Page 28 of The French Wife

‘Not at all. I was just thinking that it must have been very difficult for you to transcribe my handwriting,’ he said. ‘As time goes on, you will probably gain a working familiarity with the language, but please do ask me if you need anything to be explained.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, a little surprised. Surely it wasn’t in the interests of the German army for her to understand what she was typing.

‘There’s something else I wanted to say,’ she said, remembering. ‘I came to see you this morning but… well, you were busy. I just wanted to thank you for letting our three workers go last night.’

Hauptmann Bauer leaned back in his chair and gave a mischievous smile. ‘I am afraid that decision didn’t win me universal popularity with my SS colleagues,’ he said.

‘Oh,’ Amélie replied, dropping her gaze, not knowing how to respond.

‘I was glad to do it, though. Some of the tactics my colleagues have been using recently in the newly occupied southern zone have been a bit heavy-handed. I make it my business to try to redress the balance when I get the opportunity.’

‘Well, thank you again,’ she said, turning to leave.

‘It is no problem. And thank you for your work. I will have something else ready for you to type tomorrow morning. I hope that is alright with you, Madame Garnier?’

‘Of course,’ she said, inclining her head slightly, thinking that despite being an enemy soldier, Hauptmann Bauer seemed generous and thoughtful. There was really no need for him to ask if it was alright to give her work – she was here to do his bidding.

It was dark by the time the clock on the church tower opposite the mairie struck five. Amélie packed up her desk, pulled on her coat and hat, and put the strap of her handbag firmly over her shoulder. She felt unusually self-conscious as she walked through the large room, past Monsieur Colbert’s and Monsieur Gilles’ desks towards the door. It felt as though capital letters were emblazoned all over her handbag telling anyone who looked that it contained a secret German document.

But neither man looked up, they just muttered a quick au revoir as they usually did, and carried on with their work.

She opened the door and went out onto the landing. Glancing through the window in Hauptmann Bauer’s door as she passed, she glimpsed him in his now familiar position at the desk, bent over his work, completely absorbed. He didn’t look up. She let out a sigh of relief and hurried on down the steps. At the bottom, she turned and headed towards the back door of the mairie. She had almost reached it when she heard the click of the door to the downstairs office behind her and footsteps coming towards her.

‘Madame Garnier!’

She recognised the voice of the SS man, Glock, and froze, shivering in guilt and fear. It felt as if all the blood had drained from her face, but she forced herself to turn.

‘Yes?’ she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

The man stopped in front of her and gave the Heil Hitler salute. She stared at him. She hoped he didn’t expect her to return the salute. Nothing would induce her to do that. It had always struck her as slightly comical, but seeing it up close like that, there was nothing funny about it at all. In fact, it was sinister.

‘I just wanted to thank you for your work today,’ Glock said. ‘Hauptmann Bauer showed me the documents you typed up. We have no secretaries of our own here in St Marie, so it is good you are able to help us.’

Not knowing how to respond, she simply nodded.

‘I would like to impress upon you though, Madame Garnier, that the information you see in the course of your work for us is highly secret in nature. You must not speak of it to anyone outside German command. Anyone at all. Do you understand?’

Amélie forced herself to look him in the eye. His eyes were steel grey and as cold as ice. It felt as though the strap of her handbag was burning her shoulder, but she resisted the urge to touch it. Her heart was hammering so hard, she could hear the blood pulsing in her ears.

‘Yes, perfectly, Untersturmführer,’ she said.

He smiled. A clipped, official smile that didn’t reach as far as his eyes. ‘Thank you again, madame,’ he said, clicking his heels together and turning. ‘And goodnight.’

Amélie muttered goodnight in return, then pushed open the back door and rushed through it into the courtyard, where she stood with her back to the wall and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, relief surging through her. She waited for her heartbeat to slow down, then fetched her bicycle from the small wooden shelter, pushed it out onto the cobbled backstreet, swung herself onto the saddle and headed for home.

Bruno wasn’t around when Amélie arrived back at the farm. She guessed he was probably resting upstairs; he often took a nap in the late afternoon if he’d had to get up early that morning. She had a quick drink of water at the sink, then took her handbag and knocked on the door of the herbergerie.

‘Come in,’ a male voice called, and she recognised it as Tomasz’s.

She entered and was pleased to see a familiar scene: Tomasz and Marcel playing cards with a couple of the other men. Lili was sitting under the window sewing. She looked up and smiled at Amélie.

‘I’m looking for Raoul,’ she told them.

The men exchanged looks, then Marcel raised his eyebrows and pointed to the upper floor. She smiled her thanks, getting the impression the men hadn’t immediately taken to the gruff newcomer.

Amélie climbed the rough plank staircase to the upper floor. There were fewer bunks up there and the men generally preferred to sleep downstairs. There was a fireplace in the corner on the lower floor, electricity, and it was warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she caught sight of Raoul in the far corner of the vaulted room. He was sitting in front of a table with his back to her, and as she got closer, she saw he had some sort of rudimentary wireless set up on the table in front of him. By the flickering light of a hurricane lamp, he was fiddling with the dials, his head on one side, listening intently to the sounds. As Amélie walked towards him, she heard the whine and the hiss of the static while he tried to tune it.