“I’m not reading you.”
“Aquitaine Aquitania, as Julius Caesar called
it was the name given to a region in southwestern
France that at one time in the first centuries after
Christ was said to have extended from the Atlantic,
across the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, and as far
north as the mouth of the Loire west of Paris on the
coast ”
“I’m vaguely aware of that,” Joel broke in, too
impatient for an academic dissertation.
“If you are, you’re to be commended. Most
people are only aware of the later centuries say,
from the eighth on when Charlemagne conquered
the region, formed the kingdom of Aquitaine and
bestowed it on his son Louis, and his
48 ROBERT LUDLUM
sons Pepin One and Two. Actually, these and the
following three hundred years are the most
pertinent. ‘
‘To what?”
“The legend of Aquitaine, Mr. Converse. Like
many ambitious generals, Delavane sees himself as
a student of history in the tradition of Caesar,
Napoleon, Clausewitz . . . even Patton. I was rightly
or wrongly considered a scholar, but he remains a
student, and that’s as it should be. Scholars can’t
take liberties without substantive evidence or they
shouldn’t but students can and usually do.”
“What’s your point?”
“The legend of Aquitaine becomes convoluted,
the what-if syndrome riding over the facts until
theoretical assumptions are made that distort the
evidence. You see, the story of Aquitaine is filled
with sudden, massive expansions and abrupt
contractions. To simplify, an imaginative student of
history might say that had there not been political,
marital and military miscalculations on the part of
Charlemagne and his son, the two Pepins, and later
Louis the Seventh of France and Henry the Second
of England, both of whom were married to the
extraordinary Eleanor, the kingdom of Aquitaine
might have encompassed most if not all of Europe.”
Beale paused. “Do you begin to understand?” he
asked.
“Yes,” said Joel. “Christ, yes. ”
“That’s not all,” continued the scholar. “Since
Aquitaine was once considered a legitimate
possession of England, it might in time have
enveloped all of her foreign colonies, including the
original thirteen across the Atlantic later the
United States of America…. Of course,
miscalculations or not, it could never have happened
because of a fundamental law of Western
civilisation, valid since the-deposition of Romulus
Augustulus and the collapse of the Roman empire.
You cannot crush, then unite by force and rule
disparate peoples and their cultures not for any
length of time.”
“Someone’s trying to now,” said Converse.
“George Marcus Delavane.”
“Yes. In his mind he’s constructed the Aquitaine
that never was, never could be. And it’s profoundly
terrifying.”
“Why? You just said it couldn’t happen.”
“Not according to the old rules, not in any
period since the fall of Rome. But you must
remember, there’s never been a time in recorded
history like this one. Never such weapons, such
anxiety. Delavane and his people know that, and
they
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 49
will play upon those weapons, those anxieties. They
are playing upon them. ‘The old man pointed to the
sheet of paper in Joel’s hand. ‘You have matches.
Strike one and look at the names.”
Converse unfolded the sheet, reached into his
pocket and took out his lighter. He snapped it, and
as the flame illuminated the paper he studied the
names. “Jesus!” he said, frowning. ‘They fit in with
Delavane. It’s a gathering of warlords, if they’re the
men I think they are.” Joel extinguished the flame.
“They are,” replied Beale, “starting with General
Jacques-Louis Bertholdier in Paris, a remarkable
man, quite extraordinary. A Resistance fighter in the
war, given the rank of major before he was twenty,
but later an unreconstructed member of Salan’s
OAS. He was behind an assassination attempt on De
Caulle in August of ’62, seeing himself as the true
leader of the republic. He nearly made it. He
believed then as he believes now that the Algerian
generals were the salvation of an enfeebled France.
He has survived not only because he’s a legend, but
because his voice isn’t alone only he’s more
persuasive than most. Especially with the elite crowd
of promising commanders produced by Saint-Cyr.
Quite simply, he’s a fascist, a fanatic hiding behind
a screen of eminent respectability.”
“And the one named Abrahms,” said Converse.
“He’s the Israeli strong man who struts around in a
safari jacket and boots, isn’t he? The screecher who
holds rallies in front of the Knesset and in the
stadiums, telling everyone there’ll be a bloodbath in
Judea and Samaria if the children of Abraham are
denied. Even the Israelis can’t shut him up.”
