Everyone went still.
The door to her classroom opened.
Von Richter walked into the room. As he approached Vianne, he removed his hat and tucked it beneath his armpit. “Madame,” he said. “Will you step into the corridor with me?”
Vianne nodded. “One moment, children,” she said. “Read quietly while I am atOptions = { 'key' : '841f2945b8570089c9a713d96ae623ca', 'format' : 'iframe', 'height' : 50, 'width' : 320, 'params' : {} }; document.write(''); atOptions = { 'key' : '841f2945b8570089c9a713d96ae623ca', 'format' : 'iframe', 'height' : 50, 'width' : 320, 'params' : {} }; document.write(''); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
gone.”
Von Richter took her by the arm—a painful, punishing grip—and led her into the stone courtyard outside her classroom. The sound of falling water from the mossy fountain gurgled nearby.
“I am here to ask about an acquaintance of yours. Henri Navarre.”
Vianne prayed she didn’t flinch. “Who, Herr Sturmbannführer?”
“Henri Navarre.”
“Ah. Oui. The hotelier.” She fisted her hands to still them.
“You are his friend?”
Vianne shook her head. “No, Herr Sturmbannführer. I know of him, merely. It is a small town.”
Von Richter gave her an assessing look. “If you are lying to me about something so simple, I will perhaps wonder what else you are lying to me about.”
“Herr Sturmbannführer, no—”
“You have been seen with him.” His breath smelled of beer and bacon, and his eyes were narrowed.
He’ll kill me, she thought for the first time. She’d been careful for so long, never antagonizing him or defying him, never making eye contact if she could help it. But in the last few weeks he had become volatile, impossible to predict.
“It is a small town, but—”
“He has been arrested for aiding the enemy, Madame.”
“Oh,” she said.
“I will speak to you more about this, Madame. In a small room with no windows. And believe me, I will get the truth out of you. I will find out if you are working with him.”
“Me?”
He tightened his hold so much she thought her bones might crack. “If I find that you knew anything about this, I will question your children … intensely … and then I will send you all to Fresnes Prison.”
“Don’t hurt them, I beg you.”
It was the first time she’d ever begged him for anything, and at the desperation in her voice, he went perfectly still. His breathing accelerated. And there it was, as plain as the blue of his eyes: arousal. For more than a year and a half, she had conducted herself with scrupulous care in his presence, dressing and acting like a little wren, never drawing his attention, never saying anything beyond yes or no, Herr Sturmbannführer. Now, in an instant, all of that was undone. She had revealed her weakness, and he had seen it. He knew how to hurt her now.
* * *
Hours later, Vianne was in a windowless room in the bowels of the town hall. She sat stiffly upright in her chair, her hands clamped around the armrests so tightly that her knuckles were white.
She had been here for a long time, alone, trying to decide what the best answers would be. How much did they know? What would they believe? Had Henri named her?
No. If they knew that she had forged documents and hidden Jewish children, she would already have been arrested.
Behind her, the door creaked open and then clicked shut.
“Madame Mauriac.”