From the doorway, Ursula stood watching them, her eyes bright with pleasure. Kurt von Wittingen’s unexpected visit had been an enormous boost to her flagging morale. But, perhaps even more importantly, his news from Berlin about her mother-in-law’s improved condition had given her renewed hope that she and Sigi would soon be able to travel. Ursula was now convinced that they would be with her in the next couple of weeks, and her spirits soared.
TWENTY
‘How is your aunt?’ Ursula asked Teddy when she returned to the sitting room of the suite in the Plaza-Atheriee, after making her weekly telephone call to Ketti Berners in London.
Teddy gave her a vivid, happy smile and sat down opposite her. ‘Aunt Ketti is very well, and she can’t wait for us to go to London, Frau Westheim. She’s looking forward to meeting you and Maxim, and she told me, once again, how grateful she is to you for everything you’ve done for me, and most especially for getting me out of Germany.’
‘I never had any intention of leaving you behind,’ Ursula replied. There was a small pause before she went on, ‘You haven’t told me very much about your aunt, except that she’s your father’s sister and that she’s a widow.’
‘Yes, my Uncle Harry died two years ago. Aunt Ketti is about sixty-one, and she has one daughter, my cousin Rachel, who lives in Brighton. Rachel’s married and has a baby girl called Harriet.’
‘Your aunt has lived in London for a long time, hasn’t she, Teddy?’
‘Over thirty years or more. She married my uncle in 1904, when she was twenty-six, and that was when she moved to England. She’s English now, an English citizen, I mean.’
‘And was your uncle an Englishman?’
‘Yes, but of German extraction. My Uncle Harry once told me that his parents left Berlin in about 1860, when there was apparently a big influx of the Ashkenazim into England, and he and his two brothers were born in London. You’ll like Aunt Ketti when you meet her, Frau Westheim, she’s a fine woman.’
‘If she’s anything like your father, she must be very special indeed.’ Ursula rose, walked over to her bedroom, opened the door quietly and slipped inside. She tiptoed over to the single bed next to hers, where Maxim lay curled up under the covers, satisfied herself that he was sleeping soundly, and immediately returned to the sitting room.
Teddy had picked up her embroidery whilst Ursula had been out of the room, and without lifting her head, she said, ‘He is fast asleep, isn’t he?’
‘Yes,’ Ursula murmured, and leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes.
Teddy glanced up from her needlework, on the point of making a comment about Maxim, but when she saw that Ursula Westheim was resting she refrained. In repose Ursula’s face looked weary and vulnerable, and a little sad. She’s tired, Teddy thought, tired of waiting all these weeks for the family to come, tired of marking time since January. It’s just not in her nature to be so inactive. Still, there’s very little she can do except sit and wait. At least I have Maxim to keep me busy with his lessons and his walks and his care in general. Poor Frau Westheim is lost. If only we were in London, she could be looking for a home for us, a flat or a house, and getting it furnished and ready for Herr Westheim and the rest of the family, keeping herself busy. This awful waiting and the inactivity are destructive to her.
Teddy sighed under her breath, and dropped her eyes, plied her stitches neatly, thinking of the way Ursula had led her life in Berlin. There she had had two houses to run, the mansion in the Tiergartenstrasse and the rambling old villa out in the Wannsee, and the servants to deal with, plus her various charity committees to attend and friends to see and a social schedule to organise. It struck Teddy that there had never been a single moment when Ursula Westheim had not been busy. How different was her life in Paris…
Quite suddenly Ursula bestirred herself, opened her eyes and sat up. ‘Teddy?’
‘Yes, Frau Westheim?’ Teddy said and looked across at her.
‘What is your aunt’s house in London like? Is it large?’
‘Fairly large. She rents out the flat in the basement, as well as the one at the top of the house in the attics, which she had converted recently. But she still has two floors to herself, and a lovely garden at the back with a lawn and a rockery and an apple tree. She lives in Belsize Park Gardens, in a pleasant area near Hampstead.’
