He strung the strap of the heavy rucksack over his shoulder and climbed the steps in the foyer to the second floor. Nina, the housemaid, answered his second knock, her knee propped as a barrier against the edge. Through the slat, he could see her graying hair pulled tight in a bun, the blue plaid apron over her dress.
“Hello, Herr Dornbach,” she said, but she didn’t open the door any wider.
Behind her were two upholstered chairs and a couch in the sitting room, but no one was seated there. “I’d like to speak with Frau Weiss.”
“One moment.” Nina slid the bolt across the door as if he might try to break down the door.
When Nina returned, she opened the door wide enough for Max to squeeze inside and directed him into the sitting room. His gaze trailed toward the hallway as he listened to Luzi’s violin. Aprivate concert, he imagined, just for him.
“What does your father say about theAnschluss?” Frau Weiss asked as she stepped into the room, her waved hair skimming thecollar of her starched white shirt. Suddenly the papered walls surrounding them felt more like a boxing ring.
Max straightened in his chair, trying to appear as if he weren’t preparing for a fight. “He doesn’t talk to me about such things.”
Frau Weiss sighed. “We will continue on here, minding our own business.”
Max feared what would happen, though, when others started minding their business as well. “I’ve come to see Luzi.”
Frau Weiss shook her head. “She’s practicing for the Opera Ball.”
“That’s not for two more months!” He sounded more like a lion now, but Frau Weiss infuriated him. He and Luzi had grown up as friends, but for the past year, her mother had thwarted every attempt he made to see Luzi outside a formal social engagement, as if he might harm her.
“She needs every waking minute to prepare, and you, Max, will only distract her.”
“Just a few minutes,” he begged. “Please.”
The door at the opposite side of the sitting room opened, the private staircase leading up from the office. Dr. Weiss joined them in the ring, a stethoscope draped over his white lab coat. “I believe what Max meant to say was that he has the utmost respect for Luzi’s talent and that he is kindly requesting to spend five minutes encouraging her in her endeavors, not distracting her.”
Frau Weiss glanced between the men, and Max attempted to smile in the kindest way possible so that Luzi’s mother didn’t think he was a cad who expected to get everything he pleased. Or a man who would misuse her daughter’s heart.
A baby’s cry broke through the music, hijacking the beauty of Luzi’s song. It was Marta, Luzi’s only sibling.
“Nina?” Frau Weiss called toward the kitchen.
The housemaid peeked her head through the door, nodding. “I’ll get her.”
Frau Weiss turned back to Max. “Five minutes,” she said sharply.
Max thanked both Frau and Dr. Weiss before rushing down the hallway. Near the end of it, he stepped into the library, a room devoted to both music and books. Luzi stood beside a tall window, the violin fixed between her jaw and shoulder as she played, her ash-brown hair swept back in a loose chignon.
The stand before her was layered with music sheets, but instead of reading the music, her gaze was focused on the park behind the apartment as if she could will its flowers to bloom.
Their city might be unraveling, but Max was content right here. “Hello,” he said quietly, not wanting to frighten her.
Stepping away from the window, she lowered her bow, but the violin remained cradled over her arm when she smiled at him. Her eyes were a pale green, the color of spring. “You are here.”
“Indeed.”
She gently placed the violin in its case. “How did you convince Mutti to let you in?”
“Your father convinced her for me.”
“Ah...”
“Five minutes is all she gave us, but it’s enough for today.”
How could anyone hate someone as beautiful and talented as Luzi Weiss, no matter her heritage? For that matter, how could anyone hate another person because of their ancestry?
If only he could scoop Luzi into his arms and steal her away to the lake, hide her from men like Ernst Schmid.
