Page 30 of A Call to Home (Women of the Resistance #3)

Cairo

December 1943

‘Countess Leonora Malkovic, Your Majesty.’

Leonora dropped a curtsy. ‘Your Majesty.’

‘My dear Leonora, I’m delighted to see you again.’ Peter offered her his hand with smile. ‘Sasha has kept me informed about the excellent work you are doing for Yugoslavia.’

Leo felt a small pang of guilt, remembering the content of the message from Deakin she had read only a day or two ago, which she was not in a position to reveal to the young king.

‘I am happy to be useful, sir, even if only in a small way.’

The king had been accommodated in a spacious villa on the outskirts of the city. It had belonged to an English businessman who had left the city when it was under threat from Rommel and was furnished in English country house style. Peter led the way to where some easy chairs were set out round a low table.

‘I have ordered tea. You know how I love that English tradition. Sasha, would you ring, please?’

Over tea they chatted about the general progress of the war, but Peter was tactful enough not to press Leo for information about the position in his native country. Later, when they were alone, strolling in the garden, she said to Sasha, ‘Peter’s lost weight.’

‘Yes,’ her husband agreed. ‘It’s not surprising. All these months of forced inactivity have taken their toll. He’s desperate to do something positive. In fact, I’m worried that he might be about to take matters into his own hands.’

‘How?’

‘I understand the Americans have trained a group of Canadian Yugoslavs as pilots and provided them with aircraft.’

‘Yes, that’s right. They’ve been flying bombing missions over Serbia, in support of Mihailovic.’

‘Peter wants to persuade them to drop him by parachute to join the Chetniks. He’s convinced that all Yugoslavs would rally to him and abandon Tito.’

‘It’s a crazy idea!’ Leo said. ‘You mustn’t let him do it.’

‘I’ve pointed out to him that apart from anything else an exploit like that would need proper training. There’s more to parachuting than just jumping out of a plane. But he doesn’t want to listen.’

‘Sasha,’ she turned to look at him, ‘it’s not just that. I’m afraid there’s no chance of Tito’s men going over to him. I can’t tell you exactly why I say that. It’s classified information. But Tito is setting up his own government, and it doesn’t include Peter.’

He stared at her. ‘They haven’t got the right to do that. The legitimate government is in London. Surely the British foreign office is still supporting Mihailovic?’

Leo shook her head. ‘Not for much longer, I fear, and quite honestly Sasha, he doesn’t deserve it. We have plenty of evidence that he’s been co-operating with the Italians and his man Nedic has been openly collaborating with the Germans.’

Sasha sighed despondently. ‘How am I going to break the news to Peter?’

‘Don’t say anything yet. I may be speaking out of turn and things could change. The Americans are still backing Mihailovic, and to do him justice he has been taking a much more proactive position since they dropped their men in to him. I’ve heard from our men out there that on Thanksgiving Day Mihailovic staged a huge celebration for the Yanks at his base in Ravna Gora in gratitude for their support. I think what he is doing is too little, too late, but we must wait and see. Just don’t let Peter do anything crazy.’

Leo returned alone to her apartment on the houseboat. It was wonderful to have Sasha close by again, but they had both felt it would not be right to move in together. Sasha had his duty to Peter and was expected to be on hand all the time and Leo had her own job to do. She felt she could not take it for granted that she could live in the house Peter had been loaned. She was Sasha’s wife, but she was not officially a member of the household. Besides, she was reluctant to give up her place on the houseboat. She would miss the morning walk along the palm-tree-lined boulevard and her afternoon teas at the sporting club. So they had come to a compromise. From time to time, when he was reasonably sure that his absence would not be noticed, Sasha slipped away to join her on the houseboat and on other evenings she crept into the rented house and found her way up to his room. It was a joy to be together after so long and the clandestine nature of the assignations seemed to give their love-making extra spice.

A flurry of excitement went through SOE headquarters. Winston Churchill was coming to spend a few days in Cairo, on his way back from a meeting in Tehran, which had also been attended by President Roosevelt and Premier Stalin. Everyone recognised that this could be a turning point in the war but no one yet knew what the outcome had been. Churchill was to be accompanied by his foreign secretary, Anthony Eden. The reception of such a high-powered visitation was a matter for the high command, but everyone was agog to know how it might affect the lower ranks.

‘We are bringing Deakin out,’ Klugmann announced.

