In the end, she didn’t dare go out into the courtyard, in case they killed her too. She tiptoed up the back stairs, went to check on her mother, who had slept through the gunshots, with some sleeping powder they had found for her, and Gaëlle went to her room to lie on her bed and wait for what would happen next. She couldn’t believe she had just lost her father. It didn’t seem real to her yet.
Apolline came up a little while later with her eyes brimming with tears, to check on her. Gaëlle sat up as soon as she saw her and the housekeeper hugged her as they both cried at the terrible losses they had suffered in this awful war.
“He was in the same cell as my son,” she whispered to Gaëlle, who pulled away from her, looking shocked. “He was very brave.” Gaëlle couldn’t believe it, and she was certain then that she and her mother would be next. Apolline whispered that she was afraid they would be too, but she said that if they tried to escape and were caught, it would be worse.
“What should I do?” Gaëlle said softly so no one could hear. “Should we try to run away?” But where would they go? And her mother was too sick, mentally and physically, to go anywhere or for Gaëlle to move. And she knew of no one who would take them in. Her father had shared none of his Resistance contacts with her, or even the fact that he was engaging in illegal activities. He had been well aware of the dangers, and had risked them. None of them had any idea of what he’d been doing, except Apolline, who had heard it only once from her son, but she was a faithful, honorable woman, and would never have done anything to put Raphaël and his family in danger, or her son.
“Maybe they’ll let you stay here,” she said hopefully, knowing how ill and disoriented Gaëlle’s mother was. She was having fewer and fewer moments of lucidity, all she wanted to do was sleep now. The reality of their life and what was happening around her was just too much for her.
“I don’t think they will,” Gaëlle said thoughtfully, but she couldn’t abandon her mother and run. She had to stay with her till the end. Apolline went back to the kitchen, so they wouldn’t suspect that she knew anything or had talked to Gaëlle, and she came back with their lunch a few hours later, and together they told her mother the terrible news. She didn’t even scream this time, she just lay in her bed glassy-eyed, still under the influence of the sleeping powder, and they gave her more. Gaëlle hoped that if they came to kill her, she would be asleep in her bed. It would be better for her. She whimpered softly and drifted off to sleep, murmuring her husband’s name.
Gaëlle was called to the commandant’s office that afternoon, and there were two officers with him in the room. She tried not to look as overwhelmed by fear as she was. Her eyes met the commandant’s bravely, and he looked very grave.
“I know you must be aware of what happened this morning. There was an unfortunate incident involving your father on one of the farms. They were hiding a family of Jews. I’m not certain that your father was aware of it, but the men who discovered it believed he was. They are exploring all the other farms now. They found a second family an hour ago. We are not certain if his farmers acted independently, or if he was in charge of a clandestine operation to smuggle Jews out of France. These are very serious crimes against the army of occupation, and your own country,” the commandant said severely. “These are acts of treason against the law today.” Gaëlle said nothing, waiting for the death sentence they would impose on her. She fully expected them to take her outside and shoot her as they had her father that morning. She didn’t even know where they had taken his body, or what she and her mother were going to do now without him. “Were you aware of your father’s activities, Mademoiselle de Barbet?” he asked her, looking deep into her eyes, and she looked very young with her slim childish figure, her big blue eyes, and blond hair in braids. She reminded him of his lost daughter every time he saw her and it tore at his heart, and it made him more inclined to be lenient with her, which the other officers didn’t know. And he had liked her father too. At another time in history, they might have been friends.
“No, Commandant, I wasn’t aware. He never told me,” she said in a shaking voice. He could see her shoulders tremble, although she faced him bravely. The others watched her for any sign of guilt. To them, the French had turned out to be extraordinary liars and capable of incredible acts of destruction and treachery while appearing innocent, even young girls her age. The Resistance was becoming a powerful and alarming force, which they were doing everything in their power to crush. The government had given up easily, without a fight, but its citizens were doing everything they could to undermine the Germans, and throw obstacles in their path wherever they could.
The commandant hesitated for a long moment and then nodded. He could see in her eyes that it was true. And she had known nothing about her father’s activities in the Resistance until the soldiers killed him. She looked shocked as she stood in the room trembling, trying to be courageous. It was not guilt, he felt certain, but pure fear.
“I am aware of the state of your mother’s health,” he said in a stern voice, “and the hardship it would be for her to be sent elsewhere.” He doubted that she’d survive it, and so did Gaëlle. And he was sure that Agathe knew even less about her husband’s activities, in the condition she was in. He would have never told her what he was up to, or it would have put her over the edge, where his sudden death was likely to send her now, as the commandant and Gaëlle both knew. “Out of compassion for her, I will let you both continue to stay here. But I warn you, if there is even the slightest suspicion that you are engaged in subversive activities of any kind, you will both be removed and deported immediately. I recognize that this is your home, and we are very pleased to be here. But you must respect us, obey us, and follow the new laws in France.”