“I am going to appoint you as my special assistant to deal with the Christian problem, Herr Korsch,” said Himmler at length. “You will report directly to me. Gather what help you need. Recruit your own assistants, as long as they are loyal, intensely loyal—to me, to the Reich, and of course, to our beloved Führer. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Herr Reichsführer.”

“You will have a year to deal with this disloyalty.”

“I will not disappoint you.”

“Of course you won’t. Meanwhile, continue to infiltrate the Russian and American delegations in Berlin. I may want to make use of your contacts there as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

Himmler looked down and began fiddling with another file. Korsch continued to stand at stiff attention. After a moment Himmler glanced up, showing a hint of surprise to see the young Gestapo agent still before him.

“That is all, Korsch,” he said curtly.

“Yes, sir,” said the other, saluting again with his arm; then, spinning on his heels, he strode briskly from the room.

PART II: The Mystery of the Kingdom-Midsummer, 1937

PART II

The Mystery of the Kingdom—Midsummer 1937

11 Guests in the Country

11

Guests in the Country

The invitation could not have come at a better time, Thaddeus McCallum said to himself.

Ever since the open announcement of German rearmament in 1935, the position of those in the U.S. Embassy in Berlin had become more and more ticklish and full of hidden and unspoken pressures. The official American posture of neutrality kept them walking on diplomatic tightropes among the French, British, and Germans—daily more difficult in light of Hitler’s increased aggression.

The Rhineland coup last year, McCallum feared, had only been the beginning, and the French impotence to mount the slightest resistance against the Wehrmacht in defense of the demilitarized status imposed by Versailles upon the Rhineland did not bode well for stopping Germany’s expansions elsewhere. Hitler’s designs on his native Austria were well documented. The Anschluss was a key Nazi objective. McCallum feared the dominoes would begin falling any time, and once that happened there would be no stopping them.

He read over the letter again.

His friend the baron must have been reading his mind. There was nothing he wanted more right now than to get out of the city. To spend a weekend at the Dortmann estate would be a welcome respite.

Matthew was certain not to object. He had hardly stopped talking about the girl since meeting her at the garden party. And few who had been in attendance had stopped talking about his untimely exit!

“Listen to this, Matt,” said McCallum that evening, glancing across the dinner table at his son. “I received this letter today.”

He read it aloud.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know whether I’d be able to face her again after making such a fool of myself!”