‘Oh, that’s good news,’ Leo said. ‘How?’

‘RAF Brindisi are sending a Dakota to pick him up along with the Yugoslav delegation. They will have to stop in Malta to refuel so it will be a day or two before they arrive.’

As it happened, Deakin walked into the office two days later, having persuaded his young New Zealand pilots to fly overnight. Leo welcomed him warmly. He was the first of the many men she had seen off at Derna to return and while they chatted she studied him, looking to see what changes the experience had wrought. Superficially he was clearly in good health. His step was brisk and his face was deeply tanned; but she saw that underneath his worn and shabby uniform he had lost weight. And there was something more, harder to define. She remembered him before he was deployed to Tito’s camp; she had always thought of him as a man of powerful intellect rather than a man of action. There had been a gloss to him, the product of a comfortable upper-class family and a public-school education; but that had been burnt away, revealing the true lineaments of a man of courage and endurance.

‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘Everyone is speaking very highly of what you have achieved.’

‘I think it is too early to say what, if anything, I have achieved,’ he responded. ‘One can only hope to have made a contribution.’

‘Have you been home yet?’ she asked. ‘How is your wife?’ Deakin was married to a Romanian woman who had been forced to leave her country when Hitler invaded and was now working at military headquarters.

‘Yes. She’s well, thank you.’

They were interrupted by a staff officer who Leo did not recognise.

‘Excuse me, sir, I’ve been asked to give you a message. You and Mrs Deakin are to attend a dinner tonight at the British Embassy.’

‘Tonight! For god’s sake man, I’ve only just got back. I haven’t got the right gear for going out to dinner.’

‘Sorry, sir. Those are my orders. You will need to get yourself dress uniform.’

‘Who’s going to be at this dinner?’ Deakin asked.

‘Sorry, sir. For reasons of security, I’m not allowed to tell you that.’

The man saluted and left and Deakin groaned. ‘I was hoping for a quiet night in. Oh well, duty calls, I suppose…’

Next morning Leo was eager to know the details of the dinner.

‘Damn me,’ he said, ‘there we were, in our best bib and tucker and who was at the high table? Winston himself, and Eden and General Wilson, and every senior officer of British Headquarters Mediterranean. I thought I could fade back into the furnishings but no such luck. As soon as dinner was over we adjourned to another room where there were maps laid out. I found I was expected to give the PM a full briefing on exactly what has been going on in Bosnia.’

‘What did you say?’

‘I have no recollection. But I’m to attend the great man again tomorrow morning, so we’re not done yet. But the general trend is clear. The PM wants to know if we have sufficient evidence of Chetnik collaboration to warrant a complete breach with the government in exile.’

‘And therefore with the king?’ Leo said. ‘You do know he’s here in Cairo, hoping to be recalled to take up his throne at any minute?’

Deakin shook his head. ‘It’s not going to happen. Tito will see to that.’

He was absent from the office all the next day. That evening Leo and Sasha met at the houseboat. As they sat on the veranda sipping gin and tonics he said, ‘Peter has been invited to have lunch with Mr Stevenson, the Minister to the Yugoslav Government. What do you think that is all about?’

Leo looked at him with a sense of foreboding. ‘I don’t know, my love. But I think you should be prepared for bad news. Will you be with him?’

‘He has been told to bring one aide de camp. That will be me.’ He shook his head and sighed deeply. ‘What is going to become of him?’

‘Don’t give up hope,’ Leo said. ‘The war is not over yet. Things can change.’

They agreed to meet the following afternoon before Leo had to go back to work at five o’clock. At four she put the kettle on and waited. As soon as she saw Sasha crossing the gangplank, she knew the news was as bad as she had expected.

‘What happened?’

‘A Captain Deakin was there. Do you know him?’

‘Yes. He’s just returned from a mission to Tito’s headquarters.’

‘What sort of a man is he? Is he… is he trustworthy?’

‘Yes. Absolutely. He’s extremely clever and also very brave. He went through some pretty tough fighting at the start of his mission. Why was he there?’

‘Apparently the Prime Minister had ordered him to give Peter a clear picture of how things stand out there, particularly with regard to Mihailovic and the Chetniks. It made grim listening, I can tell you.’

‘I can believe that. How did Peter take it?’

‘With enormous courage and self-possession. He listened, and thanked Deakin and said something about how perhaps he could call on us again.’

