I have to get out of here.
She stood and paced the room before stopping at the window to try and gauge the distance between it and the ground. She could jump but she might break her leg and then they’d shoot her in the garden instead of dragging her off to wherever they tortured those men at night. She’d rather be shot than tortured to death.
The sudden entry of the guard made her nearly jump out of her skin.
“You have five minutes to gather your things,” he barked.
“Where am I going?”
“Five minutes.” He slammed the door closed behind him.
With shaking hands, Amelia packed up her satchel, trying not to let her mind run away with her. She’d just zipped it closed when the door opened again.
“Come with me.”
She followed the guard out of the room and down the stairs. Ahead of her, the hotel’s front door slowly closed behind the soldiers who’d just entered. If she made a run for it she might escape or gain a bullet in the back for her troubles. It might be preferable to whatever was waiting for her at the end of this walk.
The guard led her down the hall to the salon, the only other room she’d seen since arriving. Inside, a man in a gray suit spoke to Herr Knochen in firm but fluent German. After much talking and gesturing and some polite arguing, Herr Knochen waved his arm at Amelia.
“You may take her. It was a pleasure, Frau Montague.” Herr Knochen bowed to her and she smiled, her final performance with the German before the other gentleman approached. She didn’t know if her ordeal was over or about to begin until he spoke to her in perfect English.
“Mrs. Montague, I’m George Kennan, the American Ambassador to Berlin. I happened to be in Paris and Mr. Morton asked me to offer you some assistance. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Amelia clung to Robert as she sobbed in his arms, the weeks of worry and terror leaving her in a flood of tears. She was free, he’d found her. She was safe.
“We called every contact we had to see if there was some rumor about where you were but there was nothing,” Robert explained when her tears finally stopped. He settled her on the sofa in his Chancery office and handed her a cup of coffee. “It was as if you’d disappeared off the face of the earth. I even sent Daniel to the morgue to check for you. You don’t know how surprised we were when that Knochen fellow came in here asking to speak to Susan and mentioned your name.”
“I didn’t know if he would.”
“German bigwigs march in here once a day trying to flex some muscle but they don’t have any authority here, so far. Once we had a lead, we knew where to look. Knochen is head of the secret police and itching to get control in Paris but there’s some infighting between the Gestapo and the German Army so he’s biding his time. It’s why Ambassador Kennan was able to intervene on your behalf. If Knochen had full control, there’s no telling what might’ve happened to you.”
Amelia shivered despite the hot mug clutched in her hands. “Wallis left me there to rot.”
“I know.”
“How? Why? Why did she do that to me?” Fresh tears stung her eyes and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.
Robert slid a file off his desk and sat beside her. “What I’m about to show you is top secret. I trust you not to say anything to anyone, but I warn you, you won’t like what’s in here.”
“I don’t like a lot of things right now.” Including about herself and how she’d landed in trouble.
“With good reason.” He rested the file on his lap and opened it. “The Windsors refused to leave la Croë because they were in talks with Herr von Ribbentrop.”
“I know. Wallis spoke to him before she sent me to Paris. She said he’d guarantee my safety.” She set the coffee cup on the table. It stung to admit she’d been a gullible dupe.
“They were discussing more than that. Herr Hitler expects England will crumble as fast as France, and when it does, he plans to put the Duke on the throne as a puppet king with Wallis by his side.”
Amelia stared at him, unable to believe what he’d said. Wallis was bad but she wasn’t that awful—or was she? If five years ago someone had told Amelia that Wallis would divorce Ernest and help pull a king from his throne, she’d have laughed in their face, and yet it had happened. This must be true. “Oh my God. Mrs. Bedaux said she was entangled in something. I never thought it was this.”
“I don’t think she meant to involve you this deeply.”
“Until she saw the chance to use me for her own ends.” She couldn’t say she wasn’t warned, but once again she’d ignored it, insisting on seeing what she wanted instead of what was right in front of her.
“Apparently, she’s been planning it for some time.” He opened the file and handed her copies of private letters from Wallis to Herr von Ribbentrop and other German officials. Some were as recent as June, others stretched back to 1935 and 1936 when Wallis had been the King’s mistress. Buried between comments about difficult staff or new antiques were bits of information that when taken alone seemed harmless, but when read together painted an ugly portrait of state secrets stolen from the King’s dispatch boxes and passed to the Germans. Amelia wanted to tell Robert these were forgeries, an attempt by someone, probably the Queen of England, to besmirch Wallis but she couldn’t. She recognized Wallis’s elegant handwriting and the tone and flair of her phrases. There were also official government documents that made it all but certain, especially the memo to J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Memorandum for the Director
For some time the British Government has known that the Duchess of Windsor was exceedingly pro-German in her sympathies and connections and there is strong reason to believe that this is the reason why she was considered so obnoxious to the British Government that they refused to permit Edward to marry her and maintain the throne.
Shortly prior to the designation of the Duke to be Governor of The Bahamas, field agents established conclusively that the Duchess of Windsor had recently been in direct contact with von Ribbentrop and was maintaining constant contact and communication with him. Because of their high official position the Duchess was obtaining a variety of information concerning the British and French government official activities which she was passing on to the Germans. Accordingly, the British government moved them to Biarritz.
“That’s why the Germans announced which room the Windsors were staying in, in Biarritz,” Robert explained. “The Duchess told them where they were and they used the threat as a credible reason to go to la Croë. It’s also why they refused to leave there. They were waiting for word or instructions from the Germans. They still are.” He handed her another document. “We intercepted and decoded this communiqué from Baron von Hoyningen-Huene in Lisbon to Herr von Ribbentrop.”
I have heard through my sources that the Duke of Windsor believes continued heavy bombing will make England ready for Peace. He will postpone his journey to The Bahamas for as long as possible to see if the winds of war change in his favor. Her Royal Highness, given her need to interfere in politics, and her limitless ambition, has not abandoned hope of becoming Queen of England.
He laid another paper on top of it. “There are also rumors the Duchess and Herr von Ribbentrop are lovers.” He placed a typewritten
memo in front of her. Much of it was redacted but what wasn’t confirmed her suspicions about Wallis and Herr von Ribbentrop
long ago at Madame Schiaparelli’s.
Memorandum to the Director
[Redacted]
She also told me again that there was no doubt whatever but that the Duchess of Windsor had had an affair with Ribbentrop, and that of course she had an intense hate for the English since they had kicked them out of England.
Amelia thought she might be sick. Wallis’s deceit had been in front of her the whole time but she hadn’t seen it because she’d convinced herself Wallis had learned from her mistakes. She’d been as wrong about that as Wallis’s concern for her.
Robert set down another one. “This one was intercepted three days ago. It’s from Herr von Ribbentrop to the Duchess.”
