Far From Home

Chapter 1

It was a glorious, warm, sunny day in July 1944, driving back to Berlin from Brandenburg, where Arielle von Auspeck’s husband’s family schloss was located. It was a sixteenth-century castle, large, drafty in the winter, and expensive to maintain. But Gregor von Auspeck was deeply attached to it. As an only son, he had inherited it when his parents died. Gregor and Arielle spent weekends there year-round, and part of every summer. They usually had gone to the south of France for a few weeks in the summer too, in honor of Arielle’s roots. Her father was German, and her mother French. Arielle was also an only child. She had grown up in Germany, but had strong ties to France. Her mother had moved to Berlin from Paris when she married Arielle’s father. Arielle’s parents were aristocrats too. Her mother spoke to her in French, so she was fluent. Both Arielle’s family and Gregor’s were from Berlin.

Arielle was a slim, blond, blue-eyed beauty with a great figure. She was forty-four years old. Gregor was five years older, tall, athletic, with dark hair and blue eyes. Their families had been friends, and Gregor was the dashing “older man” when she fell in love with him at twenty and married him at twenty-one. They had been married for twenty-three very happy years. Their daughter, Marianna, was twenty-two, and had recently become the wife of Jürgen Springer, a young lieutenant in the Luftwaffe, an ace pilot, and a delightful boy Arielle and Gregor both approved of. The wedding had been lavish, held in their Berlin home in the Zehlendorf district. It was one of the largest, most beautiful homes in the city. They had a ballroom, and there were three hundred guests at Marianna’s wedding, many of the men in military uniform and the women in exquisite ballgowns.

Gregor was a colonel, retired from the German army, after an incident at the beginning of the war. He had been accidentally shot and his left arm remained stiff and his shoulder permanently damaged. It had spared him the agonizing decision of resigning from the army, which he’d been considering at the time. He was fiercely opposed to Hitler’s policies and his anti-Semitic programs. The accident had given him the perfect excuse to retire, and had spared him from taking an overt position in opposition to the Führer, which would have been dangerous. Instead he was able to remove himself gracefully from Hitler’s army.

Arielle and Gregor had a son as well, Viktor. He was nineteen now and had been an earnest and eager member of the Hitlerjugend, the Hitler Youth, since he was fourteen, just before the war began. He had finally been able to enlist at eighteen. He was fighting for the Fatherland in Poland, and his parents hadn’t seen him in several months. Both their children were loyal supporters of the Third Reich, Marianna as the wife of a young ace pilot in the air force, and Viktor thrilled to be in the army at last. Much to his father’s chagrin, Viktor had been exposed to Nazi propaganda throughout his teens. They had had many heated arguments before Viktor enlisted. He was young and na?ve, and swept up by the policies of the Nazi party that he’d grown up with.

Arielle had lost her parents young. Her mother had died in the Spanish flu pandemic when Arielle was eighteen. Gregor didn’t know Arielle well then, although he’d met her and his parents always said what a lovely, elegant, kind woman her mother was, and that Arielle was a great deal like her. She said that her father had died of a broken heart after her mother’s death. He was more than twenty years older than his wife, and died a few years after Arielle and Gregor were married.

Gregor soon became the center of Arielle’s universe, even more so after she lost her father, and she was a devoted mother from the moment Marianna was born. Gregor and Arielle both adored their children. He had never had a profession. He oversaw his investments and ran the extensive property around the schloss, with many tenant farmers. He was a nobleman through and through, a famously skilled rider, and attended many hunts on horseback. His injured shoulder didn’t interfere with his riding, but he couldn’t shoot anymore. He joined his friends anyway at their hunts for the fun of it and the pleasure of being with his fellow sportsmen and social circle.

He and Arielle enjoyed traveling and engaged in many charitable activities. As best he could, Gregor protected his wife and family from the harsh realities of the world, which became harder to do once the war started. He thought all of Hitler’s plans for Germany were outrageous. He and Arielle shared that point of view, although they only expressed it privately in circles of friends who had the same sympathies they did. It was too dangerous to share their opinions openly, and they were discreet about it. Gregor was part of the Kreisau Circle, a group of conservative aristocrats philosophically opposed to Adolf Hitler, including many high-ranking military officers. Their dream was to seize power from Hitler, and put Germany back on a more honorable, humane path.

Gregor’s closest friend was Ludwig Beck, a retired general who left the army in 1938, a year before war was declared, once he guessed what was coming. It had proven to be even worse than he predicted, with crimes against humanity beyond anything that civilized men could tolerate. He thought Hitler was a madman and Gregor agreed. The war had been going badly, run by Hitler.

