said eventually, ‘but you don’t know why I did it.’
Anthony dropped his cigarette end to the bare boards of the floor and ground it out. Ideas and half-guessed truths were chasing round in his mind. Josette had been forced to write ‘Frankie’s Letter’ by Veronica O’Bryan. How had Veronica forced her? If Cavanaugh had had an affair with Josette, that would explain it, but Sherston knew about Cavanaugh. No, there was something else, something far more important than a passing love affair.
He looked at von Hagen. ‘Excuse me, Oberstleutnant. Can I show Mrs Sherston a photograph?’
Von Hagen glanced at his watch. ‘Be my guest,’ he said, again speaking in German. ‘I can understand you wanting to satisfy your curiosity, Colonel.’ He grinned wolfishly. ‘Even though your pleasure is likely to be short-lived.’ He brought the gun up to the ready. ‘Once again, I warn you. No tricks.’
Anthony gave a little bow of thanks. ‘No tricks,’ he agreed. Moving slowly, he took a little cardboard envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Josette. ‘That’s the reason, isn’t it?’
She opened the envelope and took out the photograph, the picture of the child with solemn eyes. The colour drained out of her face and she stood holding it for a few moments. Then, with a little dry sob, she clutched the photograph to her bosom in a useless, instinctive, gesture of protection.
‘She’s your daughter,’ said Anthony. ‘She’s your child.’
Josette didn’t answer but nodded agreement, her eyes wide.
‘Your husband doesn’t know you had a child, does he?’
Again, Josette nodded. ‘It’s Milly,’ she broke out desperately. ‘Her name’s Milly. Her father and I should have married, but he died.’ She looked imploringly at Anthony. ‘Please understand, Colonel. It was when I was in France. I put Milly in the charge of some good people – some nuns – and paid for her to be looked after. I loved Milly. Then Patrick came to Paris.’
Her face changed, softening as she remembered the past. ‘I knew who he was, of course. He was a rich man, the owner of the magazine and the owner of the Sherston Press. He was lonely, Colonel, and I felt sorry for him. I liked him. He was kind and he was good but he was very, very respectable.’
She made a frustrated gesture with her hands. ‘I knew he wanted to marry me. What could I do? I wanted to marry him. I wanted to leave France, to have a home in England once more, to stop writing about pretty clothes and actually have the money to buy them. Patrick offered me all that. If I’d told him about Milly I’d have been ruined.’
‘So you married Patrick for what he could provide?’
‘How dare you?’ she snapped. ‘Have you ever scraped and struggled? I was surrounded by rich women with beautiful things. I wanted those things. I wanted to be happy and secure and not worry about stupid things like food and paying the rent. I was fond of Patrick. I’ve been a good wife. I could never have told Patrick I had a child.’
‘But didn’t he guess? After you were married, I mean?’
‘No.’ Josette looked at him wonderingly. ‘Why should he have done?’
Anthony left it. As a doctor he could have easily guessed if a woman was a mother, but what even the closest married couples didn’t know about each other had long since ceased to surprise him. ‘Go on,’ he said heavily. ‘Tell me what happened to Milly.’
She gave a ragged sigh. ‘The war started and the convent Milly lived in was in an area occupied by the Germans. I was desperate for news and wrote to the convent, asking what had become of her.’ She put her hand to her mouth. ‘Veronica gave me the answer. She’d found out. She knew everything. She could ruin me and . . . and I was worried about Milly.’
Anthony flicked a glance of deep contempt towards von Hagen. ‘So you’re part of a scheme which uses a desperate woman and a helpless child, eh? You can be proud of a country which fights with such weapons.’
Von Hagen shrugged. ‘We will fight with any weapon we have. Germany’s survival is threatened. We didn’t harm the child,’ he added in English.
‘No, they didn’t,’ said Josette eagerly. ‘She was safe as long as I cooperated and what harm did I do? I had to protect Milly, so I wrote what Veronica told me to and she gave me news and photographs of Milly. I