My cheeks heated, and I glanced anxiously at Jürgen, but was surprised to find him nonchalant.

“We have been trying to ensure we have more time together. Given I can’t spare the time to come home much, we have purchased a country house at Tollensesee. The work is important, but obviously, so is Sofie’s duty to the Reich.”

Otto nodded, pleased with this response. I, on the other hand, was startled by it. Jürgen had said everything he should have said in response to this challenge, but there was a superiority to his tone, not toward Otto—toward me. Women in the Reich were expected to be submissive to their husbands, but my marriage had never operated that way. I forced myself to smile politely.

“Are you prepared for our trip in the New Year?” Otto asked Jürgen. He motioned toward the bar, and Jürgen shot me a quietly apologetic glance, then fell into step beside Otto as he made a beeline for the bar on the other side of the room, staffed by men in crisp uniforms.

“If I can manage to give my husband eight children with all of the travel we do now, you can surely manage at least a few more,” Helene remarked.

“You travel with Otto?” I asked, surprised. She pursed her lips.

“If you want to climb the ranks of the Party, Sofie, you need to find a way to support the work. I won’t be joining him and Jürgen for this trip in the New Year because the baby will come soon, but I’ve been with him to the camps plenty of times before.”

“To the camps?” I repeated, startled. She gave me a confused look.

“We need many more prisoners for the factory.” I was so bewildered, I was struggling to keep my expression neutral. “While Otto and Jürgen find new workers, I’ve been inspecting each facility. There’s groundbreaking research happening at Auschwitz, Dachau has a delightful herb garden—oh, and of course, there’s the zoological gardens at Buchenwald. You should come along for a trip. It’s so important for wives to support their husbands in this work.”

“I’ll talk to Jürgen about it,” I managed.

Later that night when we were alone in our hotel room, I motioned toward the covers as Jürgen went to turn out the lights, indicating we should pull them over our heads and whisper, but he yawned and shook his head. I shot him a forceful look and he sighed and complied.

“You’ve been to some of the camps?”

“I’m tired. I don’t want to talk about this,” he said.

“Helene said she goes with you.”

“She’s tagged along with Otto a few times.”

“She said—”

“I don’t want you to come with me, Sofie,” he whispered sharply. “Not now. Not ever.”

“But—”