Ludwig Beck came to the house often for long, private late-night talks with Gregor over cognac and cigars. Their philosophies hadn’t wavered about Hitler’s barbarism, but only strengthened.

Arielle and Gregor were on their way back to Berlin because he had meetings with his bankers on matters he said were important. Arielle never questioned his decisions. He made all their plans, which was quite comfortable for her. He was an extremely reasonable man, who always put her and their children first. They were his top priority. And she wanted to see Marianna, who hadn’t been to visit them at the schloss in weeks. She lived near them in Berlin and was always waiting for an opportunity to see her husband, if he had a few days’ leave between missions. He had been flying almost constantly. From January to May, he had been part of Operation Steinbock, the “Little Blitz,” bombing London, Bristol, Hull, and Cardiff. Hitler was determined to conquer the English, take over the country, and make it part of his growing empire, as he invaded all of Europe.

The past five years, since war had been declared in September 1939, had been challenging for the country. And recently, the war hadn’t been going well for Germany. It made Gregor and his like-minded friends more eager than ever to find a way to remove Hitler from running the war and the country. Gregor was a loyal German, but not loyal to Hitler.

The Kreisau Circle included many of Gregor’s close friends, men he trusted implicitly, like General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, and Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, who was the commander of Occupied France.

Gregor and Arielle had been to France several times since the war started. Arielle loved it there. It always reminded her of her trips with her mother when she was a young girl. Her mother had shared the wonders of Paris with her, and she had shared them with Gregor, who was less familiar with the city than she was, but also loved it.

Arielle’s mother’s family still owned their ancestral chateau in France, two hours outside of Paris, in Brionne, in Normandy. All the elders of her parents’ and grandparents’ generation were gone now. The only French relatives she had left in the de Villier family were her cousins Jeanne and Louis, who were brother and sister and lived at the chateau. There was plenty of room for Jeanne’s husband and two children. Arielle used to visit Jeanne and Louis, and they had been close when they were growing up. They were both slightly older than Arielle. Jeanne had a son Viktor’s age and a younger daughter, Sylvie, and Louis, a widower now, had never had children. Arielle hadn’t seen them in five years. There was a chill between them, since in their eyes she was German, and married to a German. She hoped they would be able to reconnect after the war and make peace. They were the only family she had, other than Gregor and their children, and she missed them. She hadn’t heard from them in four years and didn’t dare to visit them when she and Gregor went to Paris.

When they reached Berlin, Gregor drove up to their imposing home, and two footmen rushed out to assist them while a chauffeur came to take the car to the garage. Gregor had been driving his favorite Bugatti—he had more than one. Their bags had been driven in a separate car. Gregor and Arielle lived a life of great ease and luxury, as had been traditional in their families all their lives. And Gregor’s wise investments had improved their fortunes. Few people were able to live as opulently. They didn’t flaunt it. They wore their privilege with grace, and were kind to their employees. They had a great many servants to run the house. As soon as they got home, Arielle went downstairs to see the cook, to discuss dinner. Gregor liked to live well and eat well, and had a cellar full of remarkable French wines which he was always happy to share with his friends. He and Arielle were both generous people, and their children were kind and polite, having been taught by their parents. They were a beloved family, greatly respected by all who knew them. The love they shared brightened the lives of everyone around them, including their employees and their friends. People loved to be with them, and enjoyed the parties they gave. Their home exuded warmth and a feeling of welcome to all who entered.

They were constantly invited to parties and events given by the high command of the Third Reich—Goring, Goebbels, and others like them. Gregor had Arielle decline the invitations as often as possible. But they had to be careful. Gregor was never obvious about his dissidence except with the men he knew he could trust. He didn’t enjoy socializing with Hitler’s zealous followers, and he accepted their social invitations only when he felt that to refuse them would be dangerous. He and Arielle went out a great deal, and were one of the most well-known couples in Berlin. They were the cream of the aristocracy and in great demand. Having them at any event immediately enhanced the host and hostess’s social standing. The Auspecks much preferred being at home with their close friends in black tie, for their own elegant evenings. Arielle always looked exquisite in gowns she had made in Paris, and Gregor said she hardly looked older than their daughter. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, and he was equally handsome and distinguished. She had inherited her mother’s jewelry and Gregor had been generous with her. She was always very stylish, and Gregor spared no expense to make her happy.

