‘No,’ Persey said slowly, ‘I should imagine not. I suppose the trick is not to tell the Germans they’re here,’ Persey said, curious as to what Lise’s landlady would say to that.
‘I don’t want to be arrested if they find out I know something I shouldn’t know. And for not doing the responsible thing about it.’
Persey’s confusion must have emanated from her. ‘What would the responsible thing be?’
Mrs Renouf raised an eyebrow and Persey made a move to leave, disgusted at this woman’s proud anticipation over very much doing the wrong thing. Sometimes the people who mean to do the most good are those who do the most harm, Persey mused.
‘Well, if Lise isn’t here, I shall leave you to it. If you see her, will you tell her I was asking after her? Her employers are asking after her also.’
‘What did you say your name was?’ Lise’s landlady asked.
There was no avoiding it. ‘Persephone Le Roy.’
‘Curious, isn’t it?’ Mrs Renouf called after Persey as she reached the garden gate.
Persey smiled thinly as she looked back at the woman. She wished firmly she hadn’t gone to enquire after Lise now. She had known no good would come of it. ‘What’s curious?’ Persey was forced to ask.
‘She’s not here,’ the woman continued, ‘she’s not at work.’ Unveiled delight spread across Mrs Renouf’s face. ‘Where could she be?’
Chapter 16
Persey was drained from another day carrying out two people’s jobs, but she daren’t show it to Mr Le Brost in case he took it upon himself to replace Lise before she’d had the chance to return. If she returned. Where was she? And what if it was true, what Mrs Renouf had said, that there were many more Jews still remaining on the island? She perished the thought. Concern addled her mind and she was too on edge to engage in even the minutest small talk, which she suspected suited her employer quite well.
It was after she returned from work on her bicycle, and was propping it against the wall in the garage, that she heard the crunch of gravel behind her.
‘Doctor Durand, how are you?’ Persey asked with genuine delight as she turned.
‘Is your German here?’ he asked quietly.
‘He’s not my German,’ Persey was quick to point out. ‘But I don’t actually know. I’ve just returned from work and haven’t been inside yet. What’s wrong?’
‘In that instance … best not do this here, just in case,’ he said. ‘Fifteen minutes? End of the lane?’
Persey nodded, intrigued. She waited for the allotted time, pretending to fiddle with the chain of her bicycle and making a great show of checking her tyres before getting back on and cycling down the lane to meet the doctor.
Doctor Durand peered into the woodland that lay beyond and deciding they were alone said, ‘I’ve been so busy with patients I’ve only now found time to come to you. I didn’t dare risk telephoning. Who knows who’s listening these days.’
Persey looked on expectantly.
‘Lise is at our house,’ he said. ‘We’ve a spare room above the waiting room. She keeps out of the way when patients call and so far, so good.’
‘Oh thank God,’ Persey said. ‘I was so worried we’d left it too late when I found out she’d not been to work.’
‘She was on her way to work when I found her,’ he said. ‘She took some convincing, but when I mentioned it was your idea and you suggested she had to move immediately she went into her lodging house, took all her things and left in under five minutes. Her landlady had gone into town for something or other so it was a lucky chance I arrived when I did.’
‘Yes,’ Persey said. ‘The last thing Lise needs is that frightful woman finding out she’s hiding at yours.’
‘Lise has told me all about her landlady. Shockingly awful bigot. May as well be wearing a swastika herself. You did the right thing, asking me if I could find somewhere more discreet for her to live.’
‘It’s not permanent,’ Persephone said, knowing the doctor was putting himself and his family at risk. She must find Lise a more suitable place to hide.
‘Don’t be silly.’ Doctor Durand laughed. ‘It has to be permanent. Or else, what’s the point?’
Persey glanced around, just to be sure they were still alone. The trees swayed around them in the gentle breeze, but there was no other human sound. ‘But what if you get a soldier billeted with you, like we have?’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I intend to keep her safe. Regardless of race and creed, keeping Lise safe when others might not be is the right thing to do. I swore the Hippocratic oath. “Whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession,as well as outside my profession, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets”,’ he quoted with a glint in his eye.
Persey smiled, impressed. ‘Goodness, you were the right person to ask.’
