The Key to Rebecca

"I sing, and when I can't get singing I dance, and when I can't get dancing I wait on tables." It was more or less true. She had done all three at one time or another, although dancing was the only one she did successfully, and she was not brilliant at that. "I told you, I'm wasting my life. Why all the questions? Is Palestine accepting only college graduates now?"

  "Nothing like that," he said. "But it's very tough to get in. The British have imposed a quota, and all the places are taken by refugees from the Nazis."

  "Why didn't you tell me that before?" she said angrily.

  "Two reasons. One is that we can get people in illegally. The other ... the other takes a little longer to explain. Would you wait a minute? I must telephone someone."

  She was still angry with him for questioning her before he told her there were no places. "I'm not sure there's any point in my waiting."

  "There is, I promise you. It's quite important. Just a minute or two."

  "Very well."

  He went into a back room to phone. Elene waited impatiently. The day was warming up, and the room was poorly ventilated. She felt a little foolish. She had come here impulsively, without thinking through the idea of emigration. Too many of her decisions were made like that. She might have guessed they would ask her questions; she could have prepared her answers. She could have come dressed in something a little less glamorous.

  The young man came back. "It's so warm," he said. "Shall we go across the street for a cold drink?"

  So that was the game, she thought. She decided to put him down. She gave him an appraising look, then said: "No. You're much too young for me."

  He was terribly embarrassed. "Oh, please don't misunderstand me. There's someone I want you to meet, that's all."

  She wondered whether to believe him. She had nothing to lose, and she was thirsty. "All right."

  He held the door for her. They crossed the street, dodging the rickety carts and broken-down taxis, feeling the sudden blazing heat of the sun. They ducked under a striped awning and stepped into the cool of a cafe. The young man ordered lemon juice; Elene had gin and tonic.

  She said: "You can get people in illegally."

  "Sometimes." He took half his drink in one gulp. "One reason we do it is if the person is being persecuted. That's why I asked you some questions."

  "I'm not being persecuted."

  "The other reason is if people have done a lot for the cause, some way."

  "You mean I have to earn the right to go to Palestine?"

  "Look, maybe one day all Jews will have the right to go there to live. But while there are quotas there have to be criteria."

  She was tempted to ask: Who do I have to sleep with? But she had misjudged him that way once already. All the same, she thought he wanted to use her somehow. She said: "What do I have to do?"

  He shook his head. "I can't make a bargain with you. Egyptian Jews can't get into Palestine, except for special cases, and you're not a special case. That's all there is to it."

  "What are you trying to tell me, then?"

  "You can't go to Palestine, but you can still fight for the cause."

  "What, exactly, did you have in mind?"

  "The first thing we have to do is defeat the Nazis."

  She laughed. "Well, I'll do my best!"

  He ignored that. "We don't like the British much, but any enemy of Germany's is a friend of ours, so at the moment--strictly on a temporary basis--we're working with British Intelligence. I think you could help them."

  "For God's sake! How?"

  A shadow fell across the table, and the young man looked up. "Ah!" he said. He looked back at Elene. "I want you to meet my friend Major William Vandam."

  He was a tall man, and broad: with those wide shoulders and mighty legs he might once have been an athlete, although now, Elene guessed, he was close to forty and just beginning to go a little soft. He had a round, open face topped by wiry brown hair which looked as if it might curl if it were allowed to grow a little beyond the regulation length. He shook her hand, sat down, crossed his legs, lit a cigarette and ordered gin. He wore a stem expression, as if he thought life was a very serious business and he did not want anybody to start fooling around.

  Elene thought he was a typical frigid Englishman.

  The young man from the Jewish Agency asked him: "What's the news?"

  "The Gazala Line is holding, but it's getting very fierce out there."

  Vandam's voice was a surprise. English officers usually spoke with the upper-class drawl which had come to symbolize arrogance for ordinary Egyptians. Vandam spoke precisely but softly, with rounded vowels and a slight burr on the r: Elene had a feeling this was the trace of a country accent, although she could not remember how she knew.

