Page 31 of The Last Library of Paris

‘They need sponsors?’ Bea said thoughtfully.

‘The sponsors need to guarantee £50, or a job offer. But Edith says they’re rarely checked now. She says things are more haphazard.’

‘It’s risky for the people back home.’

‘It is,’ I agreed. ‘But it’s not nearly as risky as escaping from the Nazis.’

There was a pause.

‘What do you need from us?’ Lara asked.

‘Names,’ I said simply. ‘I’m going to get my parents to find people to help. Edith’s got contacts with the Quakers, and she knows just about everyone in Oxford. I thought perhaps you’d know people too. People who are prepared to, well, bend the law, in order to save Jewish refugees.’

‘They’d need to be trustworthy,’ Bea said.

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Then once we have sponsors, we can process the visa requests. Edith will need help there, too. But I told her we were good at filling in forms.’

‘That’s true enough,’ said Bea with a wry smile. ‘We’ve certainly filled in enough of them.’

‘We need to be a little careful about how we contact people in England,’ I said. ‘We don’t want a written record. I’m going to telephone my parents and get them to spread the word. I believe Edith has a sister in Oxford who she can trust to recruit others.’

‘I can get in touch with Hector in London,’ Bea said.

‘Do you think he’d help us?’

‘I know he would. I’ll send him a telegram and ask him to call.’

‘I can get in touch with some theatre people,’ said Lara. ‘Dad’s friends. They’ll definitely help. Actually, quite a few of them are Jewish. I’m sure they can spread the word.’

‘Wonderful,’ I said.

Bea was looking at me.

‘But Digby doesn’t know about this?’

I groaned. ‘I don’t think he’d mind really, but I’m supposed to be working in clerical for another week, until I get the nod to go back to my normal job. And you know if we made it official it would be just lots of bureaucracy to muddle through before we could process a single visa.’

‘Plus, it’s not entirely legal,’ Lara pointed out. ‘He might take a dim view of that.’

‘Oh, shush,’ I said, waving my hand to brush away any worries of laws. ‘This is a war. We do what we have to do.’

‘How many names do we need?’ Bea asked. ‘Can one person sponsor more than one refugee?’

‘I don’t see why not.’ I shrugged. ‘Or several members of the same family, perhaps? So the names are different? But the more the better, really.’

‘All right,’ said Bea. ‘Count us in.’

Flooded with relief and a certain amount of excitement, I got up to leave.

‘I really have to go back to my typewriter,’ I said. I went to the door and paused, checking the street for any sign of Steven.

‘What is it?’ said Lara, seeing my hesitation.

‘Nothing.’

‘Liar.’

I sighed. ‘I’ve seen a chap from the embassy twice now, near the shop.’