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CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Septe woke Fitz

At first he thought it was Bea Then he remembered that his as in London and he was in Paris The wonant princess, but a nineteen-year-old French bar girl with the face of an angel

He raised himself on his elbow and looked at her She had blond eyelashes that lay on her cheeks like butterflies on petals Now they ith tears "J&039;ai peur," she sobbed "I&039;htened"

He stroked her hair "Calme-toi," he said "Relax" He had learned more French from women such as Gini than he ever had at school Gini was short for Ginette, but even that sounded like aprosaic such as Françoise

It was a fine h the openof Gini&039;s roo boots on the cobblestones "Paris has not yet fallen," hething to say, for it brought forth fresh sobs

Fitz looked at his atch It was half past eight He had to be back at his hotel by ten o&039;clock without fail

Gini said: "If the Germans come, will you take care ofa guilty pang He would if he could, but she would not be his top priority

"Will they come?" she asked in a small voice

Fitz wished he knew The Gerence It had stor every battle Now the avalanche had reached a line north of Paris-exactly how far north, Fitz would find out in the next couple of hours

"Some say the city will not be defended," Gini sobbed "Is it true?"

Fitz did not know that either If Paris resisted, it would be s would be wrecked, its broad boulevards cratered, its bistros and boutiques turned to rubble It was te to think the city should surrender, and escape all that "It ht be better for you," he said to Gini with false heartiness "You will eneral ill call you his Liebling"

"I don&039;t want a Prussian" Her voice sank to a whisper "I love you"

Perhaps she did, he thought; or perhaps she just saw hi town, but it was not easy Most private cars had been commandeered Railway trains were liable to be requisitioned at any ers thrown out and stranded in the middle of nowhere A taxi to Bordeaux cost fifteen hundred francs, the price of a small house

"It may not happen," he told her "The Ger and fighting for a month They can&039;t keep it up forever"

He half believed this The French had fought hard in retreat The soldiers orn out, starving and demoralized, but few had been taken prisoner and they had lost only a handful of guns The unflappable commander in chief, General Joffre, had held the Allied forces together and withdrawn to a line southeast of Paris, where he was regrouping He had also ruthlessly sacked senior French officers who did not come up to scratch: two army commanders, seven corps commanders, and dozens of others had been mercilessly dismissed

The Geres that suggested overconfidence The Gerh command had actually removed troops from France and sent theht be a mistake The French were not finished yet

He was not so sure about the British

The British Expeditionary Force was small-five and a half divisions, by contrast with the seventy French divisions in the field They had fought bravely at Mons,Fitz proud; but in five days they had lost fifteen thousand of their one hundred thousand one into retreat

The Welsh Rifles were part of the British force, but Fitz was not with them At first he had been disappointed to be posted to Paris as a liaison officer: he yearned to be fighting with his regi him as an amateur who had to be sent someplace where he could not do much harm But he knew Paris and spoke French, so he could hardly deny that he ell-qualified

As it turned out, the job was ht Relations between the French coerously bad The British Expeditionary Force was coly, was Sir John French He had taken offense, early on, by what he saw as a lack of consultation by General Joffre, and had gone into a sulk Fitz struggled to ence between the two Allied commanders despite the at and a bit shameful, and Fitz as a representative of the British was uised scorn of French officers But it had got drao Sir John had told Joffre that his troops required two days&039; rest The next day he had changed his requirement to ten days The French had been horrified, and Fitz had felt deeply ashamed of his own country

He had remonstrated with Colonel Hervey, a sycophantic aide to Sir John, but his conation and denial In the end Fitz had spoken by phone to Lord Remarc, a junior minister in the War Office They had been schoolboys at Eton together, and Reossipy friends Fitz had not felt good about going behind the backs of his superior officers this way, but the struggle for Paris was so finely balanced that he felt he had to act Patriotism was not so simple, he had learned

The effect of his complaint had been explosive Prime Minister Asquith had sent the new minister of war, Lord Kitchener, hotfoot to Paris, and Sir John had been carpeted by his boss the day before yesterday Fitz had high hopes that he would shortly be replaced Failing that, at least he y

