She didn’t know about that, but the second rule was to be nice to everyone so she didn’t argue. She also didn’t ask any more questions, not even when they passed a store with the word Jude scrawled on the window. Young men in brown uniforms paced in front of it, scowling and yelling at anyone who wandered too close. It was clear they weren’t there to guard the business but to keep people away, to bankrupt and harass the Jewish owners. The sight of them pacing in front of the graffiti-scarred shop was as unsettling as the bright red flags against the gray baroque buildings. It was one thing to read about Germany in the newspapers, to listen to after-dinner conversation about a nation somewhere to the northeast. It was another to ride through the heart of it with the Nazi banners draped ominously over everything, making it clear the Nazi party wasn’t simply a part of German life but the center of it.
Wallis and the Duke shouldn’t have come. She shouldn’t be here either, but this was her job. She couldn’t pick and choose the best parts and leave the rest. It was a stark reminder of why she had to learn her position and create some future where she had a real say in her life instead of always being ruled by other people’s whims.
Amelia followed Wallis into her bedroom at the Hotel Kaiserhof and closed the door. The Duke remained in the sitting room with Dr. Ley, the stout German Labor Front leader and their guide for the week, and a few other officials, their rapid conversation in German carrying in through the closed door.
“David speaks German so well. Even with the translator, I can’t keep up.” Wallis pushed aside the window curtain to view the massive Reich Chancellery across the street, the stark façade brightened by the large red swastika banners draping the front of it. On the sidewalk below, the massive crowd that’d greeted them at the hotel sung in accented English for His Royal Highness to come to the balcony and wave to them.
“Listen to the people.” Wallis opened the French doors to let in their cheers. “Britain never treated me like this.”
“They’re very welcoming.” And amazingly fluent English speakers. Suspiciously so, but she didn’t say it. She couldn’t be churlish.
“I don’t want to disappoint them.” Wallis stepped onto the balcony and the crowd went wild. She threw out her arms to them, her gestures becoming more and more pronounced the louder they cheered, her thanks feeding their adoration in a vicious circle of praise.
“Wallis, remember the press,” Amelia cautioned from inside. After two weeks of this, it’d be hard for Wallis to go back to her quiet life in Paris. No wonder Sir Walter had warned her about feeding Wallis’s fairy tales. It made them too tempting to chase and reality too difficult to endure.
“I don’t care about them. Listen to the people.”
“What’ll Cookie say if she sees pictures of you waving like an opera singer? She’ll say you’re acting common or the crowd was paid to be here and you fell for the ruse.”
Wallis whipped around. “They aren’t paid.”
Amelia wasn’t so sure about that. “I know, but Cookie will say they are if pictures of you waving like that make the papers. Remember, you’re as dignified a consort as she is, and much more fashionable.”
Wallis looked back and forth between Amelia and her admirers, wanting to revel in their praise but afraid to look the fool. “You’re right. I can’t embarrass David, this trip is too important to him and our future, and I’m not about to give that Fat Scottish Cook another reason to sneer at me.”
With one last dignified wave, Wallis backed into the room and pulled the balcony doors closed, pausing to listen to the muffled cheers before facing Amelia. “What’s on the agenda for this afternoon?”
“A tour of the R. Stock & Company machine works and then a special concert by the factory workers’ orchestra.”
“Heaven forbid.” Wallis picked up the bouquet of white roses the woman at the station had given her and admired the delicate blooms. She plucked the bouquet from Dr. Ley out of the vase on the sideboard and dropped it in the trash and arranged the white buds in the crystal. “And tonight?”
“Nothing, but tea with Herr Goebbels and Herr Goerlitzer.”
His Royal Highness stepped into the room, as jovial as he’d been on his wedding day. “It’s time to leave for the Gruenewald factory. Are you coming, darling?”
“No, I’m too tired after the train ride. I’ll stay here and rest.”
“Good. I’ll see you this evening.” He pecked her on the cheek and, with Mr. Attfield at his side, left with the Germans.
The Duke was barely gone five minutes before Herr Rudolph, the butler assigned to assist the Windsors during their stay, announced, “Herr von Ribbentrop to see you, Your Royal Highness.”
Wallis’s exhaustion from the long morning instantly vanished. “Show him in.”
Herr von Ribbentrop entered dressed in full Nazi uniform with gleaming black boots and a black jacket. He swept off his cap and made a deep bow to Wallis. “Your Royal Highness.”
He straightened and handed her a bouquet of red carnations.
“How kind of you to think of me.” Wallis admired them with more delight than the diamond brooch the Duke had given her last night.
“You’re always in my thoughts. I’d be honored if you’d accompany me to the Palace of Sanssouci. I know how much you adore eighteenth-century decor.”
“I’d be delighted. I need inspiration for when I finally have a home of my own to decorate.”
Amelia bit back the urge to remind Wallis that with the eyes of the world on her, she should be more discreet about who she spent time with. However, with His Royal Highness escorted around by Nazi officials, Wallis going out in public with Herr von Ribbentrop shouldn’t raise too many more eyebrows than were already lifted because of this trip. It was not something Amelia would do, but little of what Wallis did was anything Amelia would ever do.
Wallis must have felt her subtle judgment because she handed Amelia the carnations. “Put these in a vase then return to your duties.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Amelia took the flowers to Wallis’s bedroom, irked at being dismissed like a servant, but after all, that’s what she was, and not as deferential a one as Mrs. Bedaux had advised. She was trying, but Wallis made it difficult sometimes.
With the Duke and Wallis gone, and the frenzy of sorting luggage and settling their entourage over, Amelia decided to step out and see Berlin. She had some free time before the tea and this might be her only chance to poke around the city. She settled her peaked hat over her hair, tucked her purse under her arm, and made for the door.
“Where are you going, Frau Montague?” Herr Rudolph asked in a respectful but firm tone.
“To do some sightseeing.”
“I don’t advise traveling without an official guide.”
“I’ll stick to the main areas, I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine.” She moved for the door and he stepped between it and her.
“Allow me to ask Frau Koch if she can accompany you.” He barked something in German and Frau Koch, the maid, stepped out of the adjoining room. The two of them began a lively discussion in German, the gist of which was neither of them wanted Amelia to leave. She should just go and let them try and stop her, but she wouldn’t put it past them to try. She wasn’t about to get into a tussle with the German staff.
Frau Koch picked up the telephone and made a call in German. A moment later, Mr. Forwood entered the room.
“Is there a problem?” He glanced back and forth between Amelia and Herr Rudolph.
