‘Through a period of detention?’ he suggested.
She had heard enough. She pushed her chair back and rose to her feet, drawing herself up to her full height.
‘I demand to see Mr Dynes and Mr Thornton. They have faith in me even if you don’t.’ She turned to leave. ‘Good day.’
‘Miss Campbell, please return to your seat.’
She stopped with her back to him. His tone had softened and he had said please. Very well, she had nothing to lose. She turned and looked him squarely in the eye. Her lips were tense and dry. She was still furious. Her knees trembled and she put a hand on the back of the chair to steady herself.
‘Tell me, do you like crosswords?’ he asked.
First an interrogation, and now a question about puzzle games. The man really was the limit. She wondered for a moment if he had said cross words and not crosswords.
‘Cross words?’ she queried.
‘Yes, crosswords.’
Crosswords, then. Still mystified, she replied, ‘I have always done them when I had time on my hands. In fact, I completed one this morning. I usually do, in German as well as English.’
‘Cryptic or not?’ he asked.
‘Cryptic is certainly more satisfying, but any will do when I have time.’ She wondered if she should sit down again, and decided she would not. Standing, she felt she had a slight advantage.
‘You enjoy them?’
‘Very much so. Why?’ It was time he answered a question himself.
He did not, of course. Instead, he made a note on his paper.
A knock on the door distracted him and he barked, ‘Come in.’
A woman in her middle years approached the desk and handed him a brown folder. She departed without saying a word or sparing a glance at Hilda. Sir William opened the folder and studied the contents; she waited, watching closely. Was this a directive for her detention, requiring his signature and…?
‘Please,’ he said extending his hand to the empty chair. She hesitated. His venom certainly seemed less potent now. She sat down, clasping her hands on her lap.
‘Ninety-eight per cent, Miss Campbell,’ he said. ‘Admirable.’
She frowned, not understanding, and then realised he meant the maths test. Moreover, he had called her Miss Campbell, not Frau Richter. However, caution was still her watchword.
‘How did I lose two marks?’ she inquired dryly.
He turned over the pages in front of him, studied them and then smiled. It made him seem more human, almost handsome, though not her cup of tea.
‘The trigonometry caught you out.’
‘Trigonometry? Really?’
‘Yes, your mind must have wandered momentarily. The answer was correct, but the working-out was incomplete. The marker chose to fault you on the missing line in your calculation. Your mind must have been racing ahead of your hand. That is a minor detail. Yours was by far the best result of the three candidates.’
‘So I’m going to be a qualified maths teacher in a detention camp.’
She detected a smile on his ruddy face.
‘Not at all, Hilda. I think you will do well in the position now available to you.’ He laid his hands on the desk and leaned towards her. ‘I cannot emphasize strongly enough how secret this operation is. Have you signed the Official Secrets Act yet?’
‘Yes, I have,’ she said cautiously.
‘I will need to have that verified, of course. You realise that any deviation from the Act’s requirements will result in the death penalty for treason. I’d have no hesitation in seeing you hang if you turn against your home country,’ he said sternly.
She gave him a wry smile. ‘Yes, of course, I understand.’ It was difficult to understand this complete volte-face, but it appeared he was seeing her in her true light after all.
He stood up and offered his hand.
‘I had to be hard on you, Hilda. I believe you, I assure you I do. Your loyalty had to be tested, hadn’t it? German son and so on… I know it must be hard for you not to know where your son is. However, I do not question your loyalty to Great Britain. I hope that one day you will be reunited with Otto.’
‘Thank you. You did have me worried,’ she said, warming to him at last.
‘What we have in mind for you is top secret. I mentioned that before, but I cannot stress that enough. Listen carefully. I’d like you to go to Bletchley Station this afternoon. You will be met by a car.’
‘And where will I spend the night?’ she asked.
‘That will be taken care of, I assure you. Regard this as a crucial assignment. You bring to the task some much valued qualities. Now, can I ask you to wait outside, please? You will have a colleague to join you.’
‘Just one colleague?’
‘Ninety-eight per cent, ninety-two per cent and seventy-four per cent. Yes, there will be just one other to accompany you.’
The wait was agonising for Hilda. She sat with the girl who had been interviewed already, but could not share her knowledge with her. Was this the girl she would share the next part of her life? Alternatively, would she never see her again?
Moments later the door opened and the third girl left without acknowledging her mathematical student colleagues.
Sir William opened his door wearing a broad smile which totally metamorphosed him. He was a completely different man.
‘Ladies, please…’ he said, indicating with an inviting arm to return to his room.
‘Congratulations to you both. You will be serving the country in a very secret location. You have both signed the Official Secrets Act. That means if you divulge your duties to anyone or reveal where you will be working, death will result. I would authorise that without hesitation. Do you understand?’
Hilda took a deep breath. At first, she nodded. Then she vocalised her words. ‘Yes, I fully understand.’ Sir William smiled.
‘And you Miss Barker?’ he asked.
‘Yes, I understand too,’ she replied.
Sir William then opened his desk drawer and produced two brown envelopes. These are very personal letters. These are your instructions. Am I making myself clear?’
They responded together in agreement.
Then Sir William handed over one of the envelopes to Hilda and the other to Sally. He gave an ivory letter opener to Hilda who, after opening her own one, then passed it to Sally.
Sir William sat back and watched them reading their instructions.
Hilda saw there was only one paragraph. The instruction was to interpret technical German and be available to give information about the geography, politics and economy of the Germany she knew, when requested. Her knowledge of the country was comprehensive. Technical German might prove difficult but the language description was often literal and she was confident technical translation would not pose an insurmountable difficulty.
‘Your instructions are clear?’
‘I fully understand them,’ Hilda replied.
Sir William’s eyebrows rose with a smile at Sally. She also replied with the same words.
Sir William looked at his wristwatch. ‘A car will be ready outside to take you to the station.’ He stood up and approached them. He stretched out his hand and the women shook it firmly. ‘My faith is in both of you. You will bring much credit to the country.’
Chapter 22
A Chance Meeting at Bletchley
The train chugged through Buckinghamshire until it arrived at Bletchley station. At first, it struck Hilda as no more than being a small rural station which would see few trains in the course of a day. However, the destination board on the platform revealed that many more trains than she would expect actually passed through Bletchley, travelling between Oxford and Cambridge.
The air was still and fresh, and as they left the train, they heard a variety of birds chattered which lightened their spirits after the noisy starlings of Central London. The country seemed much safer than the capital, yet they had not travelled far. A stray German bomb might yet find its way to Buckinghamshire. Nowhere was safe; they needed to remember that.