Marianna joined them for dinner the night they came home, and after everyone had left, Ludwig Beck dropped by for brandy and cigars with Gregor in the privacy of Gregor’s study, to discuss the war and most recent battles. The Allied attack on Normandy had begun a month before, which concerned them both. The Americans were determined to enter France and force the Germans back to Germany. It was proving to be a fierce battle, a victory for neither side so far.

Mother and daughter went upstairs to Arielle’s little sitting room off their bedroom to chat and gossip, while the men were talking privately. Marianna was less social than her parents, and led a less grand life, especially now that she was married to a young Air Force officer, but she knew everyone important in Berlin of her own generation, and always had stories to tell her mother. They enjoyed each other’s company and were very close. She and Jürgen wanted to have a baby, but had decided to wait until after the war, since they had time for a family, at their age. The fact that his life was at great risk each time he flew a mission was something they didn’t discuss, but it was always there. Marianna worried constantly about him, as did Arielle for her. Jürgen was said to be an extraordinary pilot, and so far, he had been lucky. Arielle hoped it would stay that way, a hope Gregor shared with her. They didn’t want their daughter to be a young widow.

Arielle walked downstairs with Marianna when she left, right at the time that Ludwig and Gregor emerged from his study, and she heard the tail end of an earnest conversation. She heard Ludwig Beck say something about “Valkyrie,” and as soon as he had left, right after Marianna, she teased her husband.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to the opera with Ludwig. You always tell me how much you hate Wagner and refuse to go with me.” She looked amused and Gregor laughed.

“He was talking about a woman we know who looks like one,” Gregor said smoothly, “the wife of one of the Führer’s generals. Don’t worry, I won’t listen to Wagner for you or Ludwig. There are some things I won’t do even for you. I do have an idea, though. I was going to speak to you about it tomorrow,” he said, as they walked up the stairs to their bedroom, with his arm around her waist. They had kept the romance alive between them, despite twenty-three years of marriage. He was more in love with his wife than ever, and still powerfully attracted to her. Their children teased them about it and called them the Lovebirds, and it embarrassed Viktor, which amused his older sister. She thought it was sweet and hoped that Jürgen would feel the same way about her in twenty years. Many of the men they knew of her father’s age had younger mistresses. It was gossiped about in whispers, but word always got out somehow, of young actresses or ballerinas with older, married protectors, whose wives pretended not to hear the rumors. Gregor had never been unfaithful to Arielle, which his friends thought was remarkable and unusual, and a little foolish, and Arielle was equally faithful to him, which wasn’t always the case with wives who knew their husbands cheated on them. The romance in their marriage was still intact. Arielle always said he was a perfect husband.

“What’s your idea?” she asked him, curious, as they reached their bedroom. Monika, her maid, was waiting in her dressing room to help her undress, brush her long blond hair, and help her get ready for bed. Her mother had always had a lady’s maid too. It was a practice still common among their wealthier friends. Monika kept Arielle’s extensive wardrobe in good order, and sometimes suggested outfits for her to wear to a ball or a dinner. She was a nice young woman who had worked for them for a dozen years and loved her job. Arielle sometimes gave her clothes to wear that she had tired of, if Marianna didn’t want them, skirts and sweaters and suits, and once in a while a cocktail dress that the young woman could wear in her own life off duty. They were clothes Monika would never have been able to own otherwise, and she was grateful to Arielle for her generosity. Monika was thirty years old, still unmarried, and her job was the envy of her friends.

“What would you say to a week of shopping in Paris without me, while I tend to some business here?” Gregor asked her. “I need to spend some time with my bankers, which is boring for you in the middle of the summer. You could spend a week there, seeing all your beloved French designers, and I’m sure our friend Carl-Heinrich would invite you to some of his fascinating dinner parties. I’ll join you after a week or so. By then you’ll have spent all my money,” he teased her, “but we can enjoy a week together in Paris, and then we can go back to the schloss for the month of August.” They both loved the South of France and had spent their honeymoon there. He would have liked to take her to the South, but he was concerned about the battle for Normandy at the moment. “Does that sound like fun?” She smiled warmly at him when he asked her. She loved their trips together. They always had a good time, and it kept the flames of their romance and mutual attraction well lit.

“It sounds heavenly,” she responded immediately, and then paused. “Should we ask Marianna to go with us? The poor thing isn’t having much fun. She spends all her time waiting around for Jürgen. It might do her good to get away, if she’ll agree to it. She waits faithfully in Berlin to see him whenever he’s free.”

