I had only been in the bedroom cleaning for a short while when the telephone in the sitting room began to ring. There was an extension on Chanel’s beside table, which was also ringing. I was debating whether I should answer it when I heard Chanel take the call.
After a quick exchange with the caller I heard her speak to Kranz. ‘Erich, it’s for you. It’s Göring.’
‘What?’ said Kranz. I imagined him jumping to his feet and saluting the receiver. ‘Herr Reichsmarshall,’ he said, taking the call.
I looked at the telephone by the side of the bed. My heart raced as, with a shaking hand, I carefully picked up the receiver and held it to my ear.
The two men were speaking in German and it only took a few seconds to tune my ear in. I placed one hand over the mouthpiece, scared they would hear my breathing. All the time I kept my eye on the door in case Chanel should come into the room, while at the same time, I listened intently to what was being said.
I could understand nearly everything, and anything I wasn’t familiar with, I could take an educated guess. Göring was very unhappy about a large batch of leaflets that had been distributed throughout the city in the night. Allied propaganda. Kranz was taking something of a telling-off as Göring demanded Kranz arrest those involved.
‘I have a new name,’ Kranz was saying, trying to appease his superior. ‘There is a pharmacist who we have persuaded to work for us. He’s been supplying the Resistance with chemicals for the printing presses. He’s proved quite a talkative man. We know all about the White Lily circuit at Sacré-Cœur now.’
‘I want results,’ demanded Göring.
‘And I will have results for you very soon,’ assured Kranz. ‘There is a meeting next week and we will be waiting for them.’
‘Good. Don’t let me down.’ Göring ended the call abruptly and from the other room I heard Kranz drop the handset into the cradle.
I held my breath as I lowered my receiver onto the telephone, hoping Kranz would be too distracted to hear the small ding the main phone would make as the call was disconnected. He was busy talking loudly to Chanel and I guessed he was making his way out of the apartment.
I spent some time cleaning the bedroom and bathroom, emerging later to find Chanel sitting on the sofa where she’d been earlier. ‘You should ignore Kranz,’ said Chanel, not looking up from the newspaper she was reading. ‘He’s easily amused, like most men.’
‘Oui, madame.’
Chanel put the paper down. ‘You seem distracted today. Are you all right? Are you ill?’
‘I’m not ill, madame.’
Chanel let out an impatient sigh. ‘Do I have to drag everything out of you? What is bothering you?’
I shook my head. ‘It’s nothing important.’
‘I think it is. Let me guess. It’s a man.’
I looked up, startled at how accurate she was. Chanel continued. ‘I tell you, men are at the root of all our troubles. Now, what is wrong? Has something happened to your boyfriend?’
Something made me want to confide in this woman, but I knew I couldn’t tell her everything. I had to protect Marcel at all costs, but Alphonse, well, I could speak about him.
‘I do have a boyfriend, but I don’t love him anymore,’ I ventured.
‘Ah. And you haven’t told him about this change of heart?’
‘No. I haven’t had the chance yet, but I will when I next see him.’
‘At least you’re going to be honest. I assume he must work for the Germans.’
‘He’s a gendarme.’
‘I see. You know sometimes, we have to put matters of the heart to one side and do things that we wouldn’t normally do. Things that keep us safe and ensure that we survive this war.’
‘Is it possible to go against the heart, though?’ I asked, thinking of Alphonse and Marcel at the same time.
‘We have to be strong,’ insisted Chanel. ‘Paris won’t always be like this and despite what the German war machine spouts, we must never give up hope that one day we will live in peace. The war will be over and then we can let our hearts rule our heads. But at the moment, we just need to survive and do whatever it takes to stay alive.’
Chanel motioned for me to pour some more coffee, and I obliged. ‘What I’m saying,’ she continued, ‘and this is strictly between us …’
‘Of course, madame.’
