“At least hell hasn’t frozen over.”
“Never going to happen,” he says, lifting one eyebrow. “Unless you decide to become the spokesman for wifely submission.”
Even Gertrud has to laugh at this. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Since when do you need help dressing in the morning? I can see that heiress summoning Fr?ulein Imhof, but you? No. What are you up to?”
“Believe it or not, I am not the most conniving person on this airship.”
“Truly, the end of days.”
“Emilie came to me. She has gotten herself in some sort of trouble and wanted to exchange information.”
Leonhard groans and sits down hard on the bed. “And what did this exchange cost us?”
“That American’s name. Edward Douglas.”
“For?”
She lifts the dog tag from her jewelry box and tosses it to him. “Ludwig Knorr.”
“So you told the American his real name? I did wonder if you’d made it up.” Leonhard inspects the tag as though searching for clues. “Is that it? She gave you nothing more than a name?”
“Oh, do give me a bit more credit than that. Ludwig Knorr is the chief rigger aboard this airship. He’s a war hero. Aaaand”—Gertrud draws this out until she’s certain she has Leonhard’s full attention—“he plays poker with a few other men in the crew’s mess every night.”
God, I love my husband, she thinks. Gertrud does not even have to explain her plan. Leonhard can sniff it from five feet away. He turns the dog tag over in his palm and then looks at her, his smile devious and unnerving. “The American wants to find this man.”
“He does.”
“I do wonder,” Leonhard says, holding up the tag by its chain so that it hangs at eye level, “what would happen if they were in the same room together? What might we learn at such a moment?”
“I have been wondering the same thing myself.”
Leonhard unbuttons his wet, wrinkled shirt and replaces it with a clean one from the narrow closet. “Liebchen, I think it’s time we went to lunch.”
“You’re quite sexy when you get that calculating look in your eye.”
Leonhard kisses her beneath the ear. “I learned from the best.”
“Darling, that’s a skill you perfected long before I was even born.”
He laughs. “Who says I was talking about you?”
“Do not,” she holds up one finger, “tell me her name if you value the few, short years you have left.”
Gertrud takes his arm and they arrive for lunch, only to find that the stewards have rearranged everything to form one long table down the center of the dining room. No more congregating in small groups. The passengers will now be forced to eat together.
“This is new.”
“We thought it would be more festive,” Wilhelm Balla says as he pulls out a chair for Gertrud at the end of the table. “This is usually the point in the trip when everyone begins to get restless, so we thought we’d change things around a bit. Make it feel more like a banquet. A celebration.”
Leonhard sits down beside his wife. Places a warm, rough hand on her knee. She leans into him and waits to see how this new arrangement will change the atmosphere.
It has been only two days, but the passengers have easily fallen into the rhythm of the ship. The others begin arriving within moments. They are delighted with the adjustment and take their places at the table, chattering happily as their glasses are filled with wine—a nice, sparkling Lambrusco.
Gertrud is not surprised when the American sits down directly across from her. She would have been surprised had he chosen not to antagonize her. No matter. She will enjoy her lunch and she will get the upper hand. Let the bastard flail around for all she cares.
“You know,” Gertrud says, looking straight at him, “I don’t believe you’ve said what it is exactly that you do in Frankfurt, Herr Douglas.”
He doesn’t miss a beat, doesn’t try to be evasive. “I am the director of European operations for the McCann Erickson company.”
“I see. Other than having a fancy title and dubious office space, what does that entail? In layman’s terms.”
The American breaks a breadstick in half, spreads a piece of soft La Tur cheese across its warm center, then dips it in a ramekin of dark, syrupy balsamic reduction. He takes a moment to enjoy this bite before answering.
“If I must simplify, I’d say that I am an advertising executive. I use a wide range of international contacts to get wealthy Europeans to invest in marketing campaigns.”