1960

Philip Dorr came downstairs to the front of the shop and looked at his lovely wife. "What's wrong with Genie?" she asked.

"She knows." Phil whispered to her as he took her into an embrace. He mentally prepared himself for how to tell Hannah that a Nazi from their past had been in the shop that day. She wouldn't take it well.

flashback to St. Gregory, 1946

Angélique Mahy was secretly saying her final goodbyes to her friends before she left for South America. She'd written a letter explaining to June that she would soon place on the counter of the photo shop, but she couldn't bring herself to tell her Jewish friend Zelda Kay that she was leaving to marry a former Nazi airman. To see her friend one last time, Angélique had invited Zelda to lunch at a tea shop in town. Angélique was working alongside Philip Dorr when Zelda arrived at the office to meet her. "Philip Dorr, I'd like you to meet Zelda Kay."

"Hannah." Philip whispered. Philip and Hannah Kozminsky stared at one another, each hardly believing that the other had survived their failed attempt to escape St. Gregory. He'd been captured by Nazis and she'd disappeared into the English Channel.

"My name is Zelda." She corrected him timidly, and he nodded in compliance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zelda." Philip was thunderstruck.

"Phil, why don't you join us for lunch?" asked Angélique suggestively. She had wanted to reunite two people who had survived an ordeal together, but it seemed that she had made a match in the process. It was a fitting parting gift.

St. Gregory, 1948

Zelda and Philip grew closer as the months went by and turned into years. She had a very guarded nature, but Philip was persistent when it came to courting her. They were walking along the beach at la Roche Noire one day when he finally asked her. "Will you ever let me in, beyond that wall of yours? I care for you very much, and I swear I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Oh, Phil. I know." She put her hands on his chest. "I feel safe with you, safer than I have ever felt." He tried to kiss her, but she pulled back.

"What is it, then?"

"We can't- I'm not-" she struggled to articulate what she meant and felt the tears welling up. Screwing up her courage, she declared, "you mustn't fall in love with me. You'll be a senator someday, maybe even bailiff, and you need a reputable wife."

"What? Is this about religion? Because I don't care. If one of us still believes in God, that's a comfort to me. I can't. I've seen too much suffering. But if we have children, you can raise them Jewish if that is what you want."

She looked up at him with saucer eyes and realized that it was too late. He loved her, and she loved him. This time she let him kiss her- tenderly at first, then more deeply. When they broke apart, she began to sob.

"Zelda, what's wrong? I thought that was what you wanted."

"Yes, Phil. But… it's not about religion. I'm not… pure- a virgin I mean."

Philip felt himself go rigid as Zelda continued. "You know that I was hiding in the Mahy's attic during the war. I was hiding- not just from the Nazis, but from one in particular- Lieutenant Walker. They were rounding up the Jews of St. Gregory, and Walker had figured me out. He knew that Zelda Kay had no papers, and he traced my mail to learn that I am really Hannah Kozminsky. He said he would protect my identity if I went to bed with him. I didn't have a choice, Phil."

Philip could feel the blood hardening in his veins and his heart turning to stone. First his mother, then the woman he loved? He might have to feign ignorance for his mother, but he wanted to know exactly what happened to Zelda. "He forced you to have sex with him?"

Zelda nodded. "I was so scared that he would come back that I went into hiding the very next day."

"I remember Lieutenant Walker. A right bastard." Philip thought back to a night in the greenhouse at Sous les Chênes, hiding with his mother. Walker had entered the greenhouse looking for a place to fornicate with his jerrybag of the night. Felicity Dorr made her presence known, and Walker threatened her for breaking curfew. Philip's mother then haughtily informed Lieutenant Walker that the last time she'd been out after curfew was with the Baron. My God, why didn't I question that at the time? Did Walker treat Zelda the way he'd treated that woman in the greenhouse, like a whore? Did the Baron treat his mother that way? Philip raged, throwing a rock and smashing it on the pebbly beach. "I hate him; I hate them all!"

Zelda reached out to him. "It's over now, Phil. In any case, though, you deserve a girl of virtue."

Philip took Zelda into his arms. "Hannah Kozminsky is a girl of virtue, as you put it. I think it's time that we put Zelda Kay to rest." Zelda Kay melted away into his embrace. Philip whispered in her ear, "I love you, Hannah."

"I love you too, Phil," she declared. It felt so good to finally be open and honest about who she was and to acknowledge her feelings for Philip Dorr. "I want to shout it from the top of the cliff!"

"Let's shout then," he cried giddily. "Philip Dorr loves Hannah Kozminksy!" resonated across the English Channel. He kissed her again.

Hannah shivered as Philip's kisses trailed down from her ear to her neck to her shoulder. He was nudging at the fabric of her jumper with his nose to expose more of her. Her arms squeezed him tighter and she tucked her hands inside of his jumper. The contact of her hands to his back as she held him tightly against her made his body respond. Philip pushed her away, embarrassed by his arousal growing between them.

"I'm sorry; I'm getting carried away. I should walk you home like a gentleman."

"It's all right, Phil. We can go up to my flat if you'd like."

"I'd like nothing more, Hannah. But I want to do right by you. I need to get you a ring first." Hannah beamed and stroked his cheek in response.

The pair walked back into town together, arm in arm, as if they were floating on a cloud of promise.