Paris: The Novel

Command and its madame as a natural target. They might drag her out into the street, stone her … There was no knowing.
    She knew very well that the time of invasion was approaching. She couldn’t put off the decision about Esmé forever. And perhaps the obvious panic that lay behind Luc’s visit affected her too.
    She would have liked to talk to Charlie, but he had disappeared at the moment, and when he was away on a Resistance mission, there was no way of knowing when he would surface again.
    So she had decided it was time to take Esmé to his grandparents. She knew already from Charlie that they would be in Paris for the month of May. Better do it straightaway, therefore, before they went back to the valley of the Loire.
    And she’d thought carefully about exactly what she must say.
    At her request now, Esmé was taken out of the room to spend a little time with the housekeeper, and she began.
    “I see that you noticed something about my son, madame,” she began quietly. “He looks just like Charlie. That is because Charlie is his father.” She paused. “You did not know of his existence?”
    “No.”
    “That was at my request. I had my reasons, though I can assure you that I had no objections to Charlie’s father, nor to you, madame. Quite the contrary, in fact. But Charlie is very anxious that Esmé should be taken to a place of safety, and I can no longer deny that he is right. Charlie is engaged in dangerous activities himself, as we both know. And I too run certain risks.”
    “Ah.” Marie looked at her. A woman in the Resistance. She had no doubt that Louise was telling her the truth.
    “I have brought you documents.” Louise handed across the registration of Esmé’s birth. “As you will see, Charlie is named as the father. As soon as he reappears, he will be able to confirm all this.”
    “Why did you avoid us? Because the child is illegitimate?”
    “You would have insisted that Charlie take my son away from me. And he is all I have.”
    “Why would we have done that?”
    “Because I run the best brothel in Paris.”
    Marie nodded. “You are right.”
    Louise paused for a few moments.
    “There is something else, madame. A secret that even Charlie does not know.” Louise paused for a few moments. “If anything were to happen to me, I should like to be sure that Esmé has all the love and care that is possible. I have no doubt of your kindness, madame, but there is a particular circumstance that may cause you to take an interest in my son.” She handed Marie a sealed envelope. “These papers concern my mother. Her name was Corinne Petit. My father, I finally discovered, was Marc. Your brother, madame. He knows nothing about me, and it’s better that way. But I wish you to know that Esmé is your nephew.”
    Marie stared at her.
    “Why did you not tell Marc?”
    “I was too embarrassed.” She shrugged. “I met him once. In professional circumstances.”
    “He came to your establishment?”
    “No. I went to his house.”
    Marie frowned, then understood.
    “Oh my God.”
    “It could have been worse. For that’s where I discovered. I saw the photographs of your wedding, and I recognized your husband. He was my English parents’ lawyer. He’d arranged my adoption.”
    She and Marie gazed at each other.
    “Do you mean that you and Marc …”
    “No,” said Louise. “Thank God. I was able to leave, before …”
    “And after that, you felt you couldn’t tell him.”
    “I was always proud of my independence, madame, if not of the way I achieved it.” She smiled. “By the way, I admired the way you ran Joséphine. I tried to model my establishment on it, in a slightly different way, of course.”
    “My husband is out, but he will be back in an hour or two. I wonder what he will say.”
    “Esmé is his grandson. I think he will take care of him. It should be quite possible for you to check the truth of everything I have told you.”
    “I do not disbelieve you.”
    “If it were not true, madame, I would hardly be giving you the only treasure I possess.”

    As Schmid considered his situation, he felt quite hopeful. On the one hand, of course, things had been going badly for the Wehrmacht. Allied bombing was increasing, so were the Resistance activities. Attacks on guard posts, factories sabotaged, trains derailed. The French, clearly, believed that an invasion was coming soon, and that France would rise up as General Patton led a huge assault across the