‘And that was it?’

‘Yes.’

‘How is he now?’

‘He has shut himself away in his room. I must get back soon in case he wants me. Poor boy! He pinned such faith on Mihailovic. It’s terrible to discover we have all been so badly deceived.’

Deakin looked almost equally shaken when he came into the office next morning but all he would say was, ‘I don’t ever want to go through a lunch like that again.’ His expression brightened. ‘Well, it seems I’m to take over here for the present.’

‘Oh, that’s good!’ Leo said. She knew she would be able to work with him more comfortably than with Klugmann, whose smug complacency about the triumph of communism was beginning to grate on her nerves.

Deakin carried his briefcase into the office that used to be Basil Davidson’s and she heard him unpacking it. Moments later he was back.

‘Leo, forgive me! I should have given you this as soon as I got back. I’m afraid it went out of my head.’

He handed her an envelope addressed to Leonora, Countess Malkovic, and the sight of the handwriting sent an electric shock through Leo’s nerves.

‘Alix! It’s from Alix! Of course, you must have seen her. How could I not have realised that earlier?’

He smiled. ‘Well, I can tell you that you have a remarkable daughter. But I’ll leave you to read your letter.’

Leo fumbled with the envelope, tearing it in her eagerness. She pulled out a single sheet of paper and read:

Darling Mama,

I don’t know what to write in this letter. There is so much to tell you and I only have a short time. Captain Deakin has offered to bring it to you, but he is leaving in a few minutes.

I suppose the first thing to say is that I am well and safe. We have been through some tough times but now we are established in Jajce life is much easier. So you don’t need to worry about me.

I expect you are surprised that I have chosen to join Marshal Tito’s National Liberation Army rather than the Chetniks under Mihailovic. Originally it was because his was the only group I could find that seemed to have a real intention of resisting the monsters that have occupied our homeland. You will be surprised to know that it was none other than Nikola who introduced me! Yes, he is here too, and we have become good friends, once he accepted that I will never marry him.

Now I am sure that I chose the right side. After the stories I hear about how the Chetniks are treating Croats and Muslims and anyone who is not a Serb I see that it would be impossible for the country to unite under Mihailovic. The Croat Ustashe are just as bad, persecuting Orthodox Christians, Jews and Roma people. Under Tito things are very different. Here we have complete freedom of religion and the churches and mosques and synagogues remain open. He is a good man, Mama. I truly believe that. Wherever we go he opens hospitals and schools and provides canteens where the poor and unemployed can get meals. It’s just the sort of thing you and Papa were doing on a smaller scale on our estate before the war.

I don’t know where Papa is but I expect he is in London with the king. I am afraid he will be very angry with me. I feel sad for Peter. We were friends when we were both growing up and I always liked him, but I can’t see how he could possibly rule now. The Chetniks have used him as their figurehead and all the people, apart from the Serbs, identify him with the atrocities they have carried out. Please tell Papa that I am very, very sorry to have disappointed him again, but I have followed my conscience and tried to live up to the values you and he taught me.

Oh, one more thing I must tell you. Do you remember I wrote to you when I was in Paris before the war about a young man I had met, an American whose grandparents were from Macedonia? His name is Stefan Popovic but he is always called Steve. He went off to join the RAF and we lost touch but, incredibly, he is here! Some mysterious organisation in London sent him out here because he speaks the language. He started off with the Chetniks, but he fell out with them and now he has joined us. The point is, we are in love with each other. It started in Paris but then we were separated by the war. Now we are together, as a couple, and it makes me very happy. I’m sure you and Papa will like him when you finally get to meet him.

I don’t know how much longer this war will go on. It seems we may be seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel; but what will happen afterwards I do not know. I just long to see you both. Please don’t be angry with me.

With all my love,

Alix

Leo read the letter through twice, then she went through to Deakin’s office.

‘Thank you so much! It means such a lot to hear from her at last.’

‘My pleasure,’ he responded. ‘She told me how long it is since you saw each other, so this was the least I could do.’

‘And she really is all right?’

‘Yes. Tito has made her his secretary. Did she tell you that?’

‘No.’

‘He thinks a lot of her, and quite rightly. From the stories I’ve heard, she’s shown great courage and endurance. She is also a very bright young woman.’

‘She mentioned a young man. Steve? Have you met him?’

