The Kaiser’s Last Kiss. Alan Judd

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СКАЧАТЬ Clearly, things were different in the household, but Krebbs let it pass. He should not accept this invitation without permission, he thought, as he looked at her.

      ‘Please thank them for the invitation and say I am pleased to accept.’ There was time to seek permission and if he had to turn them down, well, so be it. The thing now was to keep her talking. ‘If you have a moment, Fräulein, there are some questions I must ask.’ He turned off the path and began walking slowly towards the moat, at a slight angle to the house and away from the gatehouse. The short grass had dried off and he could feel the sun on his uniformed shoulders. It was a bright, cheerful day, with blue sky and puffy white clouds. As he had hoped, she fell in alongside him. ‘My questions concern the attitudes of Prince Wilhelm and Princess Hermine and those of their German staff towards the Third Reich in Germany, and also their attitudes concerning the occupation of The Netherlands. Also, whether they have had any contact with enemy powers or with powers sympathetic to the enemy.’

      ‘I am new to His Highness’s staff, Herr Offizier, and I have no intimate knowledge of Their Highnesses’ attitudes, nor of the attitudes of the Germans who are here with them. My position is a junior one.’

      Her voice was quiet and low, which he liked, and her German flawless, her diction almost too precise. He liked that, too. ‘You are Dutch?’

      ‘Yes, from Friesland. Fries is my first language.’

      ‘Has Prince Wilhelm ever, in your hearing, said anything about Herr Hitler, or the Nazi Party or the Third Reich?’

      ‘Here in Huis Doorn Their Highnesses keep what is called Doorn Law, according to which it is not permitted to discuss the new German government.’

      ‘What does he say about England?’

      She was looking straight ahead at the narrow bridge across the moat, to the side of the house. There were ducks and water lilies. ‘He says that England has always caused him trouble because his mother was English and because many German people thought he was too much in favour of the English and because it is well known that Queen Victoria died in his arms. But the English did not trust him either because they thought he was too German.’

      ‘That is true about the Queen Victoria?’

      ‘He says it was in his arm, his good arm. He sat without moving for two and a half hours. “She softly passed away in my arms,” he says. But of England now, he says it is run by Jews and freemasons and is part of the conspiracy of international capital to encircle Germany.’

      Krebbs nodded. She was evidently a willing source. He would be justified in seeing more of her. ‘It is good that he says that, not only because it is correct but because it is good for him. And the Princess?’

      ‘I have never heard the Princess speak of England. But the old Empress, Princess Dona, is said to have hated the English.’

      ‘Does the Princess say anything of Germany?’

      ‘I believe she admires Herr Hitler and thinks he has done many good things for the German people.’

      Such ready co-operation could be either genuine, or naive, or a front. Her answers fitted each. Similarly, her apparent lack of resentment of him, the representative of the invader, was either encouraging or something more sinister.

      As they approached the moat some of the ducks waddled towards them, quacking. ‘His Highness feeds them every day,’ she said. ‘It is part of his routine, like sawing and chopping wood.’

      There was sudden barking behind them as Arno bounded across the lawn, his thick black fur raised and his fangs visible. The ducks took fright, splashing and squawking back into the water. For the first time, he thought, she appeared to lack confidence. She stood still as the dog approached.

      ‘Be careful, this is Arno, the Princess’s dog. He bites strangers sometimes.’ She held up her hand as the dog ran at them, calling his name, but he did not stop.

      Krebbs faced the dog, keeping his hands behind his back. He was confident with dogs, proud that they respected his authority. He particularly liked German Shepherds, beautiful, strong, loyal dogs. Anyway, he had already made friends with Arno at the gate lodge. Arno slowed as he neared them, barking still, his hackles up. This was a warning, not an attack. Krebbs could tell.

      ‘Arno, sit,’ he said quietly. The dog stopped, uncertain and growling. Krebbs held out the back of his hand. ‘Arno, come.’ The dog advanced warily and sniffed the back of his hand. Its hackles went down and it wagged its tail slowly. Krebbs carefully fondled its head, then held out his hand, palm down, above it. ‘Arno, sit.’ Arno sat. Krebbs sensed the maid relax behind him.

      ‘You must be good with dogs. Normally, Arno heeds no one but the Princess.’

      ‘You do not like them?’

      ‘Some dogs, but not Arno. He does not like me. I can tell.’

      ‘It must be something he senses about you, perhaps that you are frightened. They sense fear.’

      ‘Maybe.’ She resumed walking parallel with the moat, heading for the rear of the house.

      Krebbs tapped his thigh for Arno to come to heel and continued beside her. The dog obeyed. ‘Also Jews,’ he said. ‘Some, especially these Shepherds, can sense Jews.’

      ‘Is that so?’

      ‘Probably by their smell.’

      He did not want to go any nearer the house, not yet. He stopped. ‘I must see to the guard. Will you be serving at dinner this evening?’

      ‘I don’t know. It depends who else is on duty.’

      ‘It would be best if people do not know the subject of our conversation.’ She said nothing. Her silence and self-containment made him uneasy. ‘What is your name?’

      ‘Akki.’ She added no other.

      ‘My name is Martin. Untersturmführer Martin Krebbs. I am from Leipzig.’ She said nothing. The ducks milled about on the moat while Arno sat at Krebbs’s heel. ‘I hope you do not feel too badly about the occupation of your country. It is necessary because of our enemies but it is not ill-intentioned.’ He spoke rapidly, his words unplanned. She gazed into the moat. He observed the turn of her neck and the profile of her cheek with his eyes but felt them in his chest, as if he had been hit. ‘While I am here I shall try to make it all right for you.’ It was foolish, unnecessary, wrong, he knew; but he wanted her to react to him.

      She glanced at him, still saying nothing, then turned and headed for the house. Arno went to follow but Krebbs tapped his thigh and led him back to the gatehouse.

      Major van Houten returned from lunch not very long after, to Krebbs’s relief. He seemed sober but said little. Krebbs decided to escort him to the barracks himself. It was some distance away but the lorry that had taken the Dutch soldiers there had returned with those of his own he had sent to escort them. Motor transport was something else that had become mysteriously scarce of late, at platoon and company level, anyway. Perhaps, with the continent all but conquered, the High Command was considering opening another front, such as the invasion of England, so long overdue. That would be harder fighting than anything they had yet faced, if Le Paradis were anything to go by, though the pathetic little English army was now much depleted even allowing for those that had escaped from Dunkirk, and its equipment was anyway inferior. СКАЧАТЬ