The Two Loves of Sophie Strom by Sam Taylor

Author:Sam Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2024-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

​Hans

In Berlin, at a table on a restaurant terrace bathed in evening moonlight, Hans raised his champagne flute to the same height as Bauer’s. ‘To Paris!’ Bauer bellowed.

‘To Paris,’ Hans echoed.

The meetings with Dannecker had gone well, he’d aced all his language tests, and this afternoon he had been told he would be flying to the French capital in two days’ time. His heart fluttered at the thought.

‘May you rid that beautiful city of all its Jews! Though I’m sure it won’t be all work and no play.’ Bauer leaned close, face twisted in a leer. ‘Did you hear the Führer’s warning about Parisian degeneracy? Negro singers, strip clubs, the finest bordellos in Europe … Ah, Hans, how I envy you.’ Bauer snapped his fingers as the waiter passed and told him to bring them more champagne. ‘Watch out for Arnstein, though,’ he added casually.

Hans frowned. ‘Arnstein?’

‘Yes, apparently your old school pal escaped from Dachau. I told you he was slippery. I read a report from one of the prison camp officers saying that Arnstein had wormed his way into their trust through good behaviour and then betrayed them. Their fault for trusting him in the first place, of course …’

Bauer fell silent as the waiter arrived to uncork the bottle and fill their glasses, and Hans wondered at the feeling of lightness that filled his chest. Was he relieved that Jens had escaped? No, it was probably just his indestructible good mood. Bauer could have told him that every prisoner in the camp had escaped and Hans would still have been happy, as long as it didn’t prevent him flying to Paris.

When the waiter had gone, Bauer added: ‘So anyway, the rumour is that Arnstein fled to France.’

‘Well, it’s a big country, Heinrich. I doubt I’ll bump into him.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right. You’ve been right about most things over the past two years. So here’s to you, Hans Schatten: the best deputy a man could wish for.’

‘Thank you.’

They clinked glasses again and drank. Tipsy and ecstatic, Hans sat back in his chair and looked up at the darkening summer sky. He remembered a fragment of last night’s dream: Sophie, standing on the balcony of her apartment, glass of kir in hand, gazing at the large, yellowish evening moon. The same moon that shone down on him now. That moment in his dream had been so alive, almost as if he could have reached out and touched her …

He noticed that Bauer was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. ‘Did you say something?’ Hans asked. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’

Bauer smirked. ‘Yes, I guessed that when you didn’t react to what I just told you.’

‘What did you just tell me?’

‘That I hired your replacement today.’

‘Oh, good. What’s his name?’ Hans took a sip from his glass.

Bauer waited until Hans was looking at him, then said: ‘Karl Schatten.’

Hans spat champagne all over the tablecloth.

‘Ha, now that’s the kind of reaction I was expecting!’

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