shrugged. “In German, we call this wildfleisch—it means ‘proud skin.’ ”
They discussed the Nazi philosophy.
“We are not monsters,” General Scheider stated. “And we have no wish to rule the
world. But neither do we intend to sit still and be punished any longer for a war we lost
more than twenty years ago. The Treaty of Versailles is a bondage that the German people
have finally broken out of.”
They spoke of the occupation of Paris. “It was not the fault of your French soldiers
that it was so easy for us,” General Scheider said. “A good deal of the responsibility must
fall on the shoulders of Napoleon the Third.”
“You’re joking,” Noelle replied.
“I am perfectly serious,” he assured her. “In the days of Napoleon, the mobs were
constantly using the tangled, twisted streets of Paris for barricades and ambushes against
his soldiers. In order to stop them, he commissioned Baron Eugene Georges Haussmann to
straighten out the streets and fill the city with nice, wide boulevards.” He smiled. “The
boulevards down which our troops marched. I am afraid history will not be kind to planner
Haussmann.”
After dinner, driving back to Paris, he asked, “Are you in love with Armand
Gautier?”
His tone was casual, but Noelle had the feeling that her answer was important to him.
“No,” she said slowly.
He nodded, satisfied. “I did not think so. I believe I could make you very happy.”
“As happy as you make your wife?”
General Scheider stiffened for a moment as though he had been struck and then
turned to look at Noelle.
“I can be a good friend,” he said quietly. “Let us hope that you and I are never
enemies.”
When Noelle returned to the apartment, it was almost 3:00 A . M ., and Armand Gautier
was waiting for her in a state of agitation.
“Where the hell have you been?” he demanded, as she walked in the door.
“I had an engagement.” Noelle’s eyes moved past him into the room. It looked as
though a cyclone had struck. Desk drawers were open and the contents strewn around the
room. The closets had been ransacked, a lamp had been overturned and a small table lay
on its side, one leg broken.
“What happened?” Noelle asked.
“The Gestapo was here! My God, Noelle, what have you been up to?”
“Nothing.”