair and tapped a watercolor that showed Sopwith Camels with the morning damp rising off their wings like steam. “That brings back memories, eh, Ben?”
Ben nodded. “It does. Whoever painted that one had to have been there.”
“He was.” Lord Preston stood with his hands behind his back. “Whenever possible I employed veterans who had an eye for detail and knew pilots’ movements and moments.”
“It’s brilliant.” Ben was taken by the portrait of an officer standing by an SE5a. “I love this one. Is that Ball?”
Lord Preston smiled. “I’m so glad you’re pleased. It is Ball, yes.”
Kipp dropped into the oxblood armchair. “A welcome respite from that madness on the lawn. I wish someone would fetch us some cold drinks.”
Lord Preston pressed a buzzer by the door. “There’s bound to be someone indoors. Let’s see who shows up.”
“You’ll have to do something for Robbie now, Dad,” Kipp said. “You do know that, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The great hall has sea paintings for the likes of Edward and Terry. Now Ben and I have this aviation room. But what about Robbie? He’s British Army. What are you going to do about that?”
“Hmm, it will take some time to plan, won’t it? You’re right, of course. Absolutely right. There should be a room with its feet firmly planted on the ground.”
“How long’s Robbie’s furlough?”
“Six months.”
“Then he has plenty of time to help you with it. Waterloo, Agincourt, Crecy, the Somme—a proper mud-and-blood room.”
Lord Preston hummed as he glanced about at the airplane paintings. “Do you know, I was thinking, we don’t quite have it right any longer. With our song ‘Rule Britannia,’ I mean. ‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves, Britons never shall be slaves.’ There is something else we must rule if we’re to keep our heads above water, so to speak. The air—am I right?”
Ben slowly lowered himself into an armchair like Kipp was sitting in. “I think you have it, sir. Enemies don’t require boats to cross the Channel now.”
“Exactly, so I thought of this.” He hummed again. “Tell me what you think.”
Rule Britannia, we rule the skies and waves.
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.
Lord Preston laughed. “My voice is not what it used to be.”
Kipp and Ben clapped.
“That’s excellent, Dad,” said Kipp. “It really works.”
Ben was grinning. “Well done.”
“Do you think so?” Lord Preston smiled and admired an oil painting of a Nieuport 17 dropping into a dive. “Now if we can only convince the BBC to give it some airtime, hmm?”
“Cath?”
Catherine glanced up from the cradle Angelika was sleeping in. “Cheers, Lib. I’m just settling her down for a nap, otherwise she’ll be a German–English bear this evening. How are you holding up with all this madness? Where’s the groom?”
“Terry’s off with Jane and Eva and the boys. They’re on a march around the whole estate.”
“That will take forever and a day. No worries though. It’ll all be over tonight, and Terry can whisk you away to the Med.”
“He can’t actually. He’s due to sail tomorrow with Dad and a crew of eight or ten.”
“Eight or ten? My goodness! Does he fancy he’s back on the Hood?”
Libby smiled down at nine-month-old Angelika as she slept, hands curled in a pink blanket. “He finds he can’t say no to Jane or the older boys, including Sean. Your son was a bit put out not having been included in the ceremony—”
“Oh Sean’s fine. He wouldn’t have liked ushering old ladies to their seats anyway.”
“Well, be that as it may, he’s skipper of the Pluck at the crack of dawn tomorrow. He gets the wheel for two hours.”
“He doesn’t!”
Libby sat on the new swing that had been placed on the front porch. “They’ll make a sailor out of your boy yet.”
“His father was around the Belfast docks all his life, so I suppose Sean comes by it honestly.” Catherine sat next to her sister and made the swing glide back and forth. “Are you never going to have a honeymoon? Marches and sailing and fireworks tonight and that’s it?”
“Terry promises me the moon by the weekend.”
