Their relationship was so scandalous, so risky and so disruptive, that it made Elinor’s heart flutter with excitement. After she began sleeping with Frederick, she didn’t return to the nurses’ barracks and share the intimate details with her friends. She was discreet (despite her obvious euphoria), but soon Elinor began to see Frederick at all hours of the night, which was a clear giveaway that something serious had developed. Gwyneth picked up on it immediately.

The nurses’ barracks at Camp Florence had individual private rooms—a requirement for all officers in the army, even black ones, who typically didn’t get the same consideration as their white contemporaries. The arrangement was ideal for Elinor because she could avoid waking up a roommate as she slipped in and out of bed to meet Frederick. There were no guards positioned outside the nurses’ barracks either. Elinor did need a lookout from time to time, just in case some personnel were lingering around the grounds nearby and might spot her returning at suspicious hours. In such instances, she could always use the excuse of working late at the hospital because of a medical emergency. Gwyneth helped sneak her out on these occasions, and it was obvious to her what was happening. “I could tell she was falling in love. She was private, but the way she looked—we all knew.”

Elinor’s trysts with Frederick were potentially dangerous. She was in the United States Army Nurse Corps. Her country was at war with the Nazis. A love affair with a German prisoner could have been considered treasonous and the ramifications severe: court-martial, dishonorable discharge, imprisonment. Frederick could have been punished too. But they were blinded to any danger by their love.9

Months passed as Elinor and Frederick’s flirtations escalated into a full-blown sexual relationship that bonded them emotionally and physically. The two behaved as if they were invincible, as if no one would ever find out. Until, of course, the truth was exposed.

7. End of War

7.

End of War

AFTER FREDERICK AND ELINOR BEGAN SLEEPING together the days of rational thinking disintegrated. Every minute of their existence rested on being together. Frederick split his time volunteering in the hospital and working in the kitchen, and somehow his schedule never sounded any alarms. He had established himself as a trusted hospital volunteer in addition to being a much relied-upon and valued cook in the officers’ mess. The guards weren’t suspicious of him at all.

Whether he was translating or working as an orderly mopping floors and cleaning rooms, Frederick familiarized himself with every inch of the hospital to find safe places to be alone with Elinor. She helped plot their escapades as well, since she had access to the staff’s schedules, which meant she knew exactly when the surgery rooms would be vacant. After the war, in a rare admission, Frederick revealed to his sister, Charlotte, that he and Elinor would make love whenever possible.