Page 49 of V2

Arnaud found a table and pulled out two chairs. Kay said, ‘This is Barbara Colville, by the way. Barbara, this is Arnaud Vermeulen. I’m billeted on his family.’

He kissed her hand. ‘Enchanté.’

He went over to the bar, said something to the barman and then started talking to a man who was drinking on his own, perched on a stool. Barbara said, ‘He seems charming. Rather attractive, from the knees up. Like Byron with his club foot. “Mad, bad and dangerous to know.” ’ She pulled out a powder compact and checked herself in the little mirror, then quickly applied some lipstick.

Kay watched her uneasily. ‘We can’t stay long, you know. There is a curfew.’

‘All right, don’t fuss. You’re the one who almost got us involved in a fight.’ She offered Kay the lipstick.

‘I’m fine, thanks.’

Most of the men had gone back to their drinks and their games of cards, but a few were still staring at them. Kay doubted if any other British servicewomen had ever been seen in Mechelen. It was not official policy to send women abroad. She felt exposed, embarrassed. It had been naive of her to try to intervene earlier. Stupid. What had she been thinking?

Arnaud came back. ‘I’ve ordered us beer, if that’s all right.’ He sat across the table from them.

‘Heavenly.’ Barbara offered him a cigarette. He took one and she lit it for him.

He said to Kay, ‘You shouldn’t judge us harshly. If England had been occupied for four years, the same would have happened in your country.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Barbara. ‘I’m sure I would have lost all my hair.’

Kay laughed. Arnaud didn’t. ‘When the British soldiers first came, they made the collaborators kneel in the Grote Markt and clean their boots. I watched them do it.’

There was an awkward pause that was only ended when a waiter in a dirty white apron came over and set down three glasses of beer.

Barbara said brightly, ‘What shall we drink to?’

‘Happier times?’ suggested Kay.

‘Good,’ nodded Arnaud. ‘That we can agree on.’

They clinked their glasses. The man Arnaud had been talking to earlier slid off his stool and approached their table. He said something to Arnaud in Flemish, and then, to them all, in English, ‘May I join you?’

‘This is Jens Thys,’ said Arnaud, ‘an old friend of mine. This is Barbara, and this is Kay.’ The stranger bowed to each of them in turn, and sat. He looked to be the same age as Arnaud, but more smartly dressed, in a suit and tie. ‘Jens is a teacher,’ said Arnaud.

The other man added, ‘We used to be colleagues.’

Kay said, ‘But I thought you did manual work?’

‘That is now. Before, I was a teacher.’

‘And what are you doing in Mechelen?’ asked Jens.

Barbara said, ‘Oh, it’s all very hush-hush – we’re not allowed to say.’

‘Hush-hush?’ He looked bewildered.

‘You know – top secret.’

‘It’s just administration,’ said Kay quickly. ‘Typing, filing, that kind of thing. Very boring.’

‘Women’s work,’ added Barbara sarcastically, to show she had been joking.

‘But you are being modest, surely? I can see from your uniforms that you are officers.’

‘Darling,’ said Barbara, ‘in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, everyone is an officer.’

They all laughed.