beautiful for her own good.’ She then flicked her eyes back at Alex. ‘It was most regrettable,’ she whispered, with disgust.
‘Can you tell us about what she did during the war?’
Miss Strauss nodded. ‘It is a long story, but I will tell you as much as I can until I become tired. It is one I’ve wanted to unburden myself of for a long time.’
She lay back on her pillow and took in a heavy breath.
‘I met Vivi in 1944, and the first time I saw her I knew this was a woman I needed to pay attention to. She commanded the room when she walked into it. Vivi was not simply a beauty but…’ She wet her dry lips with her tongue and reflected on the right word. ‘Hypnotic. She drew you in, and you trusted her, which is why it was unfortunate she was so deceived.’
Sophie felt her stomach lurch, and she reached for Alex’s hand.
The woman’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she moved from speaking English to speaking a mixture of German, even some French, it naturally being too strenuous for her to have to continue translating.
Alex started translating her words for Sophie.
‘She was the light of the office. I was a mere young girl at the time. I would visit my father who worked there, and I would see Vivi in the office, and she was luminous. She made everyone feel important.’ She rolled her eyes towards Sophie. ‘You look a lot like her,’ the elderly woman declared, staring intently at Sophie for such a long time it was almost uncomfortable. Sophie nodded, fighting back the tears that were brimming just below the surface.
‘I never liked the Nazi Party. I thought they were ridiculous, but a ten-year-old girl doesn’t have many choices. So I put up with their goose-stepping, ridiculous rules and devotion to Hitler, who was just a crazy man in my eyes. But Vivi knew how to love. Yes, she loved. She loved that officer, Marcus Vonstein. Oh, they weren’t out in the open about it, but everyone could tell by the way she looked at him. Which is why it is so sad that she was so deceived.’
‘What do you mean “deceived”?’ whispered Sophie, hoarsely.
‘By Vonstein. He lured her in.’
Sophie suddenly felt uncomfortable holding Alex’s hand, and she looked across at him briefly. He was intent upon the woman’s face, listening carefully to her words so he could translate, but she suddenly thought about her own heart. Had she opened it up to Alex too quickly? Then she shook the thought from her mind. This wasn’t Marcus; this was Alex. This man had shown her more care in the last few days than she’d felt from Matt for years. She reminded herself she was becoming so swept up by the story she wasn’t sure what was fact and what was fiction.
The older woman coughed, and Chloe brought her a glass of water and assisted her while she sipped at it, birdlike.
‘Such a long time ago,’ she continued after recovering, closing her eyes again.
‘I can tell she’s getting tired,’ Chloe said.
Sophie became anxious. ‘I need to ask her something else. Miss Strauss, do you think you can answer one more question?’
Marcus translated.
The old woman’s eyes flashed open again, as if she was forcing herself to remain in this present moment. Slowly, she nodded her head. ‘What else do you need to know, my dear?’
‘I… I just need to know how Vivienne died.’
The question was weighted and heavy in the air, and the woman stared at Sophie as though pondering whether she should tell her.
‘You do not know?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘We have no war records. All we know is that she was a Nazi.’
The woman hinted at a smile. ‘I can tell you many things, and it was a crazy time, but I don’t think she was a Nazi. I think she was in love with the wrong person. And she was executed.’
‘Executed?’ asked Sophie, swallowing down the word.
The old woman shook her head slightly. ‘It was his fault. Vivi wasn’t evil like so many of the rest of them.’
‘Can you tell me anything about her last days?’
The woman nodded her head. ‘It is not a happy story. I was young, but that meant I could slip in and out of rooms like a ghost without people really being aware of my presence. I overheard my father talking about it, just bits and pieces, but I have built up my own version