“I’m sure it would be good for her if she’d come with us,” he said comfortably, as he put his arms around his wife and kissed her. “And if she won’t, it would do me good to be alone with my beautiful wife for a week in Paris. She’s welcome to join us at the schloss when we get back, since it’s closer to home, although I’m sure she’ll find that boring. But I want some time with you on holiday. The war news has been so dreadful, and I know how much you worry about Viktor. It will do us both good to get away, and have a change of scene, alone. What do you say? I’ll let Carl-Heinrich know you’re coming, so he can invite you to the right dinners, as long as he doesn’t invite too many handsome men and seat them next to you.”

“He always seats me next to some fat general who reeks of schnapps, in deference to you. I always thought it was an accident. Now I know you’re in cahoots with him.”

“Of course I am. I’m not a fool. I have to protect the jewel I’m lucky enough to have, so no one steals her from me.”

“You’re quite safe,” she said, and kissed him. “I love the plan.”

“I think I’ll have some important meetings when I get back, so at least you’ll have some distraction in France, and we’ll have time together before I get busy here when we return.” She was smiling at him as he held her.

“When do you want to go?” she asked. She had to plan her wardrobe to stay at an elegant hotel, and evening gowns for Carl-Heinrich’s dinner parties. The women he invited were always supremely elegant.

“I think you should go on the twelfth or thirteenth. That way you’ll be in Paris for Bastille Day, on the fourteenth, and any festivities. I’ll join you on the twenty-first, for a week.” He was very precise about the dates and had obviously already given it some thought.

“I’ll call the designers tomorrow and start making appointments. There are some new young designers I want to see,” she said, with the excitement of ordering beautiful clothes in her eyes. Gregor loved how fashionable she was. She always looked up-to-date and elegant, and he was proud to be seen with her. They made a very handsome couple, and he looked just as elegant beside her. He had an excellent tailor and was a well-built, handsome man.

She disappeared into her dressing room then, where Monika was patiently waiting for her. She helped Arielle undress, carefully hung up what she had been wearing, and helped her slip into an ice-blue satin nightgown and peignoir the color of her eyes. She brushed Arielle’s hair smoothly down her back, and a few minutes later, Arielle joined her husband in their bedroom. He was in bed, in his pajamas. Arielle was already thinking of their time in Paris, hers before he arrived, and another week with him afterward in their favorite city.

They talked for a while after they turned off the light, and she lay in his arms with her head on his shoulder, her long silky hair fanned out on the pillow, as he moved closer to her and kissed her, and grew seriously amorous a moment later. It was a good reminder of what awaited them on their holiday in France. Arielle could hardly wait to get there. She fell asleep in Gregor’s arms after they made love, and she was dreaming of Paris, the clothes she was going to order there, and her time with Gregor.

—

A few days later, Gregor told Arielle that he had arranged for her to stay at the Hotel Ritz. He had to call Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, the commander of Occupied France, to arrange it. The Germans had occupied most of France, but had left a small “free zone,” still governed by the French in collaboration with the German forces. The Hotel Ritz in Paris was occupied by German officers at the moment, with a single civilian resident, who happened to be the dress designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. The Hotel Majestic had been turned into German headquarters, with some officers at the Raphael. Arielle loved the Ritz. It was the epitome of classic French elegance and luxury, with exquisite fabrics and antiques.

Monika packed four very large suitcases for her, one with only evening gowns. The decision process went on for days, as Arielle tried on many outfits, and decided which ones were chic enough for Paris. She had a large matching travel hat box, for the hats that went with the dresses.

Gregor had booked a first-class compartment for her on the train, with a small room for Monika in the same car. She was only staying until Gregor arrived. And the hotel was sending a chauffeur-driven limousine to meet them. Gregor always saw to it that Arielle had every comfort possible.

Several of Gregor’s friends visited him before she left. There was a high-spirited sense of camaraderie among them, like boys who couldn’t wait for their parents to leave town. But she trusted Gregor implicitly.

They made love the night before she left, and he saw her off at the train station in Berlin. When she arrived at the Gare du Nord, after a fourteen-hour overnight trip, the concierge from the Ritz was waiting for her, in a formal morning coat. He recognized her immediately from previous visits. He took charge of her bags with two porters, and ushered her to the car. She was wearing a very stylish straw hat with a wide brim, and a white linen suit she had bought in Paris the year before at Lanvin. She looked impeccable as she slid into the back seat, and the concierge joined the chauffeur in the front seat of the Rolls. Monika rode in the front seat of the luggage car with the driver.

