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Paris: The Novel

Paris: The Novel

Titel: Paris: The Novel Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: Edward Rutherfurd
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even the most patriotic military men all seemed to be following Pétain.
    It was Marie who made a clever suggestion. After a few telephone calls, she found an instructor in the Staff College who’d been close to the English officer she had met before the war. Her approach to him was subtle. Was there any way that he was ever in contact with the Englishman, she inquired?
    “I doubt that such a thing is possible, madame,” he replied. But she noticed that he did not say that it was out of the question.
    “I should be grateful if you would not mention this to anyone, because my husband and his son are ardently for Pétain, and would not wish me to have any contact with the Englishman at all, but before he left Paris, he left some prints with me and asked if I could dispose of them for him. I did so, and I have the proceeds. If you ever think of a way of my discreetly letting him have his money, I should be glad. That is all.”
    “It will probably have to wait until the cessation of hostilities, madame,” he told her. “But I will make inquiries.”
    A month passed. Charlie kept busy. For a start, he got a list of all the officers who used Louise’s brothel on a regular basis, found out their duties, everything he could about them. He also constructed a list of people who, if they could be persuaded to help the cause, might be useful. Given his social position, and his family’s reputation as German sympathizers,he was often a guest at the receptions that German generals were giving in the mansions they had requisitioned.
    “It’s remarkable,” he said to Marie once, “apart from a German host and a sprinkling of German officers, I seem to see just the same people at all these parties as I did before the war.”
    But it meant that he could gather information quite easily. The question was, would he be able to make use of all this activity?

    It was dusk, one evening in November, when the butler announced to Marie that there was an elderly French art dealer at the door of the apartment, who had been told she might have some military prints for sale. She at once told him to usher the gentleman in.
    The disguise was excellent. Shuffling in, with a low bow, came a man apparently in his seventies. Only when they were alone did he look up sharply, and she saw the face of the English officer.
    “Your message was very clever, madame,” he remarked. “What can I do for you?”
    “How did you get here?” she cried.
    “I am a
parachutiste
, Madame la Vicomtesse,” he answered with a smile.
    She explained quickly that it was Charlie who was anxious to make himself useful, and that it would be best if the two of them met alone. He immediately suggested a spot in the Parc Monceau the following day and departed.
    When Charlie met him, and explained what he had to offer, the English officer was impressed, and told him that he’d soon be contacted. “You’re just the sort of man Colonel Rémy needs,” he said.
    “Colonel Rémy?” The name meant nothing to Charlie.
    “Code name. Safer,” said the Englishman, and left.
    Within a week he’d received his first instructions from Colonel Rémy. A list of information needed, and the address of a safe drop where he could leave his reports.
    Soon Charlie was making careful notes on all the barracks, the road and rail transport used by the Germans, the places where ammunition and explosives were kept, any information that might come in useful later for sabotage.
    It was useful information. He could see that. But he wanted to do more. He was told to be patient. But Charlie wasn’t very good at beingpatient. “I want the chance of some action,” he confessed to his father. And it was after some weeks of this frustration that his father finally gave him the name of a man who might be able to help him.
    “I have no idea if he is in any Resistance movement,” his father said, “but I have made some inquiries about him. He is a socialist, and I am sure he is not pro-German. He might be able to put you in touch with people. But tell him nothing about your business with Colonel Rémy. Keep the two activities totally separate, or you could compromise security.”

    A few days later, the elder Le Sourd had been surprised when, soon after he had left his home in Belleville, an athletic young man, almost as tall as his son, fell into step beside him.
    “Monsieur Le Sourd?”
    “Perhaps.”
    “I am Charlie de Cygne. My father sent me. May we speak

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