“And what good will that do?” He was growing agitated, losing patience. “We can’t defeat them. They’re too powerful!”

“Jesus said that when we put others ahead of ourselves, the world will see God’s love through us.”

Erik didn’t reply. She wondered what he was thinking. Ans knew she couldn’t expect him to grasp so quickly what had taken her years to finally understand. She needed to be patient and give him time. “I love you, Erik,” she said. She hoped, for now, that he understood that much.

“And I love you. More than I can ever say with words. I want to shelter you and protect you. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”

“I know. But when we’re apart, you can trust the God I serve to take care of me.”

He drew a deep breath, then sighed and said, “All right.” After looking around to see if anyone was watching, he took Ans’s face in his hands and kissed her, tenderly at first, then passionately. “Let’s just be together and hold each other as often as we can,” he murmured when he finished, “so we can forget about everything else for just a little while.”

Two days later, Ans met with Havik outside a pharmacy on Rapenburg Street. They greeted each other as if they had met by chance, then bent their heads together. “Tell Professor Huizenga to go to the train station at 5:10 tomorrow afternoon to meet his ‘relatives,’ Max and Ina Huizenga. Their cover story is that they were forced to evacuate from Scheveningen.”

“How will he recognize them?”

“Max will wear a white boutonniere. Are you still dating your policeman?” The abrupt change in subjects made her pause.

“Yes . . . Yes, we love each other, and —”

“Make sure you tell him that you have refugees from the coast staying with you. We need these people to hide in plain sight, and if you act like you’re keeping secrets from him, it will arouse his suspicions.”

Ans wanted to repeat that Erik loved her and that she trusted him with her secrets, but she remained silent.

“I understand you’re in need of a new housekeeper and a cook,” Havik continued as strangers passed them on the street.

“Eloise let her last cook and housekeeper go when our Jewish friends needed to be hidden. We had no idea if they could be trusted.”

“You’ll receive a new live-in cook and housekeeper in a day or two. I trust you have room for these assistants?”

Ans nodded. “But what if the Gestapo returns to search the town house? They’re still looking for our Jewish friends.”

“Everyone under your roof will have a regular Dutch ID card. They’ll all have legitimate reasons for living there. And now I need to go. We’ve talked too long.”