Jennifer couldn’t believe her ears. Her aunt was confessing to an affair in
her
mother’s name. “What? You and Conny had an affair and you used my mother’s ,
your
sister’s name to do it. How could you do that to her?” she asked with a pained
expression on her face.
“Jennifer there are some things that you must understand about that summer,”
Claire explained. “I was stuck in a very unhappy marriage and in those days
you didn’t
just go get a divorce like you would today. I met Conny when he came over for
dinner
one night while your parents were visiting my husband and me. My husband was
out of
town on business that evening, as he was so very often, and I felt somewhat
lonely. I
think that Conny picked up on that. He and I sat and talked for what seemed
like days
and at the end of the evening, Conny asked if he could have lunch with me
sometime.”
“And that was the beginning of your affair?” Jonathan asked with a hint of a
smile on his face, remembering how quickly he had fallen in love with Jennifer.
Claire answered his question with smile of her own. “I was so scared that my
husband would find out. Conny would write me letters but always complained
about
how he could never send them to me.”
“Then who came up with the idea of his using mom’s name in the letters?”
Jennifer asked, silently wondering if it was in fact her own mother’s idea.
Claire immediately sensed the true meaning of Jennifer’s question. “Oh dear,
don’t get the wrong idea about Suzanne, Jennifer. The idea was Conny’s. I
even asked
Suzanne if she minded when I finally confessed the affair to her. As I said
before, she
was a terrific sister who always supported me. She told me that she and Steven
were so
happy nothing would ever change that, and she didn’t see how using her name to
give me
a little happiness could hurt anyone. You see, she knew how desperately
unhappy I was
with my husband and had encouraged me to leave him and come and stay with her
and
Steven for awhile.”
“Which you did if I remember correctly,” Jennifer asked, looking at her aunt.
“Yes, I did stay with Suzanne for a short time after I had left my husband.”
Claire
explained, “My affair with Conny had come to an end because I wouldn’t leave my
husband for him. The night he came for the plans I told him I didn’t think I
could ever
run away with him. He looked so heartbroken, I wanted to just take his hand
and run and
never look back. But I couldn’t. I had a husband and even though I didn’t
love him, I
had to stay and try to work it out.”
“But you couldn’t,” Jonathan asked gently.
“No, and that was part of the reason I have stayed hidden here in France. I
lost
my husband and the only man I ever truly loved,” Claire said with a sigh.
Jonathan looked at Jennifer. “Darling, are you up for some more traveling?”
“What do you mean?” Jennifer replied, although she had a good idea from the
look on her husband’s face.
Jonathan just smiled and asked “Claire, is your passport up to date?”
“My passport? Of course it is. But what does that have to do with getting
Steven
back safely?” she asked, thoroughly confused.
“Because you are coming with us,” Jonathan answered.
“But where are we going?” Claire wondered.
“It seems that in order to rescue Steven, we need those plans, and the last
person
to have them is -”
Understanding slowly lit Claire’s face. “Conny! Jonathan no, I can’t go with
you
to see him. I just can’t.”
Jennifer gently put her arm around her aunt. “Claire, I think that it is high
time you
two talked. Forty years is a long time.”
Reluctantly Claire agreed. “I guess that you are right. Maybe I can finally put this
in the past. I’ll go start packing.”
“We’ll be up in a minute,” Jonathan called after her retreating form. He
turned to
face his wife.
“Jonathan, have I told you lately how much of a romantic you are?” Jennifer
asked with moist eyes, putting her arms around her husband’s neck.
“Not lately, but come upstairs with me and you can make up for lost time,” he
replied, nuzzling her neck in the way that always made her forget about
everything else.
“Oh Jonathan, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Two days later Jonathan wearily dropped down onto the bed in their Washington
hotel room. He lovingly watched as his wife moved around the room, hanging
clothes in
the closet and putting her makeup on the sink in the bathroom. “Do you realize
it’s only
been a week since I came home from London?” he asked with a tired sigh.
Jennifer came over and stood by the bed, smiling down at her husband. “Do you
realize that I never finished showing you how much I missed you?”
“I thought you took care of that,” Jonathan replied with an impish grin.
“Not to my satisfaction, Darling, not to my satisfaction.”
“Well I can’t have an unsatisfied wife, now can I?” Jonathan answered, pulling
her down onto the bed with him.
“Oh no, we can’t have that,” Jennifer murmured, slowly unbuttoning his shirt.
The next morning, Claire nervously paced the living room of the hotel suite.
Jennifer tried to reassure her. “Aunt Claire, calm down. I’m sure that Conny
will
be glad to see you.”
Claire stopped short and looked at her niece sitting next to her husband.
“You
two just wouldn’t understand. I had always imagined that some day Conny and I
would
be as happy as you are. I -” She was interrupted by the doorbell.
Jonathan stood up. “I’ll bet that’s him now,” turning to answer the door.
As soon as he walked in the room, Constantine Wainwright recognized the voice of the woman he had loved so long ago. Though he had been blind for many years, her voice was permanently etched in his memory. “Claire, I didn’t expect for you to be here.”
“This is happening to my family, Conny, I couldn’t stay away,” she answered
with a steady voice but inside she felt all the same feelings again. She
wondered what he
was thinking.
He answered her unspoken question. “I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, but I’m afraid that there’s
no
time for pleasantries. I just got word from the French police that Durenga has
escaped.
They are watching all airports, train stations and shipyards but I seriously
doubt that he
will be recaptured.”
Jonathan immediately put an arm around his wife as he asked “How do we
protect Jennifer?”
Wainwright turned to him. “By giving Rothenburg what he wants. Steven is an
old friend and this is my chance to try to make up for involving him in this
forty years
ago.”
Jennifer’s journalistic instincts took over. “Just who is this Rothenburg
anyway,
and why does he want these plans so badly?”
Wainwright sank down into a chair. “Rothenburg has wanted to get his hands on
those plans since he found out about them over forty years ago. He thinks that
Steven
and I double crossed him back then, and he has finally come for his revenge.”
Jonathan pushed Wainwright for more answers. “But who is he? KGB? OSS?
What?”
“I don’t know who he is with now. I met him during a joint operation with
British Intelligence.” He paused for a breath, his empty eyes looking in Claire's direction, as if he could see her.
“He seemed to come apart after he failed to get the plans. His wife left him
about
6 months later.”
Claire gasped. “Oh Conny no! It can’t be.”
“It can’t be who Aunt Claire?” Jennifer asked gently.
But Claire didn’t answer her, Wainwright did. “I’m afraid that it is him
Claire.
You see Jonathan, Jennifer, when I knew him forty years ago, Kyle Rothenburg
went by
another name. I knew him as Matthew Townsend, Claire’s husband.”
