Time for Silence Read online

  “For how long?” asked Jean Pascal.

  “It must have been about three-quarters of an hour.”

  “Long enough to go to the study and get something from the bureau.”

  “She could have taken that information about Folkestone,” said my father.

  “Von Durrenstein would have given her the key and the nursemaid kept the coast clear while she did the job,” said Jean Pascal.

  “But why make her do it when Andrée could have done it so easily?” I asked.

  “Probably to test her. To give her an easy task, and once she had committed this, she could not turn back.”

  “But that was what she planned to do when she realized the enormity of what she had done. She was very upset about the explosion at Folkestone, and she said she was going to confess everything to Marcus.”

  “And do you think she told von Durrenstein that she was going to do this?”

  “Yes. She was plucking up her courage to. She said she was going to choose the right moment.”

  “If she told von Durrenstein that, she was signing her own death warrant.”

  “And she was killed by these people, because of this…?”

  “It may well be. She was going to confess ‘at the right moment.’ She would tell him about the stolen document she had passed to von Durrenstein. Her husband was at the War Office. The entire network of spies could be betrayed. Our service would have been alerted. For a long time they have been trying to rout out von Durrenstein and his gang.” He was thoughtful for a moment. Then he went on. “These little facts we have pieced together are why I am here in England. When I heard that my granddaughter had been murdered, I wondered why. I was all impatience to come here and find out. You see, there was this unfortunate connection with von Durrenstein. When all is said and done, this man is the father of my great-grandson.”

  “You think it was this gang who lured Annabelinda to her death?”

  “I think it is a possibility. The bogus nursemaid would know of the house she proposed to visit. She would know that she was going to meet the house agent there. One might ask, Why did they need such a complicated setup? Why not just climb into her room one night and strangle her? Why go to all the trouble of going to an empty house? There was a great deal at stake. The murder of the poor unfortunate girl was of no great significance to them. She was someone who got in the way, who could have been a danger, and they could not afford dangers. They just brushed her aside in the manner which seemed less hazardous to their organization. The nursemaid knew of all the arrangements. The empty house must have seemed the best spot. The murderer could have been a tramp…a robber…anyone, and he could make his escape with ease. That is how I see it. Von Durrenstein was not going to be seen near the scene of the crime, for he had already had some communication with the victim. Although the meeting had been secret, someone might have seen them together. One never knows what investigations are going to reveal. So it was better for him to be as far removed as possible. I have read all about the case, of course. I know of the bogus house agent who called and was seen by the housekeeper…Mrs. Kelloway, I believe.”

  “Yes, that is right.”

  Jean Pascal turned back to the envelope and drew out a picture. There was something familiar about the face.

  “This is Hans Reichter, one of their cleverest. He is a very worthy member of this nest of spies.”

  “Surely I have seen him somewhere?” I said.

  “Oh, yes, you have. It was when you were traveling across France and he joined you with Elsa, who was his sister for that occasion.”

  “I can’t believe it. How we were duped! The car broke down. He fixed it…and then Andrée came with us and he went to Paris.”

  “All neatly arranged, no doubt. Elsa wanted to get to England. It would not have been very easy for her. But there you were, in the company of a high-ranking officer of the British army. They knew who you were, Lucinda.” Jean Pascal turned to my father. “Your work, mon cher, has not gone unnoticed. To get into your house was Elsa’s project. And how well she managed it.”

  “With our foolish help.”

  “Oh, come! You must not say that. You were in ignorance. How could you have been otherwise? You have contributed to my knowledge, as I now have to yours, and we can help each other in tracking down these people and putting them where they belong.”

  I was looking at the picture, remembering it all, seeing him walking across the dining room, joining us at our table after his “sister’s” dramatic exit. All lies! How could we have been so easily deluded?

  “The man Mrs. Kelloway saw had a beard,” I said.

  “It is not difficult to grow a beard,” commented Jean Pascal.

  I was thinking of the scene at the table. I saw the man sitting there. There was something wrong with his hands. He had lost part of his little finger. I could hear his words, “I was playing with fireworks.”

  It was all beginning to fit. Jean Pascal might not have discovered the entire truth, but he was somewhere near it.

  “That young man,” I said. “There was something about his hands.”

  “It is a distinguishing feature which has helped us considerably.”

  “It was quick of Mrs. Kelloway to notice,” said my father. “It was a vital clue…and seized upon.”

  “It is strange how a little carelessness can bring disaster, after all the careful planning that went into it,” Jean Pascal said.

  “Yes,” said my father. “He dropped the house agent’s brochure, which he had carefully obtained to increase his credibility, and in picking it up, showed his hand to the housekeeper…and so he was identified.”

  “Do you think he was the murderer?” I asked.

  “Undoubtedly. He is known as a killer. He would have broken a window, got into the house and been waiting there when my poor Annabelinda arrived. He would have let her in and chatted about the house for a moment. She had seen him before, it is true, on that journey through France, but his beard would have been sufficient to disguise him for that brief period.”

