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error. The disapproval of the new king and queen, and of society, was powerful and pervasive.
    Of course, Fruity had done his duty to his old friend. He had been best man.
    They pulled into the place Vendôme and drew up in front of the Ritz. The doorman recognized the car and leaped for the duke’s door. Inside, the hotel was buzzing, but the chatter subsided a little as the former king entered the glittering lobby.
    ‘Your Royal Highness!’
    Fruity and the duke turned to see a short, powerfully built man with jug ears and thick black brilliantined hair bustling towards them.
    ‘Charles! Good to see you again!’ said the duke, holding out his hand. ‘You’re looking well.’
    ‘I am well, sir, I am well,’ Bedaux said in his European-film-star American accent, before turning to Fruity and shaking his hand. ‘I’ve organized a private dining room. A lot has happened in the world since we last saw each other. There is much to discuss.’

6
    Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, 7 November
    Conrad found no difficulty spotting the Englishman waiting for him in the passenger terminal at Schiphol Airport. He was tall, wearing a check suit, a monocle and spats.
    ‘Captain Payne Best?’
    The man reached for Conrad’s hand and shook it. ‘The very same. Lieutenant de Lancey, I assume. Welcome to Holland. The car’s right outside. Can I take your bag?’
    ‘I’m all right,’ said Conrad, gripping his suitcase.
    ‘Follow me.’
    Payne Best led Conrad out of the building to a car park and a sleek black American car.
    ‘Good to be back?’
    ‘Back?’ said Conrad. ‘I haven’t spent much time in Holland. Once on holiday when I was a child. Other than that just en route to Germany.’
    ‘But you do speak Dutch?’ Payne Best said.
    ‘Not as such, no,’ said Conrad.
    ‘I was told you speak Dutch.’
    ‘Danish.’
    Payne Best shook his head. ‘Typical of them not to know the difference between Dutch and Danish.’
    Conrad decided not to ask who ‘they’ were. The onset of war had led to a mushrooming of bureaucratic screw-ups, and this one didn’t surprise him. ‘Does it matter?’
    They climbed into the car. ‘My plan was that you should be my chauffeur when we go to see the Hun officers. But if you don’t speak Dutch, I’m not sure what we will do.’
    ‘Teach me the Dutch for “yes, sir” and “certainly, sir”,’ said Conrad. ‘I’m a good mimic.’
    ‘Sprechen Sie Deutsch?’ asked Payne Best.
    ‘Oh, yes,’ said Conrad in that language. ‘My mother is from Hamburg and I was actually born there just before the last war.’
    ‘Your accent is perfect,’ said Payne Best, whose German was also pretty good. ‘All right, we’ll stick to the plan.’ He guided the car out of the car park and followed a sign to ‘s Gravenhage , The Hague’s official name. He glanced at Conrad’s own suit. ‘Savile Row?’
    ‘Yes. Norton.’
    ‘We must get you something much cheaper and more obviously Dutch. I have a man who drives for me occasionally, and we’re going to make you look like him.’
    Payne Best put his foot on the accelerator of the powerful car, a Lincoln Zephyr, and they roared past lesser vehicles on the highway.
    ‘Can you tell me something about this Major Schämmel?’ Conrad asked.
    ‘We’ve met him three times,’ Payne Best said. ‘He seems genuine to me. Rhineland accent, I think. Intelligent. My only question is what someone of his calibre is doing in the Transport Division.’
    ‘Transport is important for a modern army,’ Conrad said. ‘Especially a mobile one.’ That was one thing that his regiment had drummed into its officers. Their battalion had been ‘motorized’ two years before, and had embraced mobility with enthusiasm.
    ‘Perhaps,’ said Payne Best. ‘We have been supposed to meet a general, but Schämmel has some excuse about why he can’t make it. Of course the excuses may be valid; I can understand how it is difficult to smuggle a general out in wartime. We