  She decided to ask him. "Where do you come from, Major?"

  "Dorset. Why do you ask?"

  "I was wondering about your accent."

  "Southwest of England. You're observant. I thought I had no accent."

  "Just a trace."

  He lit another cigarette. She watched his hands. They were long and slender, rather at odds with the rest of his body; the nails were well manicured and the skin was white except for the deep amber stains where he held his cigarette.

  The young man took his leave. "I'll let Major Vandam explain everything to you. I hope you will work with him; I believe it's very important."

  Vandam shook his hand and thanked him, and the young man went out.

  Vandam said to Elene: "Tell me about yourself."

  "No," she said. "You tell me about yourself."

  He raised an eyebrow at her, faintly startled, a little amused and suddenly not at all frigid. "All right," he said after a moment. "Cairo is full of officers and men who know secrets. They know our strengths, our weaknesses and our plans. The enemy wants to know those secrets. We can be sure that at any time the Germans have people in Cairo trying to get information. It's my job to stop them."

  "That simple."

  He considered. "It's simple, but it's not easy."

  He took everything she said seriously, she noticed. She thought it was because he was humorless, but all the same she rather liked it: men generally treated her conversation like background music in a cocktail bar, a pleasant enough but largely meaningless noise.

  He was waiting. "It's your turn," he said.

  Suddenly she wanted to tell him the truth. "I'm a lousy singer and a mediocre dancer, but sometimes I find a rich man to pay my bills."

  He said nothing, but he looked taken aback.

  Elene said: "Shocked?"

  "Shouldn't I be?"

  She looked away. She knew what he,was thinking. Until now he had treated her politely, as if she were a respectable woman, one of his own class. Now he realized he had been mistaken. His reaction was completely predictable, but all the same she felt bitter. She said: "Isn't that what most women do, when they get married--find a man to pay the bills?"

  "Yes," he said gravely.

  She looked at him. The imp of mischief seized her. "I just turn them around a little faster than the average housewife."

  Vandam burst out laughing. Suddenly he looked a different man. He threw back his head, his arms and legs spread sideways, and all the tension went out of his body. When the laugh subsided he was relaxed, just briefly. They grinned at one another. The moment passed, and he crossed his legs again. There was a silence. Elene felt like a schoolgirl who has been giggling in class.

  Vandam was serious again. "My problem is information," he said. "Nobody tells an Englishman anything. That's where you come in. Because you're Egyptian, you hear the kind of gossip and street talk that never comes my way. And because you're Jewish, you'll pass it to me. I hope."

  "What kind of gossip?"

  "I'm interested in anyone who's curious about the British Army." He paused. He seemed to be wondering how much to tell her. "In particular ... At the moment I'm looking for a man called Alex Wolff. He used to live in Cairo and he has recently returned. He may be hunting
for a place to live, and he probably has a lot of money. He is certainly making inquiries about British forces."

  Elene shrugged. "After all that buildup I was expecting to be asked to do something much more dramatic."

  "Such as?"

  "I don't know. Waltz with Rommel and pick his pockets."

  Vandam laughed again. Elene thought: I could get fond of that laugh.

  He said: "Well, mundane though it is, will you do it?"

  "I don't know." But I do know, she thought. I'm just trying to prolong the interview, because I'm enjoying myself.

  Vandam leaned forward. "I need people like you, Miss Fontana." Her name sounded silly when he said it so politely. "You're observant, you have a perfect cover and you're obviously intelligent; please excuse me for being so direct--"

  "Don't apologize, I love it," she said. "Keep talking."

  "Most of my people are not very reliable. They do it for the money, whereas you have a better motive--"

  "Wait a minute," she interrupted. "I want money, too. What does the job pay?"

  "That depends on the information you bring in."

  "What's the minimum?"

  "Nothing."

  "That's a little less than what I was hoping for."

  "How much do you want?"

  "You might be a gentleman and pay the rent of my flat." She bit her lip: it sounded so tarty, put like that.

  "How much?"

  "Seventy-five a month."

