He paused.
“I don’t have to tell you this, Ivan Vasilyevich. We are making new history here. The disease affects the herd, and the sick ones must be culled and destroyed.”
Beria grew suddenly silent as they walked. Only the crunch of the snow under their boots broke the silence.
“We must rid them of their mouthpiece,” Beria ejaculated, raising his voice.
Dimitrov knew, of course, who was meant.
“Is it being contemplated?”
“Let us say the idea is in the oven,” Beria said.
Dimitrov laughed politely.
“Churchill?”
“Not yet.”
Beria paused and looked up at the pale sun beneath the low clouds. Dimitrov saw the reflection of the sun on Beria’s glasses. He shielded his eyes and turned in another direction.
“He will be making a big noise next month in America. What he plans to say will be a deciding factor.”
“Do we know?”
“We have indications, but we do not know exactly. Our understanding is that it will be a diatribe against us.”
“Will you know in advance?”
Beria smiled.
“Well in advance. We will be very well informed.”
Dimitrov nodded. In these matters, he did not pry, waiting instead for Beria to volunteer information. For a few minutes, as they walked through the forest, Beria was silent. Then he stopped and faced Dimitrov.
“No one else can be trusted with instructions, Ivan Vasilyevich. Pack your toothbrush and be ready.”
Chapter 11
Maclean had fully briefed Victoria on what to expect. She had been surprised when he announced her assignment to take Churchill’s dictation.
“Why me?” she had asked, although she could not deny a feeling of pride.
“Because you are the most intelligent, most efficient, and most skillful,” he said, smiling while adding, “and most attractive.” He paused and chuckled. “I volunteered you.”
“Kind of you,” she said, with mock severity.
“It wasn’t easy. Thompson checked you out quite thoroughly.”
“Thompson?”
“Churchill’s man, officially his private bodyguard, but much more than that. He is a former member of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and quite legendary. On and off, he was been Churchill’s bodyguard for years. He is all eyes and ears and has a canny sense of detail. Churchill called him out of retirement when he became prime minister and was with him during the war. He retired again and has been called back by Mr. Churchill to be with him during foreign trips.” Maclean paused. “Churchill trusts him totally. The man is passionately protective, the best in the business. And I am sure he is armed.”
“I’m hardly a threat, darling.”
“To him, everyone is a threat. He put me through a relentless interrogation about your background and qualifications. He has gone over your personnel file with a fine-tooth comb and has questioned me at length about your skills and general attitude.”
Maclean winked. “I told him everything.”
“Everything?” She winked back.
“Everyone is entitled to some secrets,” he said slyly.
“I suppose I should be honored, darling. Did this canny gentleman tell you what I’m to expect?”
“As a matter of fact, he did. Here again, he was quite thorough. He explained that Mr. Churchill would be irascible and sometimes difficult. He is used to his regular English secretaries, all of whom know his habits. Undoubtedly, he will expect you to react like them, which will be impossible. You must be patient and unflappable. At times, he will be difficult to follow. He has a bit of a stammer.”
“Churchill, a stammer? Really, darling? Churchill?”
“According to Thompson, it becomes particularly prominent when dictating.”
Victoria raised her eyebrows.
“He will dictate a line, say it again and again, then change it and go through the routine yet another time. Thompson acknowledged that this could be terribly difficult for a typist or a stenographer, even one as efficient as you on both scores, Victoria. The point here is that we need….”
He frowned, paused, turned away, and then came back with a smile.
“…I need,” he continued. “I need you, Victoria, to stay on the job. If he is dissatisfied, you will be sacked. He is very serious about his speeches. They are his stock-in-trade as a politician, and he knows it.”
He seemed more tense than usual, and his warnings were making her nervous.
“I won’t let you down, darling. I promise.”
Ignoring her comment, he continued.
“His final draft… Thompson was rather explicit about this… must be typed out as if it were verse, and you will have to make these line judgments based upon his cadences. The chances are he will go over them again and again and make changes. Expect to do numerous drafts.”
“Why a verse format?”
“I suppose he thinks of his speeches as poetry, poetry as words meant to be read aloud as if they were rhymed and metered. Thompson says that every line must be a phrase and no line must end in a preposition or an adjective. Apparently, Churchill will make this point ad infinitum. Oh yes, I’ve forgotten, the verse lines must not begin with a capital letter. Do you understand, Victoria?”
“Of course, I understand. But I must say the details are so precise, it’s alarming. Do you think I’m up to it, darling?”
“You must be, Victoria.”
He looked at her in a sharp businesslike way. His blue eyes blazed with intensity.
“Must? My God, darling, my fingers will shake and my knees will wobble. Perhaps Thompson deliberately made it sound too formidable.”
“He wants you to be prepared is all.”
“I’ve taken dictation from the best, darling,” she snapped. “You, too, can be a difficult composer. I told you. I won’t let you down. Frankly, darling, you make it sound like a matter of life and death.”
He swallowed hard, and she saw a nerve palpitate in his cheek, a common tic when he was tense.
“Victoria, this assignment is important. I don’t want you to be intimidated or humiliated. All I ask is that you stay the course.”
“Stop worrying, darling. I will not let him intimidate me, and I have no intention of being sacked.”
She winked at him and blew him a kiss across the desk.
“Does he like girls?” she asked, seeking to lighten his mood and calm him as well.
“He adores pretty girls and once courted Ethel Barrymore, and rumor has it that he has a crush on Vivien Leigh. He might be free with the compliments and seem flirty, but he will never make a pass. He is devoted solely to Clementine. There has never been a breath of scandal about him.”
“Didn’t you tell me I was irresistible?” she said, pursing her lips and winking again. “And competent in other areas as well.”
She opened her mouth and licked her lips in an unmistakably erotic gesture. He did not react.
“This is serious, Victoria,” he said, resuming his instructions. “Mostly, Thompson tells me, he will be dictating in his bed. He might decide to dictate to you while you type his words rather than take shorthand. At times, he told me, he has actually dictated to female secretaries in his bath.”
“You’re not serious?”
“I am, indeed.”
“I hope he doesn’t try it with me.”
“If he does, I seriously doubt you will become distracted by temptation.”