15

Alys jumped to her feet at once and backed away from Paul, but it was too late. Her father had entered the bathroom. He barely looked at her; he didn’t need to. The sleeve of her dress was completely soaked, and even a man of Josef Tannenbaum’s limited imagination could get some idea of what had been happening only a moment before.

“Go to your room.”

“But, Papa . . .” she stammered.

“Now!”

Alys burst into tears and ran out of the room. On the way she almost tripped over Doris, who flashed her a triumphant smile.

“As you can see, Fräulein, your father came home earlier than expected. Isn’t that marvelous?”

Paul felt totally defenseless, sitting there naked in the rapidly cooling water. As Tannenbaum approached, he tried to get to his feet, but the businessman gripped his shoulder cruelly. Though he was shorter than Paul, he was stronger than his chubby appearance suggested, and Paul found it impossible to get purchase on the slippery tub.

Tannenbaum sat down on the stool where Alys had been seated only a few minutes earlier. He didn’t lessen his grip on Paul’s shoulder for a moment, and Paul was afraid that he would suddenly decide to push him down and hold his head under the water.

“What’s your name, coal man?”

“Paul Reiner.”

“You’re not a Jew, Reiner, are you?”

“No, sir.”

“Now, pay attention,” said Tannenbaum, his tone softening, like a trainer speaking to the last dog in the litter, the slowest to learn its tricks. “My daughter is heir to a large fortune; she’s from a class far above your own. You’re just a piece of shit that got stuck to her shoe. Understand?”

Paul didn’t reply. He managed to overcome his shame and stared back, his teeth clenched in fury. At that moment there was no one in the world he hated more than this man.

“Of course you don’t understand,” Tannenbaum said, releasing his shoulder. “Well, at least I returned before she did something stupid.”

His hand went to his wallet, and he drew out an enormous fistful of banknotes. He folded them carefully and placed them on the marble washbasin.

“This is for the trouble caused by Manfred’s ball. And now you can go.”

Tannenbaum headed for the door, but before he left he looked at Paul one last time.

“Of course, Reiner, though you probably wouldn’t care, I’ve spent this afternoon with my daughter’s future father-in-law, finalizing the details of her wedding. In the spring she will marry an aristocrat.”

You’re lucky, I suppose . . . you have your independence, she’d said to him.

“Does Alys know?” he asked.

Tannenbaum gave a snort of derision.

“Never say her name again.”

Paul got out of the bathtub and dressed, hardly bothering to dry himself. He didn’t care if he caught pneumonia. He took the wad of banknotes from the sink and went into the bedroom, where Doris was watching him from across the room.

“Allow me to show you to the door.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” the young man replied, turning into the corridor. The front door was clearly visible at the far end.

“Oh, we wouldn’t want you to pocket anything by accident,” the housekeeper said with a mocking grin.

“Give this back to your master, ma’am. Tell him I don’t need it,” Paul replied, his voice cracking as he held out the banknotes.

He almost ran to the exit, even though Doris was no longer watching him. She was looking at the money and a crafty smile flashed across her face.