"'Oh, but I am, Hans." He paused, then asked, "Is that where you previously had the pleasure of Frau von Tresmarck's acquaintance?"
Well, I guess I was wrong again. He is not a faggot after G?nther's firm young body. So what is that scholarship in the Fatherland all about?
"My experience, sadly, was the opposite," Peter said. "The one thing wrong with those bars-I hope the Herr Standartenf?hrer will forgive me-is that se-nior officers frequent them. The young ladies prefer senior officers to junior ones."
"My q
uestion was, was it at the Adlon or the am Zoo that you knew Frau von Tresmarck?"
"I was hoping that the Herr Standartenf?hrer would forget he had asked the question."
"That, meine lieber Hans, confirms what I suspected from the smiles on your faces when you met again at the airport," Goltz said.
"I hope Sturmbannf?hrer von Tresmarck-"
"I wouldn't worry about him," Goltz said with a smile. "Unless, of course, he smiles warmly at you."
"I'm not sure I understand the Herr Standartenf?hrer."
"Oh, I think you do, Hans. You're a man of the world. Von Tresmarck's re-action, I'm sure, is better someone like you, who presumably knows and will follow the rules of the game, than someone else." Then, reacting to the look on Peter's face, he added, "Don't look so surprised. I came to know our Inge rather well myself in Berlin before she married von Tresmarck," Goltz said. "You might even say that I was their Cupid."
"Excuse me?"
"A man in Werner's position needed a wife," Goltz said. "And I was very much afraid that our Inge would be caught in one of the periodic sweeps the po-lice made through the Adlon, and places like it, looking for those who could be put to useful work and who don't have permission to live in Berlin. Our Inge would not be happy in jail, I don't think, or, for that matter, running a lathe in some factory."
"You don't consider improving the morale of lonely officers useful work, Herr Standartenf?hrer?"
"A commendable avocation, Hans. One I suspect our Inge continues to practice here. How did you pass your time waiting for me?"
"May I respectfully request that we change the subject, Herr Standartenf?hrer?"
"After one final word," Goltz said. "A word to the wise. Don't let your... friendship with Inge get out of hand. Moderation in all things, meine lieber Hans."
"I hear and obey, Herr Standartenf?hrer," Peter said with a smile.
"I'm not at liberty, at this time, to tell you how, but von Tresmarck is en-gaged in quite important work, and nothing, nothing can be allowed to interfere with that."
"Jawohl, Herr Standartenf?hrer."
"Now, we can change the subject," Goltz said. "What shall we talk about?"
"G?nther said something about a scholarship at Daimler-Benz?" Peter said. "Is that a safe subject?"
"Oh, he told you about that, did he?"
Peter nodded.
"I'm going to arrange that, Hans, to show my appreciation to his family."
"I don't think I understand, Herr Standartenf?hrer."
Goltz looked around the balcony to assure himself that no one was close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"One of the reasons I'm here, von Wachtstein, is that Admiral Canaris wants to bring the officers from the Graf Spee back to Germany. It is a matter of personal importance to him. You know, of course, that the Admiral was him-self interned here during the First World War and escaped?"
"Yes, I do, Herr Standartenf?hrer. When we learned I was coming here, my father told me that story."
"Your father and the Admiral are quite close, I understand?"