the other small cats and inspecting them for signs of Jewishess. He kept Mama and Anna laughing and they arrived back at theHotel Continental tired and relaxed, as though they had been away on a holiday.
The lounge was dark after the sunlit street and it took Anna a moment to focus on the porter who looked up from his desk as they came in.
“Someone rang you from Cambridge,” he said, and she wondered why Max should telephone rather than write.
Papa lingered for a moment, glancing at a newspaper that someone had left lying on a table, and the porter observed him. “Nothing in there,” he said. “But it’s bad – I’ve heard the radio.”
“What’s happened?” said Papa.
The porter shrugged. He was a little discouraged man with a few hairs carefully arranged in stripes across his bald head. “The usual,” he said. “It’s all up in Holland. The Nazis are everywhere and the Dutch royal family have escaped to England.”
“So quickly!” said Papa, and the feeling of having been away on holiday slipped away as though it had never been.
Just then the telephone rang. The porter answered it and said to Anna, “For you – from Cambridge.”
She rushed to the telephone cabin and picked up the receiver.
“Max?” she said – but it was not Max, it was George.
“Look, something awkward has happened,” he said. “I don’t quite know how to put it, but Max – he’s been arrested.”
“Arrested?” What had he done? Anna thought ofundergraduate pranks, getting drunk, knocking off policemen’s helmets, but surely Max would never…Stupidly, she asked, “You mean by the police?”
“Yes,” said George and added, “as an enemy alien.”
“But they don’t arrest people for being enemy aliens!” cried Anna. “And anyway he isn’t one. We lost our German nationality years ago. He’s just waiting to become naturalised British.”
“I know, I know,” said George. “We told them all that, but it made no difference. They said they were interning all male enemy aliens in Cambridge and his name was on the list.”
“Interning?”
“Yes,” said George. “In some kind of camp.”
Anna suddenly felt quite empty, as though it were pointless even to go on talking.
“Are you still there?” said George anxiously and continued, “Listen, everyone here has made an awful fuss. Me, his tutor, the College – everyone. Bill got so wild at the police station that they threw him out. But we can’t move them. It’s a Government order. Bit of a panic, if you ask me, after what’s been happening in Holland.”
“Yes,” said Anna because it seemed to be expected of her.
“Max was hoping – I don’t know how much use it would be – that perhaps your parents could do something. Exams start in two weeks and he thought perhaps if they knew someone who could explain to the police…He’s only taken his law books with him, almost no clothes.”
“Yes,” said Anna again.
“Anyway, I promised to let you know at once.” George sounded suddenly depressed, as if it had in some way been his fault. “It’s all a mess,” he said. “I’ll ring again if I hear anything.”
Anna roused herself. “Of course,” she said. “Thank you very much, George. And thank you for all you did. I’ll tell my parents at once.”
That would be almost the worst part of it.
Chapter Five
Explaining to Mama and Papa about Max was just as bad as Anna had feared. Papa said almost nothing, as though Max’s internment were only part of a huge catastrophe that he could see rolling towards them, towards England, perhaps towards the whole world, and that he was helpless to avert. Mama shouted and got excited and would not be calmed. Why hadn’t Max explained to the police about Papa? she asked again and again. Why hadn’t the College done anything? Why hadn’t his friends? When Anna told her that indeed they all had, she simply shook her head disbelievingly and cried, “If only I’d been there! I would never
The lounge was dark after the sunlit street and it took Anna a moment to focus on the porter who looked up from his desk as they came in.
“Someone rang you from Cambridge,” he said, and she wondered why Max should telephone rather than write.
Papa lingered for a moment, glancing at a newspaper that someone had left lying on a table, and the porter observed him. “Nothing in there,” he said. “But it’s bad – I’ve heard the radio.”
“What’s happened?” said Papa.
The porter shrugged. He was a little discouraged man with a few hairs carefully arranged in stripes across his bald head. “The usual,” he said. “It’s all up in Holland. The Nazis are everywhere and the Dutch royal family have escaped to England.”
“So quickly!” said Papa, and the feeling of having been away on holiday slipped away as though it had never been.
Just then the telephone rang. The porter answered it and said to Anna, “For you – from Cambridge.”
She rushed to the telephone cabin and picked up the receiver.
“Max?” she said – but it was not Max, it was George.
“Look, something awkward has happened,” he said. “I don’t quite know how to put it, but Max – he’s been arrested.”
“Arrested?” What had he done? Anna thought ofundergraduate pranks, getting drunk, knocking off policemen’s helmets, but surely Max would never…Stupidly, she asked, “You mean by the police?”
“Yes,” said George and added, “as an enemy alien.”
“But they don’t arrest people for being enemy aliens!” cried Anna. “And anyway he isn’t one. We lost our German nationality years ago. He’s just waiting to become naturalised British.”
“I know, I know,” said George. “We told them all that, but it made no difference. They said they were interning all male enemy aliens in Cambridge and his name was on the list.”
“Interning?”
“Yes,” said George. “In some kind of camp.”
Anna suddenly felt quite empty, as though it were pointless even to go on talking.
“Are you still there?” said George anxiously and continued, “Listen, everyone here has made an awful fuss. Me, his tutor, the College – everyone. Bill got so wild at the police station that they threw him out. But we can’t move them. It’s a Government order. Bit of a panic, if you ask me, after what’s been happening in Holland.”
“Yes,” said Anna because it seemed to be expected of her.
“Max was hoping – I don’t know how much use it would be – that perhaps your parents could do something. Exams start in two weeks and he thought perhaps if they knew someone who could explain to the police…He’s only taken his law books with him, almost no clothes.”
“Yes,” said Anna again.
“Anyway, I promised to let you know at once.” George sounded suddenly depressed, as if it had in some way been his fault. “It’s all a mess,” he said. “I’ll ring again if I hear anything.”
Anna roused herself. “Of course,” she said. “Thank you very much, George. And thank you for all you did. I’ll tell my parents at once.”
That would be almost the worst part of it.
Chapter Five
Explaining to Mama and Papa about Max was just as bad as Anna had feared. Papa said almost nothing, as though Max’s internment were only part of a huge catastrophe that he could see rolling towards them, towards England, perhaps towards the whole world, and that he was helpless to avert. Mama shouted and got excited and would not be calmed. Why hadn’t Max explained to the police about Papa? she asked again and again. Why hadn’t the College done anything? Why hadn’t his friends? When Anna told her that indeed they all had, she simply shook her head disbelievingly and cried, “If only I’d been there! I would never
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