‘It sounds very nice indeed. Teddy—’ Ursula paused and hesitated briefly, then plunged on, ‘do you think your aunt would let you and Maxim stay with her for a few weeks?’
Teddy glanced up from her embroidery, and although she was startled by this question, she nodded. ‘I’m sure she would. But why do you want us to stay with her?’
‘Because I’d like to send you and Maxim to London ahead of me. I would then follow later this month.’
‘Oh,’ was about all Teddy could think of to say, and she stared hard at Ursula, her eyes full of questions. After a moment, she asked, ‘Why aren’t you coming at the same time as us, Frau Westheim?’
‘I came to a decision the other day,’ Ursula began and stopped. After a second, she went on slowly, softly, ‘I’m going back.’
Teddy frowned. ‘Back,’ she repeated, looking puzzled. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not following you.’
‘I’m going back to Berlin.’
Teddy was so flabbergasted she was speechless. However, she found her voice very quickly, and cried in a fierce whisper, ‘You can’t, Frau Westheim! You can’t!’
‘Yes, Teddy, I can.’
‘But it’s not safe in Berlin,’ the girl exclaimed heatedly.
‘Perhaps it isn’t. Nevertheless, I have to return, to help Herr Westheim. He needs me. Instinctively, I know he does. Together, we must bring his mother out. And his sisters. It’s the only way. We must do it somehow.’
Teddy was not only startled by Ursula’s sudden and dramatic announcement, but exceedingly frightened by it. Memories of Kristallnacht still lingered. They were extremely potent, vividly etched on her brain, and they continued to fill her with dread whenever she remembered that horrifying night, reluctantly cast her mind back to it. And certainly things had not improved in the Third Reich since then. If anything, they must have worsened. She wondered how to convey her own terror to Ursula, how to convince her not to return there, but she was at a loss. Teddy knew Ursula Westheim well, knew how stubborn she could be, and difficult to dissuade once her mind was made up.
Ursula leaned forward and pinned her gaze on Teddy.
‘I realise you’re wondering how to talk me out of my plan, but you can’t. Look, it’s already March and soon it will be spring, and I can’t just sit here waiting, leaving things to chance. I’m frantic about the family, I’ve no idea what’s happening anymore. You’ve heard me on the phone to Herr Westheim. The calls are hopeless, frustrating, since neither of us dare speak openly to each other. However, one thing I’m certain of—he needs assistance with his mother. His sisters are lovely women, but, unfortunately, they have never been very decisive, and under the present circumstances I don’t believe they are of much use to him. But I can be. And I know Prince and Princess von Wittingen will be as helpful as they possibly can… they’ll do whatever is necessary to get us out, with the cooperation of Admiral Canaris and Colonel Oster of German Military Intelligence.’
Teddy remained silent, and so Ursula hurried on, ‘And there’s another thing. We both know from what we’ve read in the French newspapers that war is inevitable between Germany and England, and France is bound to join in. We don’t know when it will come… the situation gets more explosive by the day, and obviously I don’t want the family to get stuck in Berlin… I must act now whilst there’s still time.’
Leaning back in the chair, Ursula waited for Teddy to respond. But yet again no words were forthcoming, and so she added quickly, in a more insistent tone, ‘I’m needed in Berlin! Don’t you see that?’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Teddy mumbled, desperately trying to quieten her fears, although without much success.
>
‘I knew you would understand. I really would appreciate it if you would telephone your aunt tomorrow morning and ask her if you can stay with her for two weeks. And I will have a word with her myself, of course, Teddy.’
‘She’ll try to talk you out of it!’
‘No, she won’t, because I’m not going to tell her about my trip to Germany. I shall merely say that I have business in Switzerland, and that I think it would be more suitable for you and my son to go to England. That is the wisest thing to say, don’t you agree, Teddy?’
‘Yes, Frau Westheim,’ Teddy said miserably, her voice a whisper.
