1960
Felicity awoke with the sun despite not having slept much the night before. She was busy in the kitchen preparing a massive fry-up for the whole family when Philip arrived bright and early. Overcompensation, he thought as he watched her. In his childhood, breakfasts were prepared by the staff- not his mother. But things had changed drastically since they all lived at Sous les Chênes. Philip greeted his mother with a tentative kiss on the cheek.
Philip sat down at the table as his mother tended the stove. He was grateful that she was not looking at him as he spoke; there were difficult things that he had to say before Eugénie came downstairs. "All these years, I have hated the Baron. And for him to waltz into our shop like that! Mum, I'm sorry. But I have to know. Did he force you?"
"No, Phil. It was a comfort to me. God help me, we comforted each other. If you hate him, you are entitled, but it must be for your own reasons." She broke down in tears as she slid eggs and sausage onto a plate in front of Phil.
Eugénie cautiously poked her head into the kitchen. "Mum?"
Felicity quickly dabbed her tears with her apron. "There you are, darling! I've made you breakfast."
"I'm not sure I'm very hungry."
"Sit down, sweet Genie. I should make an honest confession before your father smells the bacon." Eugénie obliged. "Right, no more secrets; I'll get straight to the point. During the occupation, I had a relationship with the Nazi commandant of St. Gregory. As a German officer he was my sworn enemy, but Heinrich was quite human. We were companions during some dark days; it was a long, cold, winter. We spoke of the letters that I received from your father, letters he received from his wife and son in the Luftwaffe. He had already lost one son to the war. Heinrich and I shared a very difficult period in our lives together, and- well, you are both old enough to know how these things happen. I fell pregnant, and Heinrich was transferred to Vichy before you arrived, Genie."
Eugénie blinked a few times before speaking. "Did you love him, mum?"
"Yes, I suppose that I did. Though we were never going to run off to Argentina together." (Phil smiled at the thought of Angélique Telleman, with whom he and Hannah still corresponded several times a year.) "I always intended to stay with your father- James, I mean, of course- if he would still have me. It was a blow to him when he returned from prison to find me pregnant, but he was merciful and agreed to raise you as his own. I have been faithful to him ever since."
James had been listening at the door. Philip stood up when he noticed his father. James entered the kitchen, placed a kiss on Eugénie's head, and sat down. Felicity rose and went back to the stove. She piled the eggs and bacon onto James' plate. "I'm so sorry, James, for all of this." She whispered.
Philip reminded his family of the problem at hand. "The Baron will return at 2PM. What are we going to do?"
James looked at Felicity for guidance. "He isn't the enemy anymore, James," she said meekly.
"In my eyes, he will always be the enemy, Felicity." James turned to Eugénie. "But you know the truth now, Genie. You are within your rights if you want to meet him."
Eugénie was crying, but she nodded in the affirmative.
"Shall I go with Genie to London?" Felicity asked delicately, not wanting to seem treasonous to her husband.
"No." James said definitively. Felicity bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming, but I have to see him! "Phil and I will go to London. You and Genie should stay here and prepare a proper tea. Phil will drive the Baron here. I will remain in London at the shop."
"James, are you sure?" Felicity held her breath.
"I have no desire to be here, but I will not prevent your meeting- on the condition that Phil is there to keep a close eye on my two best girls."
Philip nodded in collusion with his father.
"Thank you," Felicity whispered, though she resented James making Philip her chaperone. Still, it was all too easy- getting her husband to accept her meeting her former lover. She should have suspected that James was using her to bait a trap for the Baron.