“The moon by the weekend? Any woman should find the patience in her to wait for that, Lib. Imagine! The moon, you lucky girl.” She moved the swing faster. “I want you to know I’m happy for you. No cheek, I really am. I’m madly in love with Albrecht, and that’s where my heart wants to stay. There’s no point in denying a certain fondness for our dashing naval officer, so I’m glad you’ve brought him into the family. It’s so nice to have him on board. He’ll do us all good. Terry always brings out the best in everyone, especially the children.” Catherine’s eyes glimmered. She smiled and gave Libby a quick kiss on the cheek. “You and I have both lost husbands. But I looked at the crew today with the children racing over the fields, and I feel I’ve recovered at long last. We’re one happy family. I truly feel that. God bless you, sis. God bless your marriage.”
Libby leaned her head against Catherine and put her arms around her.
Skitt closed the door and made a show of dusting his hands off. “That’s that then. Lord Preston said I am free to turn in. He intends to be up with the baron quite a bit longer. I’ve given the old German a bottle of brandy and a decent supply of cigars. For all I know, they’ll be at it all night.”
Montgomery took his hand. “Good heavens. What on earth are they going on about?”
“Ah.”
“We both know what a nasty topic that can be.”
Montgomery nodded. “We do. But it brought us together, didn’t it? I remember how I loved you as you tended Jane and Lady Preston with me day after day. Not many men can do that, you know—be strong and be sweet.”
“Is that what I am?”
She pressed his hand to her lips. “Yes.”
“Fancy a walk to the pond?”
“I’d love that.”
They headed out the door and down over the lawn under the May stars, holding hands. Skitt was in his black-and-white butler uniform, and Montgomery was in her black-and-white maid outfit and cap. She laughed but quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Skitt smiled at her. “What’s that?”
“I’m just thinking about you and your ponding.”
“My ponding? What?”
“Sitting all night in the rushes with your cricket bat and flask.”
“Oh that. Well, it’s over and done with. Haven’t made my blind in the reeds for years.”
“You were still at it when I arrived here from America.”
“There was still poaching going on then. It stopped, so Harrison and I finally gave up on the summer vigils.”
She giggled with her hand over her mouth again. “Did you ever whack anyone with your bat?”
“Mosquitoes and gnats and midges, that’s about all.”
“And the swans have been all right since you stopped lurking?”
“Yes, Monty. They’ve been all right. God save the king’s swans.”
The moon was at half as the swans, white and starlike, floated silently, heads tucked back under their wings.
“Dreaming,” whispered Montgomery as she watched them drift. “Just dreaming. Them and me.”
“Am I to ask about your dreams?”
“My dreams are you, love. My dreams are all you.”
“It’s absolutely brilliant.” Terry swung the door back and forth. “I mean, who would have thought?”
Libby sat up in bed, smiling, her arms wrapped about her knees. “None of us children, I can tell you that. And we were up and down all these hallways on rainy days. To us it was just a locked door. We picked it once and got in, and it was like a horrid old closet heaped with ratty coats and mothballs. The smell was wretched. We couldn’t stand it, so we never went back. If only we’d thought to pick the lock hidden behind the coats and swung the second door open. And then got through the third door into this room here. My goodness, what a triumph that would have been! All these oils of great ladies and grand dukes to stare at. Sabers hanging on the wall to take down and swing through the air. Daggers to play with. That suit of armor in the corner there—what a mess we would have made. And we’d probably have taken off a few fingers or heads with the swords. It doesn’t bear thinking about on my wedding night.” She stretched out a hand. “Come to bed, love. There are better things for you to do tonight than open and close a secret door over and over again.”
“It’s a marvel of engineering. We’re quite safe here from the whole brood. Even the evil twins Peter and James.”
“We are, so let’s make the best of it. Remember that you’re shipping out early in the morning on the good ship Pluck. They’ll storm this room with pikestaffs and maces if you’re not at the front door at five.”
“And in full uniform too.”
“What?” Libby laughed. “Who on earth asked you to do that?”
“Who do you think? She’ll have the commander’s uniform on I had tailored for her, so she insisted we be look-alikes tomorrow.”
“The things you get yourself into over our girl.” She patted the quilt. “Come along now. Or is the brave naval officer afraid?”
“I am a bit, you know.” Terry came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Mum always told me to watch out for ginger-haired women.”
