He sat up in alarm. “What were you doing there? Ans, did you let her go —?”

“Don’t get mad at Ans —she couldn’t have stopped me if she had bound and gagged me and locked me in the closet.”

“But why? How did you even hear about the protest?”

“Miriam came over to tell us that her father and all the other Jewish professors had been fired. She said there was going to be a public protest. I simply had to do something.”

“Do you also know that the Nazis closed the university, for now, after the speech?” he asked. “And arrested Professor Cleveringa?”

“I’m not surprised. But it won’t do them any good. It won’t stop the students and the people of Leiden from protesting this outrage. We simply can’t stand by and allow them to persecute our Jewish people the way they did in Germany.”

“The Nazis don’t tolerate protests, Eloise. You’re putting yourself in their crosshairs.”

“I don’t plan on standing in the street with a placard. I have something else in mind.”

“Eloise, please . . .” Ans had never seen him look so weary and worried.

“I plan to do this.” Eloise handed him the underground newspaper, then waited, watching while he skimmed it. “Now don’t be angry with me, Herman. It won’t do any good because I won’t change my mind. I’m going to work for this newspaper.”

“Doing what?”

“I can monitor the radio broadcasts in both English and French. Ans knows German. We can report the real news so the Dutch people will know the truth, not the lies and propaganda that the Nazis want us to believe. It’s what I studied to do.”

“But it always upsets you when you learn what’s really going on. I couldn’t bear to see you have another breakdown —”

“Herman, listen to me.” She moved closer to him on the sofa and took his face in her hands. “I feel stronger when I’m fighting back. I can push the terrible memories away because this time I’m going to write a different ending to my story. I won’t be a coward. I’m not going to hide from them. We can do this work together. It seems you’re out of a job at the moment, aren’t you?”

He gave a weak smile, and Ans saw the love in his eyes. “Yes, but let’s think about this for just a minute . . .”

“The Resistance is rising up, Herman, and I need to be part of it. We can’t give in to the Nazis’ demands without a fight. This persecution of the Jewish people isn’t just a cause to me. It’s personal. This is about standing up for my friend Miriam and for her husband and her father and for the child she’s carrying.”