  Vandam's eyebrows rose. "What have you got, a palace?"

  "Prices have gone up. Haven't you heard? It's all these English officers desperate for accommodation."

  "Touche." He frowned. "You'd have to be awfully useful to justify seventy-five a month."

  Elene shrugged. "Why don't we give it a try?"

  "You're a good negotiator." He smiled. "All right, a month's trial."

  Elene tried not to look triumphant. "How do I contact you?"

  "Send me a message." He took a pencil and a scrap of paper from his shirt pocket and began to write. "I'll give you my address and phone number, at GHQ and at home. As soon as I hear from you I'll come to your place."

  "All right." She wrote down her address, wondering what the major would think of her flat. "What if you're seen?"

  "Will it matter?"

  "I might be asked who you are."

  "Well, you'd better not tell the truth."

  She grinned. "I'll say you're my lover."

  He looked away. "Very well."

  "But you'd better act the part." She kept a straight face. "You must bring armfuls of flowers and boxes of chocolates."

  "I don't know--"

  "Don't Englishmen give their mistresses flowers and chocolates?"

  He looked at her unblinkingly. She noticed that he had gray eyes. "I don't know," he said levelly. "I've never had a mistress."

  Elene thought: I stand corrected. She said: "Then you've got a lot to learn."

  "I'm sure. Would you like another drink?"

  And now I'm dismissed, she thought. You're a little too much, Major Vandam: there's a certain self-righteousness about you, and you rather like to be in charge of things; you're so masterful. I may take you in hand, puncture your vanity, do you a little damage.

  "No, thanks," she said. "I must go."

  He stood up. "I'll look forward to hearing from you."

  She shook his hand and walked away. Somehow she had the feeling that he was not watching her go.

  Vandam changed into a civilian suit for the reception at the Anglo-Egyptian Union. He would never have gone to the Union while his wife was alive: she said it was "plebby." He told her to say "plebeian" so that she would not sound like a country snob. She said she was a country snob, and would he kindly stop showing off his classical education.

  Vandam had loved her then and he did now.

  Her father was a fairly wealthy man who became a diplomat because he had nothing better to do. He had not been pleased at the prospect of his daughter marrying a postman's son. He was not much mollified when he was told that Vandam had gone to a minor public school (on a scholarship) and London University, and was considered one of the most promising of his generation of junior army officers. But the daughter was adamant in this as in all things, and in the end the father had accepted the match with good grace. Oddly enough, on the one occasion when the fathers met they got on rather well. Sadly, the mothers hated each other and there were no more family gatherings.

  None of it mattered much to Vandam; nor did the fact that his wife had a short temper, an imperious manner and an ungenerous heart. Angela was graceful, dignified and beautiful. For him she was the epitome of womanhood, and he thought himself a lucky man.

  The contrast with Elene Fontana could not have been more striking.

  He drove to the Union on his motorcycle. The bike, a BSA 350, was very practical in Cairo. He could use it all the year round, for the weather was almost always good enough; and he could snake through the traffic jams that kept cars and taxis waiting. But it was a rather quick machine, and it gave him a secret thrill, a throwback to his adolescence, when he had coveted such bikes but had not been able to buy one. Angela had loathed it--like the Union, it was plebby--but for once Vandam had resolutely defied her.

  The day was cooling when he parked at the Union. Passing the clubhouse, he looked through a window and saw a snooker game in full swing. He resisted the temptation and walked onto the lawn.

  He accepted a glass of Cyprus sherry and moved into the crowd, nodding and smiling, exchanging pleasantries with people he knew. There was tea for the teetotal Muslim guests, but not many had turned up. Vandam tasted the sherry and wondered whether the barman could be taught to make a martini.

  He looked across the grass to the neighboring Egyptian Officers' Club, and wished he could eavesdrop on conversations there. Someone spoke his name, and he turned to see the woman doctor. Once again he had to think before he could remember her name. "Dr. Abuthnot."

  "We might be informal here," she said. "My name is Joan."

  "William. Is your husband here?"

  "I'm not married."

