The Black Baroness Read Free

showed obvious signs of the hard wear theyhad sustained; but as the man’s glance swept across their faces he noted Erika’s regal beauty and that in spite of their shabby clothes both her escorts had the air of men who were used to being obeyed. With a swift bow he led them to a sofa-table.
    The under-waiter who took their order brought the
maître d’hôtel
scurrying back again, his face now wreathed in smiles. The strangely-dressed trio had ordered a superb meal and some of the best wines that his cellar boasted. He did not know that the broad-shouldered, middle-aged man with the black, pointed eyebrows had been cooped up in Russia for nearly a quarter of a century and that it was many months since the others had had a meal in a good restaurant. They were speaking French but he put them down as rich Germans who had been suffering from the Nazis’ impoverished larder and had somehow managed to get away to Norway.
    Although they had spared no pains or expense in ordering their favourite dishes, the meal was not the success that it should have been, because the black cloud of war and the coming separation weighed heavily upon the spirits of the little party. The tables were widely spaced so they were able to talk freely without risk of being overheard, and when they had reached the coffee and brandy stage Gregory turned to the Russian.
    ‘The time has come, Stefan, when we must discuss plans. I shall have to leave here in a day or two—as soon as I can get a plane—for England. What do you intend to do?’
    Kuporovitch smiled. ‘Now that I am a free man once more I can hardly wait until I get to Paris; but the devil of it is that I have no passport. What are the intentions of
Madame la Comtesse
?’
    ‘It would be unwise for her to remain here long. The Germans are so thorough that solely as a matter of routine von Einem will have reported our arrival in Oslo. It may take a week or two passing through the files of petty officials, but sooner or later the Gestapo will learn where she’s got to.’
    ‘Does that matter now that she is in a neutral country?’
    Gregory grinned. ‘You don’t know the Gestapo, my friend. They’re quite capable of kidnapping Erika or arranging one of their jolly little motor-car accidents in which she would be knocked down and killed. Besides, as we told you on the tramp, by the merest fluke we happened to come into possession of the German war plan. They’ve followed it step by step so far, andNorway is the next on their list. Her life would not be worth a moment’s purchase if she were still here when they staged an invasion.’
    Erika drew slowly on her cigarette. ‘What d’you suggest then?’
    ‘Stage 7 of the plan lays it down that Sweden is strong enough to require a separate operation, so she should be left for the time being, but that Norway and Denmark can be taken over together. Sweden would then be entirely isolated and so in no position to resist whenever the Germans consider it convenient to take control there. The plan then passes to Stage 8, which concerns Holland and Belgium, and no further mention of Sweden is made at all. As it’s quite on the cards that the Germans will be content to absorb Sweden’s entire exports without actually walking into the place for some considerable time, I suggest that Erika should move there.’
    The Russian raised his dark eyebrows. ‘But surely she will be just as liable to secret attacks from the Gestapo in Sweden as she would be here?’
    ‘No. Here she had to disclose her true identity to get into the country. My suggestion is that she should quietly slip away from Oslo and cross the border at some place up-country; then she could settle in Sweden, under an assumed name, until I can make arrangements for her to sail to America.’
    ‘America!’ Erika exclaimed. ‘But, darling, once there I may not be able to get back, and I just can’t live unless I’m to have some hope of seeing you again before many months are