Fitz would soon find out

He turned away from Gini and put his feet on the floor

"Are you leaving?" she said

He stood up "I have work to do"

She kicked off the sheet Fitz looked at her perfect breasts Catching his eye, she sly

He resisted temptation "Make soreen silk wrap and heated water while Fitz got dressed Last night he had dined at the British eimental mess kit, but after dinner he had shed the conspicuous scarlet

She gave hi cup like a bowl "I ait for you tonight at Albert&039;s Club," she said The nightclubs were officially closed, as were theaters and cineht, and restaurants at nine thirty But it was not so easy to shut down the nightlife of a great city, and enterprising types such as Albert had been quick to open illicit joints where they could sell chane at extortionate prices

"I&039;ll try to get there by ht," he said The coffee was bitter but it washed away the last traces of sleepiness He gave Gini a gold British sovereign It was a generous payreatly preferred to paperto hiht, won&039;t you?" she said

He felt sorry for her Her world was collapsing and she did not knohat to do He would have liked to take her under his wing and pronant wife, and if Bea was upset she could lose the baby Even if he had been a single man, to have encuhingstock Anyway, Gini was only one of htened, except those ere dead "I&039;ll do my best," he said, and extracted himself from her embrace

His blue Cadillac was parked at the curb A small Union Jack flew from the bonnet There were few private cars on the streets, and , usually a tricolor or a red cross, to show they were being used for essential ork

Getting the car there from London had taken ruthless use of Fitz&039;s connections and a slad he had taken the trouble He needed to move daily between British and French headquarters, and it was a relief not to have to beg the loan of a car or a horse from the hard-pressed arine turned over and fired The streets were mostly empty of traffic Even the buses had been co the are flock of sheep crossing town, presumably on their way to the Gare de l&039;Est to be sent by train to feed the troops

He was intrigued to see a sathered around a poster freshly pasted to the wall of the Palais Bourbon He pulled up and joined the people reading it

ARMY OF PARIS

CITIZENS OF PARIS

Fitz&039;s eye went to the foot of the notice and he saw that it was signed by General Gallieni, the overnor of the city Gallieni, a crusty old soldier, had been brought out of retires at which no one was allowed to sit down: he believed people reached decisions faster that way

The body of his e was characteristically terse

The ive new impetus to the national defense

Fitz was disovernment had fled! There had been rumors for the last few days that ministers would deca to abandon the capital However, now they had gone It was a very bad sign

The rest of the announcement was defiant

I have been entrusted with the duty of defending Paris against the invader

So, Fitz thought, Paris will not surrender after all The city will fight Good! That was certainly in British interests If the capital had to fall, at least the enemy should be made to pay heavily for their conquest

This duty I shall carry out to the last extre Thank God for old soldiers

The people around see Gallieni was a fighter, someone said with satisfaction; he would not let Paris be taken Others were overnment has left us, a woman said; that means the Germans will be here today or tomorrow A man with a briefcase said he had sent his wife and children to his brother&039;s house in the country A well-dressed woman said she had thirty kilos of dried beans in the kitchen cupboard

Fitz just felt that the British contribution to the war effort, and his part in it, had beco sense of doom, he drove on to the Ritz

He entered the lobby of his favorite hotel and went into a phone booth There he called the British e him about Gallieni&039;s notice, just in case the news had not yet reached the rue du Faubourg St-Honore

When he came out of the booth he ran into Sir John&039;s aide Colonel Hervey

Hervey looked at Fitz&039;s tuxedo and said: "Major Fitzherbert! Why the devil are you dressed like that?"

"Goodthe question It was obvious that he had been out all night

"It&039;s nine o&039;clock in the bloody ! Don&039;t you knoe&039;re at war?"

This was another question that did not require an answer Coolly Fitz said: "Is there so I can do for you, sir?"