Ursula jumped up, unexpectedly full of energy and vigour after days of lethargy and despair, and hurried over to the desk, opened the top drawer and took out two envelopes. These she brought to Teddy, and after showing them to her, she continued in the same brisk and businesslike tone, ‘I shall give these letters to you on the day you leave for London, and in the meantime they’ll be locked in the desk here. The first is addressed to Mr Henry Rossiter, of the Rossiter Merchant Bank in London. I have already spoken to him on the telephone, and he is expecting to hear from you, once you have settled in at your aunt’s house. You must go to see him and give him my letter. It confirms in writing my verbal instructions to him, which, in essence, are to give you money as and when you need it. Our funds here in France are in the process of being transferred from the Banque Mallet to the Rossiter Merchant Bank. I arranged this transaction several days ago. I want you to remember that you have access to those funds for yourself and Maxim until we arrive.’
‘I don’t need any money, Frau Westheim,’ Teddy protested. ‘My aunt will provide for us whilst we’re staying with her.’
‘I realise that, Teddy. However, it makes me feel better, easier within myself, knowing that you can draw on the money in case of an emergency.’
Teddy nodded, realising that there was no point in arguing with her.
Ursula rushed on, ‘The second letter is addressed to you. However, you must not open it unless something happens to me and my husband. If I should die, and he survives me, then you will give him the letter. I have asked Mr Rossiter to provide us with a safety deposit box at the bank, and you will place the letter in it for safe keeping.’
‘Yes, of course. But nothing is going to happen to you or Herr Westheim!’ Teddy announced emphatically, forcing a smile and inwardly praying that she spoke the truth.
‘There’s something else I must mention,’ Ursula went on. ‘When we left Germany, some of my jewellery was stitched into my travelling clothes. Mostly my diamonds and sapphires. After we arrived in Paris I took the jewellery to Monsieur Andre Mallet of the Banque Mallet, who has been keeping it in a safe for me. Tomorrow it will be on its way to the Rossiter Merchant Bank in London. Monsieur Mallet is sending it by bonded courier. The jewellery must also be put in the safety deposit box with the letter, and before you leave I’ll make a list of everything for you.’
Teddy nodded.
‘There’s one last thing. I know you are very capable, Teddy, and that you speak good English, but Mr Stiles at the British Embassy here in Paris is going to have someone from the British Foreign Office waiting for you, when you pass through immigration in England. Just in case you need help with any of the formalities.’
‘Thank you,’ Teddy said and looked closely at Ursula. ‘You didn’t tell Mr Stiles you were going back to Germany, did you?’
‘Of course not!’
‘If you had, he would have objected too, and he would have perhaps tried to stop you!’ she exclaimed with her special brand of feistiness.
Ursula was silent, realising this was true.
After a moment she rose and joined Teddy on the sofa.
Taking hold of her hand she squeezed it, then said quietly, but with an air of immense confidence, ‘Try not to worry, everything’s going to be all right. I just know it is, Teddy dear.’
‘Yes,’ Teddy answered swiftly. ‘Yes, it is. I know that, Frau Westheim.’
***
Four days after this conversation had taken place, all of the necessary arrangements had been made for Teddy and Maxim to travel to England.
Aunt Ketti Berners had immediately agreed that they could stay with her until such time as Ursula and Sigmund arrived in London.
‘I will be at Victoria Station to meet the boat train from Paris,’ she told Teddy, and had repeated this to Ursula, before going on to say how excited and delighted she was they were coming, and that she was truly looking forward to receiving them in her home.
Nonetheless, Ursula knew there was no point in denying to herself that she was going to miss her child, because she was. On the other hand, this was the right course of action, the only course.
For several weeks, Ursula had wrestled with the problem of what to do for the best for them all, and she had been caught on the horns of the most agonising dilemma, torn up inside. She loved her child and her husband equally, and it had never been a question of choosing between them, but rather of deciding on the best measures to take: measures which would ultimately guarantee that they would be reunited.
Sigi, seemingly, was immobilised in Berlin, but for what reason she did not know. Nor did she have any means of finding out, unless Kurt von Wittingen passed through Paris on business again and brought her news. Yet this was most unlikely; he had told her as much when he had dropped in unexpectedly for tea, over a month ago now.
