Addy’s mouth watered as she stared at the cheese, knowing she should refuse it on principle—he’d stolen it from the home he’d strolled into and taken over. It didn’t belong to him, and that meant she shouldn’t be consuming it, but . . . she was so, so hungry all of a sudden, and if she didn’t eat some of it, he’d only have it all. She vaguely knew the family who owned the chateau, and she told herself they’d prefer a French woman to be consuming it than a Nazi.

“You like cheese?” he asked.

Adelaide laughed. “I’m French! Of course I like cheese.”

He produced what appeared to be a quince jelly, and some cold boiled eggs, and for all her good intentions, she couldn’t turn the food down; even knowing that she was eating and her sister wasn’t, she just couldn’t say no.

“Maybe one day I can take you on a proper French picnic with a fresh baguette and cold meats too, but for now this will have to do.”

Adelaide looked at him, really looked at him, and saw a glimpse of the man he might have been if he were French. Or if Hitler hadn’t risen to power and turned his people into Nazis. Because right now, Wolfgang was just a man trying to impress a woman; it was as simple as that. She doubted German people used to be all that different from French ones.

“Do you truly think you’ll stay here?” she asked. “Your German army, I mean?”

He nodded, but she didn’t know how to read him, how to tell whether he was being that man she’d seen before, or the commander version of himself. Maybe she was kidding herself that they weren’t one and the same.

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Adelaide, but the French army stand no chance. The British troops have all evacuated—for some reason I’ll never understand, an order was made to halt the land assault on British soldiers at Dunkirk beach—and the rest of the Allies have run, too. There is no one left to save the French, so you need to hope that your government does the right thing and makes way for our Führer, because if not, the consequences will be dire.”

She swallowed, trying not to show any emotion, not wanting him to see how much his words had rattled her. Surely Hitler couldn’t end up controlling France?

“Your government is expected to announce their defeat within days, so when I said that you should get used to seeing my fellow countrymen here . . .”