Femme Fatale by Pat Shipman

Author:Pat Shipman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-01-02T20:20:42+00:00

13

Maelstrom

FROM SEPTEMBER 7, 1916, the day that Vadime left Vittel to return to the front, until the day of her death on October 15, 1917, Mata Hari was caught up in a maelstrom of events. She was manipulated, betrayed, and lied to. Admittedly, she was never one to stick close to the truth when telling an invented story suited her purposes better, but she did not lie with malicious intent, only for convenience. She was sadly ignorant of the extent of the conspiracy working to entrap and condemn her.

After Vadime’s departure, Mata Hari remained in Vittel for several uncharacteristically solitary days, dining alone, walking alone, and spending much time on her correspondence. The summer was drawing to a close, and the hotels were soon to shut down for the season. She sometimes spoke of Vadime to others, calling him her fiancé or, sometimes, her “nephew”—this was a euphemism of the day, parallel to the phrase used by mature gentlemen who checked into hotels with young mistresses who were referred to as their “nieces.” She regarded herself as legitimately affianced, and all her plans and dreams were of life with Vadime. She consulted with her physician, presumably the Dr. Boulommier who had so enthusiastically commented upon her beauty to de Fleurian. A few times she went for promenades and dined with a couple staying at the hotel, Monsieur and Madame Roux. She retrieved the photographs that had been taken of her and Vadime, then departed for Paris, arriving on September 17.

For mysterious reasons that have never been explained, Ladoux suspended the surveillance on Mata Hari from September 13 until October 13. The most probable rationale for this bizarre decision was that he had decided she was not an enemy spy. Alternatively, he believed she was a spy but wanted to prevent Tarlet and Monier from recording in their reports something he knew Mata Hari would be doing. This gap in the surveillance reports links up with other peculiar omissions, such as the persistent substitution of “Lieutenant X” for the name of Lieutenant Hallaure and the tactful “losing” of Mata Hari on nights she spent with important dignitaries such as Henri de Marguérie.

As soon as she was back in Paris, Mata Hari was reminded of her precarious financial situation. Van der Capellan still sent her money, though she had been away from The Hague for months, but he never sent as much as it took for her to live as she did. She had earned no money in Vittel and in fact spent a good deal on herself and Vadime. She went promptly to visit Ladoux, hoping to arrange a lucrative deal that would enable her to retire and live quietly with Vadime.

The fullest account that exists of this meeting between Ladoux and Mata Hari is from Ladoux’s memoirs, which are in ways demonstrably inaccurate. He wrote:

She had been the most docile and calm of sick persons [in Vittel] and never even seemed to notice the presence in her hotel of a

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