Page 22 of The French Wife

‘Come in,’ Hauptmann Bauer said when he looked up from his work and saw her. He got to his feet, and as she approached his desk, he frowned and his eyes filled with concern. ‘Sit down, sit down, please, Madame Garnier. Are you alright? What has happened?’

She sat down once again in the chair opposite him and wiped away her tears with the back of her hands.

‘Here, allow me,’ Bauer said, taking a crisp, linen handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her.

She took it gratefully and wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

Bauer hovered over her, still frowning. ‘Let me get you some brandy,’ he said. ‘You look as though you’ve had a shock.’ He went to a sideboard under the window and poured a generous measure of amber liquid from a decanter into a glass. Then he came to where she was sitting and handed it to her.

She took a glug and felt the fiery liquid warm her insides.

Instead of going back behind his desk, Bauer leaned against it. He was directly in front of her, his eyes on her face. ‘Now, can you tell me what is wrong?’ he asked, his voice gentle.

‘It’s the men in the cells,’ she said. ‘They’ve obviously been beaten up by your soldiers. Their faces are bloodied and bruised. All of them.’

Bauer stiffened visibly. ‘Are you quite sure, madame?’

She looked up at him and frowned. ‘Of course I’m sure. I’m not making it up, I’ve just seen those men with my own eyes.’

‘If that is the case, then I am very sorry, madame. Very sorry indeed. That shouldn’t have happened under my command. I will speak to my soldiers, investigate this myself and get to the bottom of the incident. And I can tell you now, it won’t happen again. That is not what we’re here for.’

She looked up at him. She wanted to be reassured by his words, but she couldn’t help remembering the three partisans lined up against the wall in the square the day before, the burst of gunfire, the bodies slumping to the ground in pools of blood.

At least Bauer had taken her accusation seriously. She’d half expected him to either deny the men had been beaten up at all, or even to justify the beatings as inevitable during wartime.

‘And you’ve taken women too,’ she went on. ‘How can you do that? The conditions are vile down there. It’s not safe for them.’

‘I’m so sorry, madame,’ he replied. ‘I will look into that too, I assure you.’

‘I have been wondering…’ she said, seizing this opportunity while Bauer must be feeling at a disadvantage to plead once again for the workers’ release.

‘Go on, please,’ he said, turning his gaze to her once again.

‘Well… what if the workers agreed to obtain the correct paperwork within a certain time? Say a month or six weeks or something like that? They could go to Toulouse or Montpellier and make sure they get the correct papers. Would you let them out then?’

Bauer stood up and returned to sit behind the desk, his face serious. ‘You really want those people released, don’t you?’

‘Yes, of course. They’ve done nothing wrong. And they’ve already paid heavily for any mistakes they might have made.’

He regarded her steadily for a few moments and she could see that he was thinking carefully, taking her request seriously.

Finally, he sighed heavily and said, ‘Look, I can’t promise anything, but I will certainly put your suggestion to my colleagues.’

Amélie looked down at her lap, suppressing a triumphant smile. ‘Thank you. Thank you very much, Hauptmann Bauer.’

Then, conscious she’d been away from work for longer than an hour, she put her hands on the arms of the chair and started to get up. It was only then she realised the brandy had gone to her head. She wasn’t used to drinking and the room seemed to lurch around her in an alarming fashion. She sat down again heavily, leaned forward and put her hands to her forehead.

‘Are you alright, madame?’ Bauer was beside her again, kneeling in front of the chair this time, his hand on her arms, his eyes on hers. ‘Are you unwell?’

‘It’s just the brandy,’ she said. ‘I haven’t eaten lunch.’

‘Let me get you something, please,’ he said, getting to his feet.

‘No, no,’ she said, not wanting to be beholden to this man for anything more than was necessary. ‘I will be fine. I need to get back to work.’

‘Well, some water then.’ He rushed back to the table under the window and poured her a glass of water, bringing it to her quickly.

She took a few sips and immediately felt better.