  "Pardon me." Now he saw her in a new light. She was single and he was a widower, and they had been seen talking together in public three times in a week: by now the English colony in Cairo would have them practically engaged. "You're a surgeon?" he said.

  She smiled. "All I do these days is sew people up and patch them--but yes, before the war I was a surgeon."

  "How did you manage that? It's not easy for a woman."

  "I fought tooth and nail." She was still smiling, but Vandam detected an undertone of remembered resentment. "You're a little unconventional yourself, I'm told."

  Vandam thought himself to be utterly conventional. "How so?" he said with surprise.

  "Bringing up your child yourself."

  "No choice. If I had wanted to send him back to England, I wouldn't have been able to: you can't get a passage unless you're disabled or a general."

  "But you didn't want to."

  "No."

  "That's what I mean."

  "He's my son," Vandam said. "I don't want anyone else to bring him up--nor does he."

  "I understand. It's just that some fathers would think it ... unmanly."

  He raised his eyebrows at her, and to his surprise she blushed. He said: "You're right, I suppose. I'd never thought of it that way."

  "I'm ashamed of myself, I've been prying. Would you like another drink?"

  Vandam looked into his glass. "I think I shall have to go inside in search of a real drink."

  "I wish you luck." She smiled and turned away.

  Vandam walked across the lawn to the clubhouse. She was an attractive woman, courageous and intelligent, and she had made it clear she wanted to know him better. He thought: Why the devil do I feel so indifferent to her? All these people are thinking how well matched we are--and they're right.

  He went inside and spoke to the bartender. "Gin. Ice. One olive. And a few
drops of very dry vermouth."

  The martini when it came was quite good, and he had two more. He thought again of the woman Elene. There were a thousand like her in Cairo--Greek, Jewish, Syrian and Palestinian as well as Egyptian. They were dancers for just as long as it took to catch the eye of some wealthy roue. Most of them probably entertained fantasies of getting married and being taken back to a large house in Alexandria or Paris or Surrey, and they would be disappointed.

  They all had delicate brown faces and feline bodies with slender legs and pert breasts, but Vandam was tempted to think that Elene stood out from the crowd. Her smile was devastating. The idea of her going to Palestine to work on a farm was, at first sight, ridiculous; but she had tried, and when that failed she had agreed to work for Vandam. On the other hand, retailing street gossip was easy money, like being a kept woman. She was probably the same as all the other dancers: Vandam was not interested in that kind of woman, either.

  The martinis were beginning to take effect, and he was afraid he might not be as polite as he should to the ladies when they came in, so he paid his bill and went out.

  He drove to GHQ to get the latest news. It seemed the day had ended in a standoff after heavy casualties on both sides--rather more on the British side. It was just bloody demoralizing, Vandam thought: we had a secure base, good supplies, superior weapons and greater numbers; we planned thoughtfully and we fought carefully, and we never damn well won anything. He went home.

  Gaafar had prepared lamb and rice. Vandam had another drink with his dinner. Billy talked to him while he ate. Today's geography lesson had been about wheat farming in Canada. Vandam would have liked the school to teach the boy something about the country in which he lived.

  After Billy went to bed Vandam sat alone in the drawing room, smoking, thinking about Joan Abuthnot and Alex Wolff and Erwin Rommel. In their different ways they all threatened him. As night fell outside, the room came to seem claustrophobic. Vandam filled his cigarette case and went out.

  The city was as much alive now as at any time during the day. There were a lot of soldiers on the streets, some of them very drunk. These were hard men who had seen action in the desert, had suffered the sand and the heat and the bombing and the shelling, and they often found the wogs less grateful than they should be. When a shopkeeper gave short change or a restaurant owner overcharged or a barman refused to serve drunks, the soldiers would remember seeing their friends blown up in the defense of Egypt, and they would start fighting and break windows and smash the place up. Vandam understood why the Egyptians were ungrateful--they did not much care whether it was the British or the Germans who oppressed them--but still he had little sympathy for the Cairo shopkeepers, who were making a fortune out of the war.