“What else would you have done?”

Without thinking, Maria said: “Got married.”

Jacky sat down. “George never told me your secrets,” she said. “But I thought you must be in love with a married man, back in the sixties.”

Maria nodded. “I’ve loved two men in my life,” she said. “Him, and George.”

Jacky said: “What happened? Did he go back to his wife? They usually do.”

“No,” said Maria. “He died.”

“Oh, my goodness!” said Jacky. “Was it President Kennedy?”

Maria stared at her in astonishment. “How did you figure that out?”

“I didn’t, I guessed.”

“Please don’t tell anyone! George knows, but no one else does.”

“I can keep secrets.” Jacky smiled. “Greg didn’t know he was a father until George was six.”

“Thank you. If it ever gets out I’ll be all over those trashy supermarket newspapers. Goodness knows how much damage that would do to my career.”

“Don’t worry. But listen. George will be home soon. You two are practically living together now. You’re so well matched.” She lowered her voice. “I like you much better than Verena.”

Maria laughed. “And my folks would have preferred George to President Kennedy, if they had known, you can bet on that.”

“Do you think you and George might get married?”

“The problem is that I couldn’t do my job if I were married to a congressman. I have to be bipartisan, or at least appear so.”

“You’ll retire one day.”

“Another seven years and I’ll be sixty.”

“Will you marry him then?”

“If he asks me—yes.”

• • •

Rebecca was at Checkpoint Charlie, on the western side, with Walli, plus Alice and Helmut. Rebecca was being careful to avoid Jasper Murray and his television cameras. She felt that joining a street mob was not the right thing for a Bundestag deputy, let alone a government minister. But she was not going to miss this. It was the greatest ever demonstration against the Wall—the Wall that had crippled the man she loved and blighted her life. The East German government could not possibly survive it—could they?

The air was cold, but she was warmed by the crowd. There were several thousand people in the stretch of Friedrich Strasse leading to the checkpoint. Rebecca and the others were near the front. Just past the Allied hut, a white line was painted across the road where Friedrich Strasse intersected Koch Strasse. The line showed where West Berlin ended and East Berlin began. On the corner, the Café Adler was doing a roaring trade.

The Wall ran along the cross street, Koch Strasse. There were in fact two walls, both made of tall concrete panels, separated by a strip of cleared land. On the Western side, the concrete was covered with colorful graffiti. Opposite where Rebecca stood was a gap beyond which were several armed guards standing in front of three red-and-white gates, two for vehicles and one for pedestrians. Behind the gates were three watchtowers. Rebecca could see soldiers behind the glass windows, scanning the crowd malevolently through binoculars.