Paris: The Novel

the château, walking in the park.
    “Why can’t you give me something to do?” she demanded crossly. “Because I’m a woman? If I could run a department store I’m quite sure I’m capable of helping. Are you going to tell me there are no women in the Resistance?”
    “Surprisingly few, as it happens,” he replied. “Even the communists ofFrance are quite conservative when it comes to women.” He looked at her and smiled. “Of course, they haven’t met you.”
    “Well then.”
    “You’re already helping by sheltering a Jewish girl. Remember that. And incurring serious risk by doing so.”
    “I doubt anyone’s looking for her now,” Marie countered with a shrug.
    “You have too much energy,” he said with a shake of the head. “Truly, the most important thing you can do at the moment is help me maintain my cover. It may not satisfy you, but it’s important. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else,” he added to pacify her.
    But she saw what he was doing, which only made her crosser.

    Luc had thought hard about the conundrum of who Corinne could be. His first thought had been that it might be Coco Chanel. She was friendly with the top circles of the German regime. She could be acting for the Resistance as well. That would be clever. Living in the Ritz, she could pass on messages to so many people, from a barman to a friend passing through. But there was no way that he could find out.
    Several of the senior officers had mistresses. There was the great actress Arletty, for instance. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely to Luc that Corinne was not a woman at all, but a man. And the first name he thought of was Marc Blanchard.
    Marc didn’t seem to go out so much, but when he did, he mixed with the highest German circles. With his huge network of contacts, he could be collecting information from dozens of sources.
    In the end, Luc made a short list of half a dozen names he thought possible, and gave them to Schmid, who looked them over and nodded briefly, but didn’t seem much impressed.
    “I need information, not guesses,” he said curtly.
    After that, Luc gave up on the idea of getting anything from Schmid and concentrated on a matter that was daily becoming more urgent.
    How to save himself.
    For there was no doubt about which way the wind was blowing now. On every front, the Germans seemed to be in retreat. People were saying that it was only a matter of time before the Allies invaded France. That would mean a huge battle. The Germans might even win it. But with thevast resources of America behind the Allies in Europe now, it could only be a question of time before France was liberated. And what then?
    He had few doubts about that. One had only to listen to the muttered conversations at any bar. The open collaborators, in the Milice for instance, would be lucky not to be shot. Even lesser collaborators would be in danger.
    Did anyone know about his visits to Schmid? What if someone had seen him? They could have. What if his name was on a list? He shuddered to think of it.
    He needed to strengthen his links with the Resistance. Then, even if some person denounced him, he’d be able to claim that any contacts he had with the Germans were only to gather information. He needed to go out on some more missions with them, fast.
    “You know, you should tell your friends to make more use of me,” he told his brother, Thomas. “With all the people I know, maybe I can find things out for them. And when are we going out on another operation? They know I’m not afraid. I already got shot at. They should ask me more.”
    But Thomas only shook his head.
    “They’ve got younger people than us,” he said.
    Luc was sure his brother was still operating with the FTP boys. Clearly Thomas was keeping him at a distance from their operations. It hurt Luc that his brother didn’t trust him. But worse than that, it frightened him. If Thomas didn’t trust him, the others didn’t either. That suggested some ugly consequences.
    Thomas will protect me, he told himself. Hadn’t his big brother always protected him? But if his name was on a list of German collaborators, even Thomas mightn’t be able to save him.
    The month of May arrived. The rumors of an Allied invasion were growing stronger every day. Luc turned many things over in his mind. Should he bluff it out? Should he hide? Was there some way to escape for a while, and if so, who might know of it?
    It was in the third