Matilda's German was slightly faulty. Charlotte spoke excellent German, excellent English though with a strong guttural accent, and occasionally English with an American accent. She was really, Lady Matilda thought, quite splendidly hideous. For a moment she felt a fondness almost dating back to the past, though, she reflected the next moment, Charlotte had been a most detestable girl. Nobody had really liked her and she herself had certainly not done so. But there is a great bond in the memories of old schooldays. Whether Charlotte had liked her or not she did not know. But Charlotte , she remembered, had certainly — what used to be called in those days — sucked up to her. She had had visions, possibly, of staying in a ducal castle in England . Lady Matilda's father, though of most praiseworthy lineage, had been one of the most impecunious of English dukes. His estate had only been held together by the rich wife he had married who he had treated with the utmost courtesy, and who had enjoyed bullying him whenever able to do so. Lady Matilda had been fortunate enough to be his daughter by a second marriage. Her own mother had been extremely agreeable and also a very successful actress, able to play the part of looking a duchess far more than any real duchess could do.
They exchanged reminiscences of past days, the tortures they had inflicted on some of their instructors, the fortunate and unfortunate marriages that had occurred to some of their schoolmates. Matilda made a few mentions of certain alliances and families culled from the pages of the Almanach de Gotha — 'but of course that must have been a terrible marriage for Elsa. One of the Bourbons de Parme, was it not? Yes, yes, well, one knows what that leads to. Most unfortunate.'
Coffee was brought, delicious coffee, plates of millefeuille pastry and delicious cream cakes.
'I should not touch any of this,' cried Lady Matilda. 'No indeed! My doctor, he is most severe. He said that I must adhere strictly to the Cure while I was here. But after all, this is a day of holiday, is it not? Of renewal of youth. That is what interests me so much. My great-nephew who visited you not long ago — I forget who brought him here, the Countess — ah, it began with a Z, I cannot remember her name.'
The Countess Renata Zerkowski –'
'Ah, that was the name, yes. A very charming young woman, I believe. And she brought him to visit you. It was most kind of her. He was so impressed. Impressed, too, with all your beautiful possessions. Your way of living, and indeed, the wonderful things which he had heard about you. How you have a whole movement of — oh, I do not know how to give the proper term. A Galaxy of Youth. Golden, beautiful youth. They flock round you. They worship you. What a wonderful life you must live. Not that I could support such a life. I have to live very quietly. Rheumatoid arthritis. And also the financial difficulties. Difficulty in keeping up the family house. Ah well, you know what it is for us in England — our taxation troubles.'
'I remember that nephew of yours, yes. He was agreeable, a very agreeable man. The Diplomatic Service, I understand?'
'Ah yes. But it is — well, you know, I cannot feel that his talents are being properly recognized. He does not say much. He does not complain, but he feels that he is — well, he feels that he has not been appreciated as he should. The powers that be, those who hold office at present, what are they?'
'Canaille!' said Big Charlotte.
'Intellectuals with no savoir faire in life. Fifty years ago it would have been different,' said Lady Matilda, 'but nowadays his promotion has been not advanced as it should. I will even tell you, in confidence, of course, that he has been distrusted. They suspect him, you know, of being in with — what shall I call it? — rebellious, revolutionary tendencies. And yet one must realize what the future could hold for a man who could embrace more advanced views.'
'You mean he is not, then, how do you say it in England , in sympathy with the Establishment, as they call it?'
'Hush, hush, we must not say these things. At least I must not,' said Lady Matilda.
'You interest me,' said Charlotte .
Matilda Cleckheaton sighed.
'Put it down, if you like, to the fondness of an elderly relative. Staffy has always been a favourite of mine. He has charm and wit. I think also he has ideas. He envisages the future, a future that should differ a good deal from what we have at present. Our country, alas, is politically in a very bad state. Stafford seems to be very much impressed by things you said to him or showed to him. You've done so much for music, I understand. What we need I cannot but feel is the ideal of the super race.'
'There should and could be a super race. Adolf Hitler had the right idea,' said Charlotte . 'A man of no importance in himself, but he had artistic elements in his character. And undoubtedly he had the power of leadership.'
'Ah yes. Leadership, that is what we need.'
'You had the wrong allies in the last war, my dear. If England and Germany now had arrayed themselves side by side, if they had had the same ideals, of youth, strength, two Aryan nations with the right ideals. Think where your country and mine might have arrived today? Yet perhaps even that is too narrow a view to take. In some ways the communists and the others have taught us a lesson. Workers of the world unite? But that is to set one's sights too low. Workers are only our material. It is 'Leaders of the world unite!' Young men with the gift of leadership, of good blood. And we must start, not with the middle-aged men set in their ways, repeating themselves like a gramophone record that has stuck. We must seek among the student population, the young men with brave hearts, with great ideas, willing to march, willing to be killed but willing also to kill. To kill without any compunction — because it is certain that without aggressiveness, without violence, without attack — there can be no victory. I must show you something –'
With somewhat of a struggle she succeeded in rising to her feet. Lady Matilda followed suit, underlining a little her difficulty, which was not quite as much as she was making out.
'It was in May 1940,' said Charlotte , 'when Hitler Youth went on to its second stage. When Himmler obtained from Hitler a charter. The charter of the famous SS. It was formed for the destruction of the eastern peoples, the slaves, the appointed slaves of the world. It would make room for the German master race. The SS executive instrument came into being.' Her voice dropped a little. It held for a moment a kind of religious awe.
Lady Matilda nearly crossed herself by mistake.
'The Order of the Death's Head,' said Big Charlotte.
She walked slowly and painfully down the room and pointed to where on the wall hung, framed in gilt and surmounted with a skull, the Order of the Death's Head.
'See, it is my most cherished possession. It hangs here on my wall. My golden youth band, when they come here, salute it. And in our archives in the castle here are folios of its chronicles. Some of them are only reading for strong stomachs, but one must learn to accept these things. The deaths in gas chambers, the torture cells, the trials at Nuremberg . They speak venomously of all those things. But it was a great tradition. Strength through pain. They were trained young, the boys, so that they should not falter or turn back or suffer from any kind of softness. Even Lenin, preaching his Marxist doctrine, declared 'Away with softness!' It was one of his first rules for creating a perfect State. But we were too narrow. We wished to confine our great dream only to the German master race. But there are other races. They too can attain masterhood through suffering and violence and through the considered practice of anarchy. We must pull down, pull down all the soft institutions. Pull down the more humiliating forms of religion. There is a religion of strength, the old religion of the Viking people. And we have a leader, young as yet, gaining in power every day. What did some great man say? Give me the tools and I will do the job. Something like that. Our leader has already the tools. He will have more tools. He will have the planes, the bombs, the means of chemical warfare. He will have the men to fight. He will have the transport. He will have shipping and oil. He will have what one might call the Aladdin's creation of genie. You rub the lamp and the genie appears. It is all in your hands. The means of production, the means of wealth and our young leader, a leader by birth as well as by character. He has all this.'
She wheezed and coughed.
'Let me help you.'
Lady Matilda supported her back to her seat. Charlotte gasped a little as she sat down.
'It's sad to be old, but I shall last long enough. Long enough to see the triumph of a new world, a new creation. That is what you want for your nephew. I will see to it. Power in his own country, that is what he wants, is it not? You would be ready to encourage the spearhead there?'
'I had influence once. But now –' Lady Matilda shook her head sadly. 'All that is gone.'
'It will come again, dear,' said her friend. 'You were right to come to me. I have a certain influence.'