Hervey was a bully who hated people he could not intimidate "Less of your insolence, Major," he said "We&039;ve got enough to do, with interfering bloody visitors from London"

Fitz raised an eyebrow "Lord Kitchener is the minister for war"

"The politicians should leave us to do our job But soh places has stirred them up" He looked as if he suspected Fitz, but did not have the courage to say so

"You can hardly have been surprised at the War Office being concerned," Fitz said "Ten days&039; rest, with the Gerates!"

"The ht be over What are we here for, if not to save Paris?"

"Kitchener took Sir John away from his headquarters on a crucial day of battle," Hervey blustered

"Sir John wasn&039;t in et back to his troops, I noticed," Fitz rejoined "I saw hi insolent but he could not help hiht," said Hervey

Fitz turned on his heel and went upstairs

He was not as insouciant as he had pretended Nothing would make him ko to idiots such as Hervey, but it was important to hiht that people ht say he was not the man his father was Hervey was not y patronizing his favorites and under his rivals, but by the same token he could ruin the careers ofthe war

Fitz brooded as he bathed, shaved, and dressed in the khaki uniforet nothing to eat until dinner, he ordered an omelette sent up to his suite with more coffee

At ten o&039;clock sharp his working day began, and he put theScot, arrived fro into Fitz&039;s suite the dust of the road and the &039;s aerial reconnaissance report

Fitz rapidly translated the docu script on pale blue Ritz paper EveryBritish planes overflew German positions and noted the direction in which eneet the information to General Gallieni as quickly as possible

Going out through the lobby he was called by the head porter to take a phone call

The voice that said: "Fitz, is that you?" was distant and distorted, but to his astonishment it was, unmistakably, that of his sister, Maud

"How the devil did you overnment and the military could phone Paris from London

"I&039;m in Johnny Relad to hear your voice," Fitz said "How are you?"

"Everyone&039;s terribly worried here," she said "At first the papers printed nothing but good news Only people who knew their geography understood that after each gallant French victory the Germans seemed to be another fifty miles inside France But on Sunday The Times published a special edition Isn&039;t that odd? The everyday paper is full of lies, so when they tell the truth they have to bring out a special edition"

She was trying to be witty and cynical, but Fitz could hear the fear and anger underneath "What did the special edition say?"

"It spoke of our &039;retreating and broken army&039; Asquith is furious Now everyone expects Paris to fall any day" Her façade cracked, and there was a sob in her voice as she said: "Fitz, are you going to be all right?"

He could not lie to her "I don&039;t know The government has moved to Bordeaux Sir John French has been told off, but he&039;s still here"

"Sir John has complained to the War Office that Kitchener went to Paris in the uniform of a field overnment minister and therefore a civilian"

"Good God At a ti about etiquette! Why hasn&039;t he been sacked?"

"Johnny says it would look like an admission of failure"

"What will it look like if Paris falls to the Geran to cry "What about the baby Bea is expecting-your child?"

"How is Bea?" Fitz said, reht

Maud sniffed and sed More caler suffers fro sickness"

"Tell her I miss her"

There was a burst of interference, and another voice came on the line for a few seconds, then disappeared That ain, her voice was plaintive "Fitz, ill it end?"

"Within the next few days," Fitz said "One way or the other"

"Please look after yourself!"

"Of course"

The line went dead

Fitz cradled the phone, tipped the head porter, and went out into the Place Vendoot into his car and drove off Maud had upset hi to die for his country, and hoped he would die bravely, but he wanted to see his baby He had not yet been a parent and he was eager to row, to help hihter raised without a father

He drove across the river Seine to the cos known as Les Invalides Gallieni had made his headquarters in a nearby school called the Lycee Victor-Duruy, set back behind trees The entrance was closely guarded by sentries in bright blue tunics and red trousers with red caps, so much smarter than the rasped that accurate modern rifles meant that today&039;s soldier wanted to disappear into the landscape

Fitz ell known to the guards and walked straight in It was a girls&039; school, with paintings of pets and flowers, and Latin verbs conjugated on blackboards that had been pushed out of the way The rifles of the sentries and the boots of the officers seeone before

Fitz went straight to the staff room As soon as he walked in he sensed an ate map of central France on which the positions of the armies had been ht despite the prostate cancer that had caused hiressively at the lasses

Fitz saluted, then shook hands, French style, with his opposite nu on

"We&039;re tracking von Kluck," said Dupuys

Gallieni had a squadron of nine old aircraft that he was using toarmy General von Kluck was in command of the First Army, the nearest Gerot?" Fitz asked

"Two reports" Dupuys pointed at the map "Our aerial reconnaissance indicates that von Kluck issoutheast, towards the river Marne"

This confirmed what the British had reported On that trajectory, the First Army would pass to the east of Paris And, since von Kluck co, that meant their entire force would bypass the city Would Paris escape after all?

