Page 28 of The Pianist's Wife
To an outsider, they would have looked like the perfect couple, newly-weds enjoying their first breakfast together, the new bride reaching out to hold her husband’s hand as he drank his coffee. But with his back turned, they wouldn’t have seen Fred’s tears streaming silently down his cheeks, or the pain reflected in his young wife’s eyes as she wondered how to comfort him.
‘I think it’s time for me to rehearse,’ Fred finally said, after they’d eaten, squeezing her hand before letting go. ‘When I play, I stop thinking, if that makes sense. It’s the only time my mind is quiet.’
‘I understand,’ Amira replied. ‘I shall see you again for our next meal.’
‘But thank you, for this,’ he said, gesturing to their breakfast dishes. ‘I always forget to eat when it’s just me.’
She smiled. ‘Well, there is something to be said for not being alone.’
‘I shall do my utmost not to break your trust again, Amira,’ he said. ‘I can assure you that your secret is very safe with me.’
They stood, as if neither of them knew quite what to say after that. Until Amira had a sudden idea, glancing down at the dog at her feet and feeling as if she needed to escape the house and give both of them some space from each other.
‘Shall I take Otto for a walk?’
Chapter Twelve
‘Surprise!’
Amira opened her arms wide to hug Gisele when she opened the door, registering her friend’s surprise. But she didn’t have time to say anything before Frieda and Lukas came flying past their mother to see Otto.
‘Mira, you have a dog!’
‘I do,’ she said. ‘He’s a very special dog who belongs to Fred.’
Frieda smiled up at her as she stroked the dog’s back. ‘So that means you’re his mama now!’
Amira grinned. ‘Well, I suppose it does.’ Secretly she was just pleased that Frieda had seemingly forgiven her for marrying a man other than Maxi the day before, and she felt brighter for just seeing them.
‘Come in,’ Gisele said, ushering her in and waving at the children to follow, but Amira noticed how pale she was, and her heavy eyes made her look as if she hadn’t slept a wink.
The children promptly took the dog’s lead from Amira’s hand and ran away with Otto, leaving the two women alone.
‘How was your first night, all things considered?’ Gisele said. ‘My greatest hope is that you and Fred will become great friends in time. Or if not friends, then at least companions.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t say we’re friends yet, or that he seems particularly happy to have me in the house, but we’ll be fine.’We have to be fine, what other choice do I have?She was going to mention his going out the night before, but decided not to. He was her husband now, and although it was a faux marriage, she supposed that meant there were certain things that had to stay between just the two of them.
Gisele’s bottom lip began to quiver then, and Amira reached for her and sat on the sofa beside her. ‘Gisele, what’s wrong? Surely it’s not because I said we weren’t friends yet. He’s a perfectly fine man and—’
‘No,’ Gisele said, ‘it’s not that.’
Amira watched her, not used to seeing her usually strong friend behave in such a way. ‘Is it Hans?’
When Gisele finally nodded, tears streaking down her cheeks, Amira knew that something was terribly wrong.
‘Please, tell me what—’
‘Amira, I think you married Fred just in time,’ Gisele said. ‘They’re sending more Jews than ever before to those dreadful camps. They’re searching every nook and cranny to try to flush them out.’
Amira listened as Gisele wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if she were in pain.
‘Hans has been sent to Poland,’ she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. ‘He told me that they took all the Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, that there were thousands of them arrested and...’
‘Killed?’ Amira whispered, when Gisele didn’t finish her sentence.
Gisele’s head moved slightly, her eyes shutting as she nodded. ‘I know you must hate him for what he’s doing, but if he didn’t, if he tried to refuse his orders...’
‘Would he refuse though, if he could?’ Amira asked. She’d held her tongue over Hans ever since Gisele had married him, but today she found she couldn’t. ‘Has he ever given you any indication that he doesn’t agree with these policies?’