At one point last week she had considered telephoning either Arabella or Renata, but had dismissed the idea instantly. Their phones had more than likely been tapped for the longest time, and she had no wish to create difficulties for her two dearest friends. And anyway, she was not sure what they could have told her, even if she had telephoned. Certainly no more than Sigi was saying when he called, for, like him, they would have been afraid to speak out.
And so finally she had made the decision to go back to Berlin. Her aim was to aid Sigi in moving the family as soon and as rapidly as possible. There was no question in her mind that together she and he could do it. They had always been a good team, even as children.
Sigi already had the five exit visas from Admiral Canaris, and once she was there she would literally force Sigrid and her husband, Thomas Mayer, to leave at once. She had worked it all out in her head in advance and it was a good plan: the Mayers would tell their servants they were going to Hamburg on business, as they frequently did, and they would take Hedy with them. As a companion for Sigrid, the story would be. As soon as the three of them reached Hamburg they would book passages on any boat leaving for England, even a cargo steamer if there was nothing else available. Hamburg was a busy North Sea port and there would be no problem for them to find some kind of vessel.
Meanwhile, she and Sigi would take his mother to Switzerland, ostensibly for medical reasons. Her idea was that they would travel by car, taking the route from Berlin to Frankfurt and on to Stuttgart. From there they would go to Mannheim and Konstanz, sleeping overnight at most of these places, and resting whenever necessary, to give Margarete a respite from all the travelling. They would cross the German border into Switzerland near Konstanz, which would bring them relatively close to Zurich, where they had Swiss banking friends who would assist them, if this was required.
Ursula was absolutely convinced that Admiral Canaris would be willing to help them one last time, and that he might also be able to facilitate an easy crossing at the border. Hopefully without too much close scrutiny from the German border police.
There was no doubt in her mind that Maxim would be safe whilst she and Sigi were engaged in these activities, and she drew comfort from this knowledge. She had implicit faith in Theodora Stein. The young woman was responsible and trustworthy, and loving Maxim the way she did, as if he were her own child, she would never let anything happen to him. Teddy would protect him with her life, in the same way she herself would. And so she had no qualms about sending him to England in her care, and England was the best place for
him, a democratic and civilised land where justice and fair play were common everyday standards, a country whose treatment of Jews had always been less harsh and far more generous than most other places in the world.
Furthermore, she was satisfied that Ketti Berners was a solid, upstanding woman. Certainly the several conversations she had had with her on the phone over the past few days had only served to reinforce the feeling that she was as admirable as her late brother, Doctor Tohann Stein. There was not the slightest question in Ursula’s mind that Maxim and Teddy would be well looked after by this woman, who sounded unusually loving and the personification of kindness.
And yet on the morning they were to leave, Ursula felt a heaviness descend on her. There was a terrible ache in the region of her heart, a constriction in her throat as she buttoned Maxim’s jacket after breakfast, getting him ready for the journey. He was such a little boy, only four-and-a-half years old, and still a baby in so many ways.
For a moment she wavered, almost changed her mind, realising that she could hardly bear to let him out of her sight for a single second, never mind several weeks. But then she remembered what was at stake in Berlin, and she swallowed, took firm control of her emotions.
‘Come and sit on the sofa with me for a moment, Schatzi, I want to talk to you,’ she said gently, lovingly, smiling at him.
‘What about, Mutti?’ he asked, staring up at her through those large, liquid brown eyes that always touched her heart, and never more than they did today.
‘About the trip to England,’ she answered as they settled on the sofa next to each other. Through the corner of her eye she could see Teddy on the phone in the adjoining bedroom, undoubtedly calling the concierge for porters to help with the many suitcases.
Clearing her throat, Ursula continued, ‘Teddy is going to take you to London by yourself, Maxim. You’re going to stay with her Aunt Ketti. I can’t come today, but I shall be there very soon.’