“The French defenses are still strong.”

“The Maginot Line is magnificent, madame, but the cost of building it has been so great that it doesn’t go all the way north to the sea. The Germans could come across the north, and if we mass our armies there, that still leaves a convenient gap between the Maginot Line and the northern plain.”

“But that’s the Ardennes. It’s all mountain and impenetrable forest.”

“ ‘Impenetrable’ is a big word, madame. Come through the Ardennes and you’re in the open fields of Champagne with a clear run to Paris.”

“Our army is still large.”

“It is, madame, and your men are brave. Moreover, you actually have more tanks than the Germans. But the tanks are scattered all over the place, whereas the Germans have a large, concentrated force of tanks with the proper air cover which can advance with devastating speed. There’s a thoughtful officer in the French army who advocates tank formations like the German ones. His name’s de Gaulle, and you’ve probably never heard of him. He’s not senior enough to get the general staff to listen to him. But he’s absolutely correct.”

Marie told Roland about the conversation afterward.

“I’ve never heard of de Gaulle either,” he said, “but your Englishman may be right.”

For Marie and Roland, the rest of 1938 and the first half of 1939 passed quietly. Charlie was spending the month of August with them at the château when the news that stupefied all Europe arrived.

“Russia and Germany have made a pact?” cried Marie. “I can’t believe it. They’re sworn enemies. They hate each other. How can they be allies?”

Roland had little doubt.

“It must mean war,” he said. “The logic is inescapable: Stalin has seen that his Western allies are too weak to help him against Germany, so he’s done a deal with Hitler. And why’s Hitler done it? Russia has raw materials he needs. But above all he wants to neutralize the Soviets while he attacks the West. He doesn’t want a war on two fronts.”

“You think he’ll attack soon?” asked Charlie.

“Probably.”

“I’d better get ready to fight, then.”

August had scarcely ended when it came. And with a speed that was breathtaking.

Blitzkrieg. Hitler’s armored columns swept through Poland and crushed it. France and Britain declared war and began a naval blockade of German shipping. But they were powerless to save poor Poland, which Germany soon divided up with her new ally, Russia.

As for Charlie, he didn’t even wait for the call. He went straight to Paris to offer himself to the army.

It was a sunny day when he departed. As he was leaving his Voisin at the château, Marie and Roland saw him off at the train station.

How handsome he looked, waiting on the platform. It seemed to her that she felt just the same pride, and secret fear, as if he’d been her own. Then the little steam engine puffed and clanked its way up the line toward them, and the railway cars slowed to a halt, and he prepared to swing himself up.