Goodbye, Janette Read Online Free PDF Page A

returned to work.
    ***
    Maurice’s voice was guarded on the telephone. “I must see you.”
    It had been three weeks since Wolfgang had left Paris and this was the first time she had heard from him in all that time. “I am here,” she said simply.
    “You don’t understand,” he said. “I may be under surveillance. Now that I have made my overtures I do not dare come to your place.”
    “Can’t we discuss it on the telephone?”
    “There are certain papers I must turn over to you. Exit visas for yourself and Janette approved by the French authorities and the Germans. Other matters concerning mutual affairs.”
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “There is no way I can come to see you. Schwebel is under orders to accompany me every time I leave the house.”
    “
Merde!
” He fell silent.
    She waited for him to speak.
    “There is not much time left,” he said. “The day after tomorrow I will be gone.”
    She still did not speak.
    “After midnight tonight,” he said, “be at the back door of your house. If I am not there by half-past the hour, do not wait for me.”
    At ten minutes past midnight she heard a light tapping on the service door. Quickly, she got to her feet and opened it. He stepped inside and shut the door quickly.
    “Is everyone asleep?” he whispered.
    She nodded.
    “Schwebel?”
    “Since the general left, he spends the night in the small apartment over the coach house.”
    “I need a drink,” he said abruptly.
    “Come,” she said. She led him through the darkened house to the small study on the second floor. She opened the cabinet and took out a bottle of cognac and a snifter. Quickly she filled it almost to the brim and handed it to him.
    He drank half of it almost at one gulp and let out a deep sigh. Slowly he seemed to relax. “It’s been like walking a tightrope,” he said. “Questions. Always questions. Traps in every corner.”
    She didn’t speak.
    He took another sip of the cognac. “Have you heard from Wolfgang?”
    “No. Should I have?’
    He looked up at her. “I suppose not. Still, I thought he might have gotten word to you somehow.”
    She changed the subject. “You said you had some papers for me.”
    “Yes.” He opened his jacket and took out an envelope. “The exit visas for you and Janette all countersigned and approved by the French and Swiss authorities.”
    She opened the envelope and looked at the papers. They were in order. She put them down on the desk. “You said there were other matters.”
    “They were not things that could be committed to paper,” he said.
    “I don’t understand.”
    “The gold,” he said.
    “Gold?” She hoped the puzzled sound in her voice was convincing. “What gold?”
    “I have heard rumors at different times that Wolfgang had been buying up gold louis.”
    “That’s the first time I heard of it,” she said. “And I thought I knew everything that was going on.”
    “He never said anything to you?”
    She shook her head.
    “Strange,” he said. “The information came from usually reliable sources.”
    “You’d better check them again,” she said. She paused, then as if she had a sudden idea. “Could it be that it is another form of trap they are setting for you? To discover how close you really were to the general?”
    “I never thought of that. It is possible.” He looked at her with open admiration. “I am beginning now to understand why I have been attracted to you from the very beginning.”
    She smiled, keeping the relief from showing in her eyes. “You’re being very French. And very gallant.”
    “Not true,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I’m sure you know how I felt about you.”
    She allowed her hand to rest in his. She did not want to seem too abrupt. After a moment, she spoke. “It is getting late. It might be dangerous for you to remain too long.”
    “No,” he said. A flush surged into his face. “This time may not come again. I want you to know how I feel.”
    “Maurice—” She