awkwardly. ‘Let’s talk after dinner. There are things I want to say to you – not
a lecture, I promise, but not just now . . . Fenton, my man, tells me the hot water system in this place is suspect so I ought to go. See you later, eh?’
The bath was a huge ornate affair and the taps were in the shape of dolphins and difficult to manoeuvre but the water was warm enough – just. As he lay looking at the peeling paint on the
ceiling, he wished he was in his rooms in Albany. But then his heart beat a little faster. Despite the horror of having to break bread with men like Scannon and his cronies, despite having to
extract a lover’s letters from a woman betrayed, there was the sheer excitement of being in the same house as Dannie.
3
Larry Harbin was by no means a typical American tourist. At first glance he might have been taken for an academic or a lawyer, and indeed he had a law degree from Harvard, but
he was in fact a businessman and financier. He had been born in Baltimore of a wealthy family and was now in his mid-fifties. He had made his own fortune investing in China and Japan but he had
travelled the length and breadth of Europe – he could speak French and German fluently. His wealth and influence with President Roosevelt – they had met and become friends at Harvard
– had given him access to most of Europe’s political leaders and he despised them all, with the possible exception of the German Chancellor. He was not himself a politician and had no
wish to be one. He liked to say back home he owned half a dozen senators and as many congressmen and that was enough politics for him. However, Roosevelt trusted his judgement particularly when it
came to European politics on which the President was not well informed.
Harbin was impressed with the way Hitler had transformed Germany’s economy and given its people self-respect even if it had been at the expense of the Jews and the Communists. He was by
instinct and nurture anti-Semitic and his hatred of the trade unions in the United States had made him virulently anti-Communist. He despised French politicians whom he had found to be more corrupt
even than the Chinese and he had no faith in England – which was how he always spoke of Britain – being able to win a war against Germany – a war which he considered inevitable.
He strongly believed that the United States should keep out of European affairs and had persuaded the President to his view of the hopelessness of Europe.
In his personal habits he was an ascetic. He neither smoked nor drank alcohol. He wore wire-rimmed spectacles which he had a habit of pushing up the bridge of his nose, which was thin and
beak-like, whenever he gave an opinion. His suits were made in Savile Row, his only extravagance, and his American accent was so slight as to be hardly noticeable. He was unmarried and had
absolutely no sense of humour.
He let slip he owned an oil well in Texas, not in any attempt to impress but to make a point. ‘In my view, Leo,’ Harbin said in his rather prissy voice, ‘your great empire is
defenceless unless you guys can assert control over your source of oil – Persia, Iraq. If those places prove indefensible, as I guess they will, then you’re lost.’
‘So you think there will be war in Europe?’ Scannon asked.
‘I most surely do. In the next few months your friend Mr Hitler will declare a glorious union between the Reich and Austria – Zusammenschluss , – they call it.
You’ve read Mein Kampf , haven’t you, Leo?’
‘I confess I haven’t yet, though the Führer signed a copy for me in Berlin.’
‘Well, read it. It’s all there. On the very first page he declares German-Austria must return to the great German motherland and, as I hear it, the British have said they won’t
interfere. Lord Halifax told me himself he sees it as a legitimate aspiration of the German people to be at one again.’
Edward was shocked. ‘Is that really true, Leo? We would
a lecture, I promise, but not just now . . . Fenton, my man, tells me the hot water system in this place is suspect so I ought to go. See you later, eh?’
The bath was a huge ornate affair and the taps were in the shape of dolphins and difficult to manoeuvre but the water was warm enough – just. As he lay looking at the peeling paint on the
ceiling, he wished he was in his rooms in Albany. But then his heart beat a little faster. Despite the horror of having to break bread with men like Scannon and his cronies, despite having to
extract a lover’s letters from a woman betrayed, there was the sheer excitement of being in the same house as Dannie.
3
Larry Harbin was by no means a typical American tourist. At first glance he might have been taken for an academic or a lawyer, and indeed he had a law degree from Harvard, but
he was in fact a businessman and financier. He had been born in Baltimore of a wealthy family and was now in his mid-fifties. He had made his own fortune investing in China and Japan but he had
travelled the length and breadth of Europe – he could speak French and German fluently. His wealth and influence with President Roosevelt – they had met and become friends at Harvard
– had given him access to most of Europe’s political leaders and he despised them all, with the possible exception of the German Chancellor. He was not himself a politician and had no
wish to be one. He liked to say back home he owned half a dozen senators and as many congressmen and that was enough politics for him. However, Roosevelt trusted his judgement particularly when it
came to European politics on which the President was not well informed.
Harbin was impressed with the way Hitler had transformed Germany’s economy and given its people self-respect even if it had been at the expense of the Jews and the Communists. He was by
instinct and nurture anti-Semitic and his hatred of the trade unions in the United States had made him virulently anti-Communist. He despised French politicians whom he had found to be more corrupt
even than the Chinese and he had no faith in England – which was how he always spoke of Britain – being able to win a war against Germany – a war which he considered inevitable.
He strongly believed that the United States should keep out of European affairs and had persuaded the President to his view of the hopelessness of Europe.
In his personal habits he was an ascetic. He neither smoked nor drank alcohol. He wore wire-rimmed spectacles which he had a habit of pushing up the bridge of his nose, which was thin and
beak-like, whenever he gave an opinion. His suits were made in Savile Row, his only extravagance, and his American accent was so slight as to be hardly noticeable. He was unmarried and had
absolutely no sense of humour.
He let slip he owned an oil well in Texas, not in any attempt to impress but to make a point. ‘In my view, Leo,’ Harbin said in his rather prissy voice, ‘your great empire is
defenceless unless you guys can assert control over your source of oil – Persia, Iraq. If those places prove indefensible, as I guess they will, then you’re lost.’
‘So you think there will be war in Europe?’ Scannon asked.
‘I most surely do. In the next few months your friend Mr Hitler will declare a glorious union between the Reich and Austria – Zusammenschluss , – they call it.
You’ve read Mein Kampf , haven’t you, Leo?’
‘I confess I haven’t yet, though the Führer signed a copy for me in Berlin.’
‘Well, read it. It’s all there. On the very first page he declares German-Austria must return to the great German motherland and, as I hear it, the British have said they won’t
interfere. Lord Halifax told me himself he sees it as a legitimate aspiration of the German people to be at one again.’
Edward was shocked. ‘Is that really true, Leo? We would
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