And as Donat uttered his daughter’s name, Maisie knew that she could not be the one to tell him that Edwina was failing. For now, she would allow him to think her well in England.
“Mr. Donat, I have been sent from England to bring you home. For that, I had to assume your daughter’s name. The British government negotiated with the Germans to secure your freedom—I cannot give you all the details here and now, but there were stipulations. Edwina coming to Munich to bring you home was one of them, but the government decided not to place her in danger, so they sent me. I’m a little more used to these situations, you see.”
“I don’t understand.” Leon began to cough, then added, “But I want so much to go home.”
“Mr. Donat—let me call you Papa from now on, so we get used to it, and used to each other.” Maisie was speaking close to his ear now, so he could understand what she had to say; she had to keep her voice low so Bader would not hear, if he was standing outside the door. “Papa, can you tell me what happened? Why did you bring money to Ulli Bader?”
“It was a favor for someone I knew.” He looked into her eyes; his own were purple-rimmed and bloodshot. “You know this, surely you do.” Donat took a deep breath, as if his lungs needed to be filled before he could continue. He coughed, took another breath. “You are aware of these things, if you are working for the government. In any case, I agreed to bring money to Ulli Bader, via Miss Elaine Otterburn. I already knew little Ulli—his father and I had done business together for years. In fact—” He coughed again. “In fact, I knew the boy when he was in short trousers!” His words were slurred, though his thinking was succinct. “His father and mother worried about him, about whether he was wasting his time, as so many of our young seem to be doing these days. They asked me to check on him. I’d suggested I might be able to offer him a job, you know. When I was asked to take the money to Ulli and Elaine, I assumed there had been something between them—goodness knows that Otterburn girl has a reputation. I am glad my Dina is a good woman. I’d only met the Otterburns socially here and there, but it did not seem a strange request, from one parent to the other.”
“And then you realized what Ulli was up to.” Maisie glanced at the door anxiously. Bader might come back in at any moment.
“Yes, and I applaud him for it. They are brave young people. Elaine, I think, was just on their coattails—I think she wanted something to get her teeth into. I understand she had been unhappy about something that happened in Canada—probably a lost love. With young women, it’s always a lost love.”
Maisie felt a pressure behind her eyes. She had lost her first love, and her second. It’s always a lost love.
“You were very brave to help, Papa.”
“Papa. How I long to hear my Dina say my name.” Donat moaned, as if even his daughter’s name caused him pain. “That I wasn’t caught is a mystery to me, and how they managed to help me away is beyond my imagination. I can remember being in a dark place, Ulli and his friend dragging me away, and then not having enough air, not being able to speak; not a word would come out. My ankle hurt, and I had no control . . .”
“Now we must get you out of here, and home, Mr. Donat.”
“Have they been looking for me? I am sure they knew I was there, and . . .” He began to choke on his saliva. Maisie held up his head and wiped his mouth. It was a minute before he could continue. “There are businessmen here who would have loved to see me imprisoned by their government.” He tried to laugh, but only a choking sound emitted from his throat. “I have many commercial interests, as I am sure you know, and each one is able to carry on very well without me—but there are men who run everything themselves, their fingers in every pie imaginable, and they are the ones who, I am convinced, thought that if I was investigated, well, something might be found. When I was asked to bring the money to Elaine, none of us knew that. Nor when I was seen with Ulli—and by the way, I wasn’t giving him money at the time we were seen. The police were just lucky, I suppose. But they don’t seem to be looking for me now.”
“Another man was arrested in your stead.”
“What has happened to him?”
“I don’t know. In my estimation he was suffering from a type of neurasthenia, so he’ll be considered mentally deficient, and—”
“And the Nazis don’t like that, do they? He will be executed, or subjected to some sort of medical experimentation. I have heard about what goes on in those prisons. Ulli and Anton have told me—they know people.”
“They know far too much for their own good, if you ask me,” said Maisie. “Now then, I have to make arrangements to get you home.”