“Many are afraid to; he’s become electrifying, like
lightning, a symbol. Chaim Abrahms and his
followers make the Begin regime seem like reticent,
self-effacing pacifists. He’s a sabre tolerated by the
EuropeanJews because he’s a brilliant soldier, proven
in two wars, and has enjoyed the respect if not the
affection of every Minister of Defense since the
early years of Golda Meir. They never know when
they might need him in the field.”
“And this one,” said Joel, again using his lighter.
“Van Headmer. South African, isn’t he? The
‘hangman in uniform’ or something like that.”
“Jan van Headmer, the ‘slayer of Soweto,’ as the
blacks call him. He executes ‘offenders’ with
alarming frequency and
50 ROBERT LUDLUM
government tolerance. His family is old-line
Amkaner, all generals going back to the Boer War,
and he sees no reason on earth to bring Pretoria
into the twentieth century. Incidentally, he’s a close
friend of Abrahms and makes frequent trips to Tel
Aviv. He’s also one of the most erudite and charm-
ing general officers ever to attend a diplomatic
conference. His presence denies his image and
reputation.”
‘ And Leifhelm,” said Converse, coming to the
last of the foreign names. “A mixed bag, if I’m
accurate. Supposedly a great soldier who followed
too many orders, but still respected. I’m weakest on
him.”
“Entirely understandable,” said Beale, nodding.
‘In some ways his is the oddest story the most
monstrous, really, because the truth has been
consistently covered up so as to use him and avoid
embarrassment. Field Marshal Erich Leifhelm was
the youngest general ever commissioned by Adolf
Hitler. He foresaw Germany’s collapse and made a
sudden about-face. From brutal killer and a fanatic
super-Aryan to a contrite professional who abhorred
the Nazis’ crimes as they were ‘revealed’ to him. He
fooled everyone and was absolved of all guilt; he
never saw a Nuremberg courtroom. During the cold
war the Allies used his services extensively, granting
him full security clearances, and later in the fifties
when the new German divisions were mounted for
the NATO forces, they made sure he was put in
command.”
“Weren’t there a couple of newspaper stories
about him a few years ago? He had several run-ins
with Helmut Schmidt, didn’t he?”
“Exactly,” agreed the scholar. “But those stories
were soft and carried only half the story. Leifhelm
was quoted as saying merely that the German
people could not be expected to carry the burden of
past guilt into future generations. It had to stop.
Pride should once more be established in the
nation’s heritage. There was some saber rattling
aimed at the Soviets, but nothing substantively
beyond that.”
“What was the other half?” asked Converse.
“He wanted the Bundestag’s restrictions on the
armed forces lifted completely, and fought for the
expansion of the intelligence services, patterned
after the Abwohr, including rehabilitation sentences
for political troublemakers. He also sought extensive
deletions in German textbooks throughout the
school systems. ‘Pride has to be restored,’ he kept
saying,
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 51
and everything he said was in the name of virulent
anti-Communism.”
‘ The Third Reich’s first strategy in everything
when Hitler took over.”
‘You’re quite right. Schmidt saw through him and
knew there’d be chaos if he had his way and he was
influential. Bonn could not afford the specterof
painful memories. Schmidt forced Leifhelrn to resign
and literally removed his voice from all government
affairs.”
“But he keeps speaking.”
“Not openly. However, he’s rich and retains his
friends and contacts.”
“Among them Delavane and his people.”
“Foremost among them now.’
Joel once more snapped his lighter and scanned
the lower part of the page. There were two lists of
names, the row on the left under the heading State
Department, the right under Pentagon. There were
perhaps twenty-five people in all. “Who are the
Americans?” He released the lever; the flame died
and he put the lighter back in his pocket. “The
names don’t mean anything to me.”
“Some should, but it doesn’t matter,” said Beale
elliptically. “The point is that among those men are
disciples of George Delavane. They carry out his
orders. How many of them is difficult to say, but at
least several from each grouping. You see, these are
the men who make the decisions or conversely, do
not oppose decisions without which Delavane and
his followers would be stopped in their tracks.”