We Shall Not Sleep_ A Novel - Anne Perry [12]
“We must not let that happen,” the man said softly. “And if you do not stop the Peacemaker, he will rebuild his plans to create an Anglo-German Empire out of the ashes of this war, and then there will be another war, because Europe will never let that happen. Britain at least will not. We know that now. Perhaps if we had been wiser, we would always have known it.”
“The Peacemaker—who is he?” Matthew demanded.
“His name is no use to you without proof.”
“Then what are you here for?” Matthew knew he was being unfair, but he had waited four long, bitter years for this and seen too many good friends die by the Peacemaker’s hand. To be offered knowledge at last, only to grasp it and find it a mirage, was like being openly taunted.
“To tell you that his counterpart in Germany is willing to come through the lines and travel to England to expose him, at the cost of his own life if necessary, rather than see this holocaust descend on Europe again.”
Matthew’s mind raced. Could it be true? Or was it one more chimera, another trick to obtain a final chance at destruction?
“You have nothing to lose by bringing him through and listening to him,” the man said with infinite weariness in his eyes. “We are beaten. Germany has lost more than a million and a half men on the battlefield alone. The people are starved and broken, the land devastated, the government in ruins. No one who loves Germany, and is sane, wants to see that again. Manfred will come through the lines, if you tell him where and when. But it must be soon; we have no time to debate, or to weigh and consider. If you meet him, give him safe conduct, he will come back to London and tell your prime minister of the entire plot from the beginning. You already know much of it yourself. I imagine you still have the original of the treaty, or at least you know where it is.” Again it was not a question. He probably did not expect Matthew to answer.
“What is his name?” Matthew repeated. Should he hesitate? Was there anything else to ask, any answer he could check? He was used to the double cross, the triple cross—it was the nature of his business. If this man was setting up some trap, he would carry with him at least one fact that could be checked. Its accuracy meant little. Even an amateur used one truth to disguise his other lies.
The man hesitated.
Matthew smiled. There was an irony in their situation, an absurdity, at this last stage with seas of blood already spilled.
“Manfred von Schenckendorff,” the man answered. “Where should he come through the lines?”
There was only one possible answer. Joseph was in Ypres, as he had been since the beginning. He had friends there, people he could trust. “Ypres,” Matthew answered. “Wherever the Cambridgeshires are. It changes from day to day now.”
“Of course. Your brother.”
“You knew he was there?” Matthew was surprised, and slightly disconcerted. This man had too much knowledge to be simply a messenger. Was this a last chance at vengeance by the Peacemaker, because Matthew and Joseph had been responsible for too many of his failures? No, that was impossible! He must have had far more plans than they could ever imagine. Countless people must have helped, or hindered. It was naïve to think Matthew and his family were high in the Peacemaker’s mind, now of all times.
And yet it was John Reavley who had seen the original treaty and taken it, foiling the plot that would have betrayed France and prevented the war in the first place. Perhaps the Peacemaker would never forgive that.
The man was waiting for him, watching his face. “We planned carefully,” he said at last. “We assumed it would be the Cambridgeshire lines at Ypres. But if you had preferred somewhere else, we would have made it so. It will be as soon as he can come. It is not easy. Two days, perhaps three. We cannot afford more.” He rose to his feet