‘Certainly. He attached himself to my mission as an extra radio operator. He’s had a pretty eventful war, too.’

‘And is he…? I don’t know how to put it…’

Deakin smiled. ‘I understand. I should say you need not worry. He’s a thoroughly sound chap, brave and loyal – and intelligent.’

‘And they are…?’

‘Lovers?’

‘Yes.’

‘I think so, but they don’t have much chance to spend time together. I’ve kept the British mission quite separate from Tito’s headquarters. Though now…’ he paused. ‘I offered Steve the chance to come out with us. He turned it down. I think that says a lot for his loyalty.’

Leo nodded, trying to come to terms with all this new information. ‘Thank you. You’ve set my mind at rest, as far as possible in the circumstances.’

‘You still look a bit dubious,’ he commented. ‘Do you disapprove?’

She shook her head. ‘No. As far as I’m concerned Alix is free to do whatever makes her happy. I’m just wondering how my husband will take it. His views on women and marriage are… very Serbian.’

‘I understand,’ he said. ‘But it seems to me a lot of us are going to have to change our attitudes about such things when this war is over.’

It was late that evening before Leo was able to talk to Sasha. The young king was struggling with the news he had been given, alternately fuming at the disloyalty of his subjects and plotting impractical ways of returning and disproving Deakin’s reading of the situation, and Sasha felt unable to leave him. So after most of the household had retired for the night she slipped into the house and made her way up to his room.

He took her in his arms. ‘Thank god you’re here. I need a bit of calm and sanity after the day I’ve had.’

Leo kissed him and let his urgent need sweep her away from her preoccupation with the letter. It was only when they both lay sated in each other’s arms that she murmured, ‘I need to show you something.’

‘What, now? Can’t it wait till morning?’

‘I have to go back to work first thing. There won’t be time to talk then.’

‘Oh, very well.’ He reached up and switched on the light over the bed.

Leo pulled her handbag up from the floor where she had dropped it and took out the letter.

‘William Deakin brought this back from Jajce. It’s from Alix.’

‘From Alix?’ For a moment he looked puzzled.

‘She’s there, with Tito. Remember? Deakin’s met her.’

‘Is she all right?’

‘Read the letter.’

He read it through, frowning, while Leo waited for the explosion. To her surprise it did not come.

‘So that’s it,’ he said, his voice flat. ‘She’s made her choice. I suppose she’s her own woman.’

‘She’s still our daughter,’ Leo reminded him.

‘Is she? To be honest, I don’t feel I know her any longer. The last time we met…’

‘That’s all past history now. And isn’t it interesting that it was Nikola, the man you wanted her to marry, who introduced her to Tito?’

He reread that part of the letter. ‘It looks as though I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.’

She snuggled closer to him. ‘We’ve all made mistakes, my love. But it looks as if this is one we can put right. We must accept that she’s made her own choices, as you say, and go on loving her for what she is – a daughter we can both be proud of.’

He put the letter aside and switched out the light. ‘You are right, as usual. I want to know more about this young man she’s taken up with, but it can wait till morning.’

Deakin called Leo and Klugmann into his office.

‘Well, it’s been decided. We are to abandon Mihailovic and concentrate all support on Tito’s Partisans.’

‘Does that mean,’ Leo asked, ‘that our men will be recalled?’

‘Not at the moment. We need to keep tabs on what he’s up to, and the Americans are still backing him, so Bailey and Hudson will have to stay on for the time being.’

Leo sighed. ‘It’s been such a long time, specially for Bill. Isn’t it time they had some leave?’

‘More than time,’ Deakin agreed, ‘but we can’t replace them and we really need to know what’s going on. They will have to stick it out for a bit longer.’

Christmas was approaching and the shops in Cairo were overwhelmed by scores of British and American and Australian troops shopping for presents to send home. For Leo and Sasha the celebrations were low key. King Peter’s mood did not allow for gaiety. But everyone’s spirits were lifted when President Roosevelt’s address to the American people on Christmas Eve included the announcement that General Dwight D. Eisenhower would command an Allied invasion of continental Europe during the coming year. In addition, he sent a message of support to King Peter and made a gift of four aircraft to the Yugoslav Air Force.

Hugging her husband on Christmas Day Leo whispered, ‘Let’s look on the bright side. I really believe this year might see the end of this awful war.’