Fall of Giants

Walter sat on a wooden bench and took out his notebook. For a few minutes he wrote abbreviated reminders of everything he had seen. His report would confirm other intelligence sources. Secret agents had been warning of what the British called a “big push.”

He made his way through the maze of trenches to the rear. The Germans had constructed three lines of trenches two or three kilometers apart, so that if they were driven out of the front line they could fall back on another trench and, failing that, a third. Whatever happened, he thought with considerable satisfaction, there would be no quick victory for the British.

Walter found his horse and rode back to Second Army headquarters, arriving at lunchtime. In the officers’ mess he was surprised to encounter his father. The old man was a senior officer on the general staff, and now dashed from one battlefield to another just as, in peacetime, he had gone from one European capital to the next.

Otto looked older. He had lost weight-all Germans had lost weight. His monkish fringe was cut so short that he looked bald. But he seemed spry and cheerful. War suited him. He liked the excitement, the hurry, the quick decisions, and the sense of constant emergency.

He never mentioned Maud.

“What have you seen?” he asked.

“There will be a major assault in this area within the next few weeks,” Walter said.

His father shook his head skeptically. “The Somme sector is the best-defended part of our line. We hold the upper ground and we have three lines of trenches. In war you attack at your enemy’s weakest point, not his strongest-even the British know that.”

Walter related what he had just seen: the trucks, the trains, and the communications detail laying telephone lines.

“I believe it’s a ruse,” said Otto. “If this were the real site of the attack, they would be doing more to conceal their efforts. There will be a feint here, followed by the real assault farther north, in Flanders.”

Walter said: “What does von Falkenhayn believe?” Erich von Falkenhayn had been chief of staff for almost two years.

His father smiled. “He believes what I tell him.”

{III}

As coffee was served at the end of lunch, Lady Maud asked Lady Hermia: “In an emergency, Aunt, would you know how to get in touch with Fitz’s lawyer?”

Aunt Herm looked mildly shocked. “My dear, what should I have to do with lawyers?”

“You never know.” Maud turned to the butler as he put the coffeepot down on a silver trivet. “Grout, be so kind as to bring me a sheet of paper and a pencil.” Grout went out and returned with writing materials. Maud wrote down the name and address of the family lawyer.

“Why do I need this?” Aunt Herm said.

“I may get arrested this afternoon,” Maud said cheerfully. “If so, do please ask him to come and get me out of jail.”

“Oh!” said Aunt Herm. “You can’t mean it!”

“No, I’m sure it won’t happen,” Maud said. “But, you know, just in case… ” She kissed her aunt and left the room.

Aunt Herm’s attitude infuriated Maud, but most women were the same. It was unladylike even to know the name of your lawyer, let alone to understand your rights under the law. No wonder women were mercilessly exploited.

Maud put on her hat and gloves and a light summer coat, then went out and caught a bus to Aldgate.

She was alone. Chaperoning rules had relaxed since the outbreak of war. It was no longer scandalous for a single woman to go out unescorted in the daytime. Aunt Herm disapproved of the change, but she could not lock Maud up, and she could not appeal to Fitz, who was in France, so she had to accept the situation, albeit with a sour face.

Maud was editor of The Soldier’s Wife, a small-circulation newspaper that campaigned for better treatment for the dependents of servicemen. A Conservative member of Parliament had described the journal as “a pestilential nuisance to the government,” a quotation that was emblazoned on the masthead of every edition thereafter. Maud’s campaigning rage was fueled by her indignation at the subjection of women combined with her horror at the pointless slaughter of war. Maud subsidized the newspaper out of her small inheritance. She hardly needed the money anyway: Fitz always paid for everything she needed.

Ethel Williams was the paper’s manager. She had eagerly left the sweatshop for a better wage and a campaigning role. Ethel shared Maud’s rage, but had a different set of skills. Maud understood politics at the top-she met cabinet ministers socially and talked to them about the issues of the day. Ethel knew a different political world: the National Union of Garment Workers, the Independent Labour Party, strikes and lockouts and street marches.

As appointed, Maud met Ethel across the road from the Aldgate office of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association.