could see the fish if he sat up really straight in the chair and craned his neck. Marta showed the fish to his mother, who nodded and said, ‘It looks wonderful, Marta. My compliments to Frau Müller. Please be kind enough to serve it.’
‘It seems to me that it would be a nice change for you if you went to stay with Renata at the Schloss for a few days,’ Sigmund said, looking down the long stretch of table at Ursula as the dessert was being served. ‘And I’m sure Maxim and Teddy would enjoy it too.’
At the mention of his name, Maxim sat up in the chair and looked from his father to his mother alertly. His dark eyes gleamed, and before he could stop himself, he exclaimed, ‘Oh yes, Mutti, please let’s go!’
Ursula glanced at him. A faint smile touched her mouth. ‘Would you really like to do that, Mein Schatz?’
‘I would, Mutti, and so would Teddy. Wouldn’t you, Teddy?’ He turned to Theodora, gave her a pleading look.
Teddy said, ‘I think Maxim would benefit from a change of air, a few days in the country.’
Sigmund smiled. He was delighted to have his son and Teddy as his allies. He had been quite certain that Ursula would object, that she would not wish to go away, although in his opinion she truly needed a break from Berlin and its tensions. Maxim’s enthusiasm would undoubtedly sway her, he now believed.
Just as Sigmund had thought, Ursula nodded her assent. ‘All right, Maxim, we’ll go in the middle of next week, let’s say on Wednesday.’ She focused her gaze on Sigmund, and added, ‘But only if you promise to join us on Friday, Sigi.’
‘I do promise,’ Sigmund said at once. ‘I understand from Reinhard that Renata is going to invite Arabella and the children if you accept, so it will be nice for Maxim to be with them.’
‘Yes, it will,’ Ursula agreed. The thought of the trip to the Mark Brandenburg and being with her two best women friends cheered Ursula, and she suddenly felt lighter in spirit. Turning to Maxim, she said with a loving smile, ‘It’s been snowing in the Mark so we’ll be able to play outside with the other children. We’ll go toboganning and perhaps we can even skate on the lake.’
Maxim nodded excitedly. The prospect of this trip thrilled him and it showed on his animated little face. Laughing gaily, he cried, ‘And I will build you a beautiful snowman, Mutti, and one for you too, Teddy.’ He looked from one to the other, and his mother smiled at him as Teddy murmured her thanks, and this made him glow inside.
As he picked up his fork and cut into his apple strudel, he thought he was going to burst with happiness. Friday night had been extra special this week. They were going to stay at the big old castle where he always had fun with Gretchen, Diana and Christian, and his mother was smiling again, which was the most important thing of all.
The forests of the Mark Brandenburg, once the domain of the conquering Teutonic knights, stretch for miles in the marshy region of Prussia where they are located. Drained by three rivers, the Havel, the Spree and the Oder, this area has many lakes and is also crisscrossed by countless canals and little waterways which connect its quaint villages.
At the edge of one such old and charming village stands the great Schloss of Graf Reinhard von Tiegal. The back facade of this ancient and picturesque castle faces sloping lawns and formal gardens, and beyond these are the pine forests which are part of the immense von Tiegal estates, owned by the family since the sixteenth century.
On this Sunday morning, early in January of 1939, these forests looked quite magical, completely garbed in white. Snow and dripping icicles covered the trees, weighted their branches down in places, and underfoot the narrow, winding paths were obscured by new layers of snow which had fallen during the night and then frozen. In the brilliant, golden sunlight streaming in through the trees everything glistened as if it had been dusted with silver.
The only sound in this vast and silent white wonderland was the crunch of heavy boots sinking into the crisp snow as Sigmund and Kurt ploughed forward through the forest on their morning walk. Both men had come to the Schloss to join their wives for the weekend, Sigmund driving down to the Mark from Berlin on Friday evening, Kurt on Saturday afternoon.
Heavily bundled up though they were, in thick green loden coats, Tyrolean hats, woollen scarves and gloves, and with their trousers tucked inside their ski boots, they nevertheless moved at a relatively brisk pace since there was an icy, cutting wind.
Neither of them spoke for a while, wrapped in their own thoughts yet perfectly comfortable in their mutual silence, as old friends frequently are.
It was Kurt who finally broke this silence when he said, ‘I have news for you, Sigi.’
Sigmund looked at him alertly. ‘You do? Please, tell me quickly.’
‘I will have the exit visas for you tomorrow or on Tuesday. However, there has been a slight snag. I can only get three.’
‘Oh no!’ Sigmund’s heart sank. He came to an abrupt standstill and stared at Kurt, unable to keep the dismay from showing on his face. ‘What happened? What went wrong?’
‘Nothing went wrong. Very simply, my contact feels he must move carefully. For the moment, at least. To avoid arousing suspicion.’ Kurt took hold of Sigmund’s arm. ‘Come, let’s keep walking. We don’t want to freeze to death out here.’ The two men set off again, and the prince continued, ‘Eight visas are a lot to get all at once, Sigi, and especially since only a week or two ago my contact managed to help a large family leave, after numerous delays. Nine people, actually. But quite aside from his own sense of caution, his contact at the Foreign Ministry is somewhat nervous just now. Nonetheless, my friend promises to have three more exit visas for you in a couple of weeks, and the last two by the end of the month. No later. Please don’t worry, it’s going to be all right. Now, we need to know who will be using the first three visas. I presume you want to get Ursula and Maxim out immediately. Will you go with them?’
‘Ursula and Maxim must go at once. But I cannot,’ Sigmund said without hesitation. ‘I must stay behind until everyone else has left.’
‘I rather thought you’d say that,’ Kurt murmured. ‘So who will accompany Ursula and Maxim? Your mother?’
Sigmund shook his head. ‘My mother wouldn’t go, not without my sisters. She would never leave her daughters behind, I can assure you of that. She will tell me that she is an old woman, that her life is virtually over anyway, and she’ll refuse. Adamantly. And so I think it will be best if Theodora travels with Ursula and Maxim. In two weeks, when you have the second set of visas, Sigrid, her husband, and Hedy can leave. I will take my mother out with me at the end of the month.’
‘I guessed you wouldn’t even contemplate leaving Germany until the entire family was safely in another country,’ Kurt said. ‘I should have the three relevant passports back in my hands by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest. I will bring them to you at the house.’
‘Thank you very much, Kurt. Ursula is prepared, and she can leave immediately. Your contact –’ Sigmund broke off, hesitating, then said, ‘Your contact is fairly certain he can get the other visas, isn’t he?’
‘Yes.’ Now it was Kurt’s turn to stop, and he swung to face Sigmund. The look he gave him was
