“I see. So why should he go to all this trouble to lay himself on the line for you?”
“He likes me?”
“Likes you? He only met you last night.”
“You know what these Latins are like.”
She smiled mischievously and Martineau shook his head. “Nineteen they told me. More like a hundred and nineteen.”
“Another thing, Harry, Guido’s billeted on Aunt Helen at de Ville Place. Apparently a number of naval officers are. He was going to take me up there if you hadn’t arrived.”
“Perfect,” Martineau said. “As for the other business, we’ll tell him your mother was English. YouVe kept quiet about this during the Occupation years in case it caused you problems.”
“Will he believe it?”
“I don’t see why not. Are you going to be all right for clothes?”
“Yes. IVe got a coat, shoes, hat, everything I need in the large case. A good job it traveled with you on the E-boat.”
They went up the companionway. Muller was standing on the bridge talking to Feldt and Orsini. Below, Kleist and Greiser were shepherding the French seamen ashore.
Martineau said to Orsini in French, “Anne-Marie tells me you are billeted in most congenial circumstances. Some country house called de Ville Place?”
“That’s right, Colonel.”
Martineau turned to Muller. “It sounds as if it would suit my needs exactly. Would there be any objection?”
Muller, eager to please, said, “None at all, Standarten-fiihrer. It has, by tradition, been allocated to officers of the
Kriegsmarine, but Mrs. de Ville, the owner, is seven or eight below her complement.”
“That’s settled then.”
Orsini said, “I’ll take you up there now, if you like. I have a car parked at the end of the pier.”
“Good,” Martineau said. “I suggest we get moving then.”
They went down the gangway to the pier, and a Kriegsmarine rating, standing by the E-boat waiting, picked up the two suitcases and followed. Orsini and Sarah walked in front, Martineau followed with Muller at his side.
“Naturally once I’m settled in, I’ll return to town to pay my respects to the military commandant. Colonel Heine, isn’t it?”
“That’s correct, Standartenfiihrer. I understand he’s leaving for Guernsey first thing in the morning for a weekend meeting with General von Schmettow.”
“I need to see him only to present my compliments,” Martineau told him. “One thing 1 will need is a vehicle. A Kubelwagen would serve my purposes best in case I wish to use it over rough country.”
The Kubelwagen was the German Army’s equivalent of the jeep, a general purpose vehicle that would go virtually anywhere.
“No problem, Standartenfuhrer. I will also be happy to provide one of my men as a driver.”
“Not necessary,” Martineau said. “I prefer to do things for myself, Muller. I’ll find my way about this little island of yours, believe me.”
Muller said, “If I could have some idea of the purpose of your visit.”
“I am here on special instruction from Beischfuhrer Himmler himself, countersigned by the Fiihrer. You have seen my orders,” Martineau told him. “Are you querying them?”
“Certainly not.”
“Good.” They had reached Orsini’s Morris sedan, and the sailor was stowing the suitcases. “When the time comes, you will be informed, if and when necessary. I’ll possibly call in on you later today. Where are your headquarters?”
“Silvertide Hotel. Havre des Pas.”
“I’ll find it. In the meantime have the Kubelwagen delivered to me.”
Sarah was already in the back, Orsini behind the wheel. Martineau got into the front passenger seat beside him and the Italian moved away.
As they drove along Victoria Avenue, the military railway tracks between them and the bay, Martineau wound down the window and lit one of the Gitanes he’d got from the Cressons. “You like it here?” he asked Orsini.
“There are worse places to wait out the end of a war. In the summer it’s particularly beautiful.”
Martineau said. “I believe there’s a misunderstanding to be cleared up. Anne-Marie has a Breton father, but an English mother She felt it sensible to keep quiet about this in case it caused problems with the occupying powers. In fact it was one of my own people who first made the discovery, a happy one for me as it brought us together. Isn’t that so, my love?”