“Well, it’s too late now. You’re stuck with one.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“Oh, it is—very much so.” She took his chin in her hand. “I love you, Commander.”
The baron opened the window wider to let more of the smoke out of the room. Then he promptly lit another cigar and took another sip of brandy.
“You believe he has the support of the upper classes?” asked Lord Preston, putting down his tea.
The baron nodded and blew out a stream of white-and-gray smoke. “And the middle class too, which is more worrisome. He promises one thing to one group and promises something else to another. Hitler keeps hammering away at the failure of democracy and pointing to the successes of strong monarchs and emperors in Germany’s past. He holds up the need for another Bismarck. He makes remarks about the success of Benito Mussolini in Rome. People are listening as the economy and employment continue to decline into a pit no one seems able to pull us out of. It’s the same in America, in Britain, and in the whole of Europe.”
“Yes, I’m afraid some draconian measures will be coming down from the Labor government. I can’t fault them, but it will not go over well. Even in Parliament’s corridors and foyers I hear mutterings about the need for a strong man to lead us and implement strong measures. I suppose there are fascist groups everywhere these days, not just in Spain, Italy, and Germany.” Lord Preston poured himself another cup. Steam curled up like smoke from the match the baron had just blown out. “But now, Gerard, what about the military? Isn’t Herr Hitler afraid of them just a bit?”
“Not at all. As I’ve mentioned, his personal army—his brownshirts—number close to half a million now. The Treaty of Versailles restricts Germany to 100,000 soldiers, and Hitler’s forces could overwhelm them in a matter of hours. But that’s a moot point because the army is on his side for the most part. If he gains control of the government, the soldiers will simply fall into step with the Nazi Party. To them Hitler is like another Blucher, the victor of Waterloo along with your Wellington. Ran wie Blucher—charge like Blucher, they say. They already see Herr Hitler’s aggressiveness in that light. Germans admire courage from the top.”
“Is it courage?”
“Certainly he has that along with his fanaticism. And the state of the world’s economy is slowly bringing him to power.”
“What does the Brotherhood of the Oak intend to do?”
The baron shrugged. “You’re one of us, Vilhelm. What do you intend?”
“Our navy is strong. Should Hitler take over, we could keep him blockaded on the water.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” The baron gazed at his friend through the cigar smoke. “What about the air? How is England fixed there?”
“We’re not on a war footing. The RAF is not much to speak of these days. Neither is the army. Everything is reduced and restricted. No one expects trouble. Everyone is watching the pound and the shilling. Few care about Berlin. Germany is considered a broken reed.”
“That could change overnight with one election. Hitler would tear up the Treaty of Versailles. That much is clear from his rants. He would rearm Germany. You know that.”
“I do, and a few others see it too. But we aren’t listened to.” Lord Preston tapped his teaspoon on the rim of his cup. “What do the Germans and Austrians of the Brotherhood plan to do?”
The baron kept his eyes on Lord Preston. “If the economic depression continues to play into Hitler’s hands and he gains more and more ground, our only option would be to stop him before he forms a government.”
“How would you do that?”
“Assassination.”
Lord Preston set the spoon down sharply. “Assassination? Are you mad, Gerard? It was the assassination of the Archduke that set off the Great War.”
“There would be unrest in the aftermath, certainly. The Nazis would run amok for a few days. Blood would be spilled. But it would be limited and over quickly. Ultimately the Nazis would be headless and wither on the vine.” The baron turned to look at the darkness through the window. “Better a week or two of civil war than two or three years of war in Europe.”
Lord Preston stared at his friend’s back then reached for the small bottle of brandy and poured a capful into his tea. “I shall pray, Gerard. Ask for guidance and wisdom. I know we’re dealing with serious matters. I know sometimes great risks must be borne. But I’m not comfortable being an assassin. I’m not comfortable with overcoming darkness by using more darkness.”
The baron continued to gaze out the window. “The Lord has placed us in such a world where the choices available to us fall far short of heaven. The dark choices are often the only way to regain light.”
“I pray not,” replied Lord Preston.