Devlin stood up and stretched. ‘Right, well, let’s get on with it,’ and he opened the door and went out.
When Schellenberg went into the hut he and Asa had been using, Devlin had a foot on the bed, his trousers rolled up as he adjusted the Smith &c Wesson in the ankle holster.
‘Your ace-in-the-hole, my friend?’
‘And this.’ Devlin took out the silenced Walther from his holdall and put it into his waistband at the rear. Then he took out the Luger. ‘This is the one for the pocket. I doubt those SS guards will let us through the door armed, so best to have something to give them.’
‘Do you think it will work?’ Schellenberg asked.
‘Uncertainty and from you at this stage, General?’
‘Not really. You see the Allies have made one thing very clear. No negotiated peace. Total surrender. The last thing Himmler could afford.’
‘Yes, there’s a rope waiting for him all right one of these days.’
‘And me also, perhaps. I am, after all, a general of the SS,’ Schellenberg said.
‘Don’t worry, Walter.’ Devlin smiled. ‘If you end up in a prison cell I’ll break you out and for free. Now let’s get moving.’
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Admiral Canaris had left Rennes at five o’clock in a Mercedes limousine driven, for reasons of security, by Rommel’s aide, a Major Carl Ritter. Two military police motorcyclists were their only escort and led the way as they twisted and turned through the narrow French lanes in the early morning gloom.
‘Of course, the only reason we’ve had to turn out at such a ridiculous time is because he wants us at a disadvantage,’ Canaris said.
The Fuhrer likes all of us at a disadvantage, Admiral,’ Rommel said. ‘I’d have thought you’d have learned that long ago.’
‘I wonder what he’s up to?’ Canaris said. ‘”We know he’s going to confirm your appointment as Commander of Army Group B but he could have made you fly to Berlin for that.’
‘Exactly,’ Rommel said. ‘And there are such things as telephones. No, I think it’s the Normandy business.’
‘But surely we can make him see sense there?’ Canaris said. ‘The report we’ve put together is really quite conclusive.’
‘Yes, but unfortunately the Fuhrer favours the Pas de Calais and so does his astrologer.’
‘And Uncle Heini?’ Canaris suggested.
‘Himmler always agrees with the Fuhrer, you know that as well as I do.’ Beyond, through a break in the rain they saw Belle Ile. ‘Impressive,’ Rommel added.
‘Yes, very Wagnerian,’ Canaris said drily. ‘The castle at the end of the world. The Fuhrer must like that. He and Himmler must be enjoying themselves.’
‘Have you ever wondered how it came to happen, Admiral? How we came to allow such monsters to control the destinies of millions of people?’ Erwin Rommel asked.
‘Every day of my life,’ Canaris replied.
The Mercedes turned off the road and started up to the Chateau, the motorcyclists leading the way.
Chapter FIFTEEN
It was just after six and Hauptmann Erich Kramer commanding the izth Parachute Detachment at St Aubin was having coffee in his office when he heard a vehicle drive into the farmyard. He went to the window and saw a Kubelwagen, its canvas hood up against the rain. Asa got out first followed by Schellenberg and Devlin.
Kramer recognized them instantly from the last visit and frowned. ‘Now what in the hell do they want?’ he said softly.
And then Kurt Steiner emerged. Having no cap he had borrowed a Luftwaffe sidecap from Flight Sergeant Leber, what was commonly referred to as a schiff. It was, as it happened, an affectation of many old-timers in the Parachute Regiment. He stood there in the rain in his blue-grey flying blouse with the yellow collar patches, jump trousers and boots. Kramer took in the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, the silver and gold eagle of the paratrooper’s badge, the Kreta and Afrika Korps cuff-titles. He recognized him, of course; a legend to everyone in the Parachute Regiment.
‘Oh, my God,’ he murmured, reached for his cap and opened the door, buttoning his blouse. ‘Colonel Steiner – sir.’ He got his heels together and saluted, ignoring the others. ‘I can’t tell you what an honour this is.’