Arielle looked at the familiar landmarks they passed and smiled with pleasure to be back in Paris. As they drove by the Hotel de Crillon on the way to the Ritz, she saw many German officers in uniform, and a large group of SS officers on their way into the hotel for an evening of dining and dancing. She was having dinner there the following night, on Bastille Day, hosted by Gregor’s good friend Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, who had taken over the largest suite for entertaining. When she checked in to her spectacular suite at the Ritz, there were two enormous bouquets of roses, white ones from the Kommandant and three dozen red from her husband, which made her smile when she read the card. “See you soon in Paris, my darling. Counting the hours.” She loved how romantic he was with her, no matter how much it embarrassed their children. She was excited for him to come to Paris.

She bathed and changed clothes, with Monika’s help, before she left the suite after a quick room service lunch. Monika had a small pretty room, one of several set aside for ladies’ maids on each floor, near Arielle’s suite. And once Arielle went out, Monika was free to explore Paris on her own for a few hours until Arielle would need her, if she was going out for dinner. Arielle was off to her first appointment with the designers she had called. She saw Christian Dior that afternoon, at the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, and afterward walked through the Chanel store on the rue Cambon, conveniently right behind the Ritz. Several men in uniform admired her as she got out of the car. She was wearing a very pretty red silk dress, another chic straw hat, and shoes that matched the dress. She had a perfect figure that didn’t go unnoticed. She slipped into Chanel and bought several sweaters that she’d seen in magazines and wanted. She bought one for Marianna too. She still felt slightly guilty for not bringing her daughter with her, at least for the shopping part of the trip, but Marianna had stayed so as not to miss a three-day leave Jürgen was due to have that week. They were still newlyweds a year after their spectacular wedding.

Arielle had dinner in her suite that night and gave Monika the evening off. She called Gregor but their butler Erik said that he was playing cards in the billiards room with several gentlemen with the door closed, and she said not to disturb him. She guessed that he was taking advantage of her absence to have an evening with “the boys.” She was sure that Ludwig Beck and the rest of his cronies were there, drinking as much of their brandy and cognac as they could manage and still be able to get home to their wives. It was harmless fun. She never complained about his time with his friends. They were all like-minded men, none of whom approved of Hitler and how he was running the country and the war. She was sound asleep in Paris by the time they left the house in Berlin at three a.m ., in excellent spirits, but a little unsteady on their feet.

When Arielle woke up the next morning, Bastille Day, it was gloriously sunny, and she decided to go for a walk in the Tuileries Gardens. She stopped in the Place de la Concorde, admired the fountains as she always did, and saw the last of the military parade of German soldiers, with the chairman of the Municipal Council of Paris, Pierre-Charles Taittinger, seated on the dais next to the commanding officer of Paris. She assumed that Carl-Heinrich would be there too, but she didn’t see him. She would see him at his dinner party that night, and after dinner, they were going to have champagne on his terrace and watch the fireworks display. She’d had a note from him with his flowers, outlining their plans for the evening. And the following day, her appointments to order a new winter wardrobe would resume, before her husband arrived a week later.

—

Arielle dressed carefully with Monika’s help that night in a shimmering silver evening gown, which molded her figure, and a diamond necklace with matching earrings she had brought with her to wear to the dinner party. Carl-Heinrich hosted formal evenings, with very important guests and dancing afterward. She didn’t want to dance that night without her husband there. She decided that she would just decline demurely and stay at her table, or leave early and quietly slip away.

By the time she left the hotel for the Kommandant’s dinner, the lobby of the Ritz was teeming with German officers in uniform, and she saw Coco Chanel at the bar in an elegant men’s tuxedo, with a little black hat with a veil. She was surrounded by handsome officers. Arielle walked down the front steps of the hotel to the Rolls waiting for her. She looked like a movie star and was so glamorous that heads turned as she walked past them. She was a stunning sight in her silver dress.

At the same moment in Berlin, Gregor was dining at the house with his friends. There were twenty men at their dining table, all either in high-ranking uniforms or in black tie. There was an atmosphere of celebratory excitement among them. Gregor was going to Poland with four of them, including Ludwig Beck, in a few days. Beck had a briefcase with important contents to deliver to the Führer at his Polish retreat, “the Wolf’s Lair.” Operation Valkyrie had begun. Their mission was almost complete. Only the last step remained to be accomplished. It was up to Ludwig Beck now. All their hopes rested on him.