  “I can’t bear to think of her walking into that house,” I said.

  “Poor child. She was little more. I shall not rest until she is avenged. Now…no sign must be given of anything we have talked of. I shall have the woman watched, and in time she will lead us to the others. She is only a small fish. It is von Durrenstein whom we want. We are well on the track. She will be watched night and day, and before long there will be results. It is of the greatest importance that they shall not be aware that we know who they are. You must not betray, by a look or an inflection of your voice, that anything is different.”

  “I hate to think of her looking after Edward,” I said.

  “Have no fear. She will look after the child. There is nothing to be gained by not doing so. It might be that she is genuinely fond of him.”

  “He certainly is of her.”

  “There you are. Looking after the child is all in her line of duty. How much her feelings are involved we do not know, but the boy is no threat to what she would consider her real work, therefore she will care for him. Every movement she makes will be watched, and I doubt not that before long we shall have this group where we want them.”

  “The police will be eager to arrest the man who killed Annabelinda.”

  “It may well be that he is wanted in other connections. We shall see. But rest assured, they will pay for their sins.”

  We went on talking, going over everything we had discussed. It was late when we retired to bed—but not to sleep. I could only go over everything that had been said that night with a feeling of incredulity. But the more I pondered about it, the more it seemed to me that there was much truth there among the conjectures.

  The days that followed were tense. I did not see Jean Pascal during that time. I fancied he thought it wiser to keep away. I tried not to show any difference in my attitude toward Andrée, as Jean Pascal had warned me emphatically about this. It was not easy. Andrée had b
ecome a different person in my eyes. I could not help marveling at Edward’s love for her, but he had known her almost all his life. It was hard for me to accept the fact that indirectly she could have had a hand in his mother’s murder.

  What a web of intrigue we had stumbled into, and largely because of Annabelinda’s lighthearted dalliance with a man who was spying for his country.

  I knew that we could not go on as though everything were normal. Something had to happen soon.

  It did. One day Andrée went out alone and did not come back.

  There was great consternation in the house. At first Mrs. Cherry was quite indignant. The nurse had no right to stay away so long. She was lucky to have so much free time. She would soon discover that if she took a place somewhere else. But when evening came and she had not returned, Mrs. Cherry changed her attitude. She began to wonder whether Andrée had been murdered. When there was one murder connected with the house, you began to think there might be another. “We’re living in shocking times, Miss Lucinda. And where could she have got to?”

  I spoke to my father.

  “We must do something about Andrée,” I said. “They will start a rumor and it will spread in no time. We’ll have to think of something.”

  My father agreed. “I’ll take up the matter,” he said. “By the way, we’ve got them all. Von Durrenstein himself. It’s our best bit of luck for a long time. They were in a house in Battersea, having some sort of conference. She led us right to them.”

  “That was what was hoped would happen.”

  “I’ve seen Bourdon. He’s been working hard underground ever since the start of this war. It’s a great triumph for him.”

  “What will become of Andrée?”

  “The fate of all trapped spies, I suppose. There may be a murder charge, too, against Reichter. They’re all accomplices, of course…all guilty. That will be sorted out. I doubt the public will ever hear the truth. Annabelinda’s murder will be one of those unsolved crimes.”

  “Lots of people will be careful about viewing empty houses, I suppose.”

  “Inevitably.”

  “What are we going to tell the servants about Andrée?”

  “I’ll consult with the powers. I agree, we should think of something to stop talk. We can’t have people just walking out of the house and never being heard of again.”

  He very soon came up with the solution. Andrée had had a message from the French Embassy to communicate with them without delay. Her brother was dying and they had arranged for her to leave immediately. A message had been sent to my father explaining all this. There had been a little delay in his receiving it, but Andrée was now with her brother. We did not know when she would come back.

  It was not very convincing, but after the first reaction of incredulity, the story was accepted. The fact that it was wartime, when the most extraordinary things could happen, was a help, and in a week or so Andrée’s disappearance ceased to be the main topic of conversation.

  It was different with Edward.

  “Where is Andrée?” he asked.

  I told him she had gone to her home to see her brother.

  “This is her home,” he insisted.

  “Oh, no. She had a home before she came here.”

  “Are we going there?”

  “No. We shall stay here.”

  “When is she coming back?”

  I fell back on the old vague answer which had become a byword since Mr. Asquim’s famous statement: “We shall have to wait and see.”

  But he continued to ask about her. He cried a little when he went to bed. “Want Andrée,” he said.

  I would kiss and cuddle him, telling him stories until he slept. It amazed me that a woman who had been involved in the murder of his mother could have become so dear to him. He had seen Annabelinda only a few times and she had made no impression on him, apart from her hat; and yet he mourned Andrée.

  I used to say to him, “Never mind. You have me…and all of them at Marchlands. You have Billy Boy there, and Mrs. Cherry and everyone here.”