Dupuys went on: "And we have a report froests the sahtfully "German military theory is to destroy the enemy&039;s army first, and take possession of cities later"

"But don&039;t you see?" said Dupuys excitedly "They are exposing their flank!"

Fitz had not thought of that His mind had been on the fate of Paris Now he realized that Dupuys was right, and this was the reason for the air of exhilaration If the intelligence was right, von Kluck had made a classic military error The flank of an army was more vulnerable than its head A flank attack was like a stab in the back

Why had von Kluck made such a mistake? He must believe the French to be so weak that they were incapable of counterattack

In which case, he rong

Fitz addressed the general "I think this will interest you greatly, sir," he said, and handed over his envelope "It&039;s our aerial reconnaissance report of this erly

Fitz stepped up to the eneral nodded perence elcoinal, Fitz said: "Our people put von Kluck&039;s ar in this direction" It confirmed what the French already believed

For a moment, the room was silent

"It&039;s true, then," said Dupuys quietly "They have exposed their flank"

General Gallieni&039;s eyes glittered behind his pince-nez "So," he said, "this is our moment to attack"

{II}

Fitz was at hisnext to Gini&039;s sli his wife Then he thought dispiritedly that von Kluck must surely realize his , Friday, Septeht of the French defenders, von Kluck continued southeast That was enough for General Joffre He gave orders for the French Sixth Ar and strike at von Kluck&039;s rearguard

But the British continued to retreat

Fitz was in despair that evening when he met Gini at Albert&039;s "This is our last chance," he explained to her over a cha to cheer him up "If we can seriously rattle the Germans nohen they are exhausted and their supply lines are fully stretched, wetheir advance to a halt But if this counterattack fails, Paris will fall"

She was sitting on a bar stool, and she crossed her long legs with a whisper of silk stockings "But why are you so gloomy?"

"Because, at a ti If Paris falls noill never live down the shame of it"

"General Joffre ht! You must speak to Joffre yourself!"

"He doesn&039;t give audience to British majors Besides, he would probably think it was some kind of trick by Sir John And I would be in deep trouble, not that I care about that"

"Then speak to one of his advisers"

"Same problem I can&039;t walk into French ar them"

"But you could have a quiet word in the ear of General Lourceau, without anyone knowing about it"

"How?"

"He is sitting over there"

Fitz followed her gaze and saw a French at a table with a young woman in a red dress

"He is very amiable," Gini added

"You know him?"

"We were friends for a while, but he preferred Lizette"

Fitz hesitated Once again he was conte behind the backs of his superiors But this was no time for niceties Paris was at stake He had to do whatever he could

"Introduce antly off her stool and walked across the club, swaying slightly to the ragtieneral&039;s table She kissed him on the lips, smiled at his companion, and sat down After a few moments&039; earnest conversation she beckoned to Fitz

Lourceau stood up and the two men shook hands "I&039;m honored to meet you, sir," Fitz said

"This is not the place for serious conversation," the general said "But Gini assures ent"

"It most certainly is," Fitz said, and he sat down

{III}

Next day Fitz went to the British camp at Melun, twenty-five miles southeast of Paris, and learned to his dis

Perhaps his h to Joffre Or perhaps it had, and Joffre si he could do

Fitz entered Vaux-le-Penil, theas headquarters, and ran into Colonel Hervey in the hall "May I ask, sir, e are retreating when our allies are launching a counterattack?" he said as politely as he could

"No, you may not ask," said Hervey