But when she turned back, Adam was gone, and the door had already closed between them.
Part Four
Chapter Fifty-eight
September–November 1942
Mildred and Greta
Although the United States’s entry into the war and the German army’s failure to capture Stalingrad had given Mildred and Arvid new hope that it was only a matter of time before the Reich fell, they were exhausted, their nerves strained from constant vigilance. When Egmont and Anneliese Zechlin invited them along on a two-week holiday at the resort town of Preila, they gladly accepted, grateful to escape the stress and danger of Berlin for a little while.
On September 5, a day before their friends, Mildred and Arvid arrived at Preila on the Kurische Nehrung between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. Soothed by the sounds of the waves and the refreshing breezes, they settled into one bedroom of their rented cottage, a charming little place with blue shutters and lovely views of the lagoon. Later they strolled hand in hand across the narrow spit of land to admire the sunset over the Baltic.
Mildred sighed as she gazed across the water. “Sweden is so close,” she said, her eyes on the distant horizon. “Perhaps instead of returning to Berlin, we should hire a boat to take us there. Wouldn’t it be a relief to wait out the war in a neutral country?”
“I can’t leave. My work is too important to the resistance.” Arvid raised her hand to his lips. “Yours is too, but I value your safety far more. I wish you would return to America.”
“Not without you,” she said. “We go together or not at all.”
He sighed, rueful. “You’ve become so stubborn. I blame Greta. She’s a bad influence.”
Mildred laughed and kissed him.
The next day, they met Egmont and Anneliese at the boat landing in Nidden, and after the Zechlins unpacked at the cottage, they strolled down Preila’s main street together, chatting and enjoying the fresh sea breezes. After supper at a charming bistro, they resumed their walk, and in the seclusion of the remote elk marshes, their conversation turned to the war and what might follow. Arvid and Egmont agreed that it was essential to oust Hitler before the Allies defeated Germany in order to preserve German sovereignty. “Otherwise we will be at the mercy of whatever country invades us first,” Arvid said, but his last words were drowned out by a deep roll of thunder. Another swiftly followed, and the conversation abruptly ended as they raced back to the cottage steps ahead of a heavy downpour.
Mildred slept peacefully that night in the shelter of Arvid’s embrace, but when she woke in the morning, she was alone.
Bright sunshine streamed through the curtains, but beneath the sweet melody of birdsong she heard voices, low and urgent. Stealing to the window, she drew back a corner of the curtain, just enough to glimpse Arvid and Egmont in the yard talking to four men on the other side of the gate.
Trepidation stirred, but the men were dressed in suits and hats, not uniforms, so she supposed they could be other vacationers out for a stroll. She quickly washed and dressed, and when she went to the living room, she found Anneliese observing the men through the front window. “That man in the center showed a badge,” she said, her pretty features drawn together in worry. “Who do you think they are? What could they want?”
“I have no idea,” Mildred replied. At that moment, the strangers passed through the front gate and followed Arvid and Egmont up the path to the cottage. Anneliese let the curtain fall, and she and Mildred instinctively drew away from the door.
Arvid calmly led the group into the cottage, but Mildred’s heart plummeted to see the strain in his expression. “These gentlemen say they are from the police alien registration office.”
One officer frowned thinly as he scanned the room. “We’ve been ordered to tell Oberregierungsrat Harnack that he is needed immediately at the Economics Ministry.”
“They could have just sent a wire,” said Anneliese, indignant.
Arvid held Mildred’s gaze. “I’m sorry, darling, but I must accompany these gentlemen back to Berlin. You should just go ahead with the plans we made when we were admiring the sunset the other night.”
Mildred’s throat constricted, but she nodded.
“Perhaps I was not clear,” said the officer in charge. “Frau Harnack is required too.”
“My wife does not work at the ministry,” said Arvid. “Why should she have to cut her holiday short?”