  “I know,” he said. “But I really want Andrée, too.”

  I spent more time with him, but he continued to ask for her.

  Victory

  AS WE ADVANCED THROUGH the year, the aspect of the war began to change.

  It was September and the great Allied attack had begun. There was a feeling of lightheartedness in the air, and with the passing of each day the news grew better.

  We knew now that what we had been longing for over the last four years was about to happen.

  Then came that November—darkish misty days, yet brighter than the days had been for years, made hopeful by the news.

  If only Robert were home, how happy I could have been, but my fears were still with me. I longed to see him. I wanted to tell him how foolish I had been to hesitate, to have been swayed this way and that when I should have known full well that he was the one for me. How could I ever have doubted it? I was now obsessed by a terrible fear that he might not come back. They were still fighting out there. Oh, why would they not stop! Was it not now almost all over? How tragic it would be if anything happened to him now.

  I prayed for him. I wanted the chance to tell him how much I loved him. These last years had made me realize that.

  My father came home in a state of great excitement. Germany was in revolt. They had given in. The Kaiser had fled to Holland.

  The Armistice was signed at eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of November. “The eleventh day of the eleventh month” as everyone was saying. A day to remember for the rest of our lives. The war was over.

  There was rejoicing in the streets. Flags hung from windows; bunting was strung across the streets; and the bells rang out. People crowded onto the streets. There was the sound of music everywhere; bands were playing patriotic marches and barrel organs rolled out their tinkling tunes.

  There was euphoria everywhere except among those to whom victory had come too late.

  Mrs. Cherry said the servants all wanted to go out to join the throng and I said they must. She and Mr. Cherry wouldn’t mind taking a turn out there themselves. At a time like this, it didn’t seem right to be left out of it.

  Marcus called. He was exuberant.

  “What a great day this is!” he cried. “You’ll have to join in the general rejoicing.”

  My father said that Marcus was right. He suggested that we go out and celebrate. It would be amusing to go to the Ritz or the Savoy for a meal.

  We went into the drawing room for a while and talked about the cessation of hostilities, and fell to wondering how long it would be before the men came home.

  “It is good to know the firing has actually stopped at eleven o’clock this morning,” said my father. “That will put a stop to the senseless slaughter.”

  He added that we should drink to victory, and while we were doing this a messenger arrived for him. His presence was required elsewhere.

  It was an accepted rule in the household that we never asked questions about anything connected with his work.

  Marcus said, “I shall do my best to entertain Lucinda, and perhaps you will be able to join us later.”

  My father thought that he might be detained for some time, so he would not arrange to meet us.

  “It would be no use to make a rendezvous,” he said. “I daresay the restaurants will be crowded tonight with the whole of London wanting to celebrate.”

  “Then you will leave your daughter in my care?”

  “I shall be happy to do that,” replied my father.

  Thus I found myself seated opposite Marcus in a smart restaurant overlooking the river.

  The place was full of people clearly bent on rejoicing. There was laughter and chatter and people calling to each other from the tables. The orchestra was playing patriotic tunes.

  When we appeared a waiter rushed forward and shook Marcus’s hand. Several people clapped. All men in uniform were greeted rapturously, and Marcus, of high rank
and looking extremely handsome in his uniform, stood out among them.

  I noticed envious glances directed toward me. Marcus smiled and, with that nonchalance which was essentially his own, lifted his hand in greeting and acknowledgement of the acclaim.

  When we had ordered dinner, Marcus smiled at me and said, “This is a happy occasion. Thank God the war is over. How long it seems since I came to La Pinière and we first met. From the first moment I saw you—a schoolgirl, so fresh and innocent—I loved you.”

  “It is four years ago. It seems much longer.”

  “So much has happened. For some time I have been wanting to talk to you and have wondered whether I could…whether it was too soon. This dreadful thing has happened. Poor Annabelinda! What a terrible fate to be caught up in as she was.”

  “You know? They have told you?” I paused, embarrassed. I was afraid that I might have said too much. I knew that Annabelinda’s murder was to be a well-guarded secret. Would that mean excluding her husband?

  “For two reasons they would tell me,” he explained. “I was involved in the case. I was on the hunt with your father for those saboteurs. The other reason is that I was her husband.”

  “Then you must know…everything?”

  He looked at me very solemnly and said, “I had to know, Lucinda.”

  “It must have been a great shock.”

  “Remember the police first suspected me, until I could prove conclusively that I had been nowhere near the house. It was one shock after another. First her death and the suspicion against me…and then to learn the truth. I was a fool, Lucinda. I might have known, I might have guessed. But it all fitted so neatly. After all, you were the one who would not give up the child. You were the one who was most concerned for his welfare.”

  He was looking at me with an expression I had never seen on his face before. It was contrition, humility…and most unusual, he gave the impression that he did not know how to express what was on his mind.

  “I was deeply upset,” he went on. “I could not believe it. And yet it seemed so plausible.”