The 34th Degree

58

F ifteen minutes later, Aphrodite’s mother watched Andros’s car leave the drive from the window of her daughter’s bedroom upstairs. She let the curtain fall and turned to her daughter, who was sobbing on the bed.

“What am I going to do?” cried Aphrodite.

“You stay with the Baron and forget Christos,” her mother said firmly. “Shall we all die because this young fool returns to Greece?”

“But I love him,” Aphrodite insisted.

“And your family? Shall we lose all we own? Our home? Our business? Everything your father has worked for? All for love? You’re too young to understand, Aphrodite.”

Her father came in and closed the door. “I heard them say goodbye in the hall while a footman fetched the car,” he said. “Von Berg invited him over here for lunch tomorrow during siesta, to discuss business. I can only wonder what sort of business that would be.” He began to pace the floor, thinking out loud. “You, young lady, will not be here when young Andros calls on the Baron. In fact, you’re not to lay eyes on him while he’s in Athens.”

“What?”

Her mother said, “Don’t throw your life away for some young fool! If he were smart, he would have waited until after the war to return.”

“Oh, young Andros is no fool,” said her father. “Mark my words, he’s struck a deal with the Germans. I’ve heard as much, and now I believe it. Why else is he here? There’s a real collaborator for you, Aphrodite. Don’t let him trick you.”

Her mother fixed herself in front of Aphrodite’s vanity. “Come, we must see our guests and show ourselves. You can stay up here, child. And stay away from that boy tomorrow at the memorial service.”

They turned off the light and left her to cry herself to sleep. But she could not sleep, distraught with all that had happened. Why did Chris have to return now, of all times? What was this document he was looking for? What would happen to them all? Her heart, ever since childhood, had belonged to Chris. But it belonged to her family, too, whatever their faults. That meant appeasing Ludwig. To help Chris would be to betray Ludwig and jeopardize her family. To betray Chris, however, would be to betray her heart. Who would deliver her from this inhuman suffering?

She began to pray to God but stopped herself when she realized her prayers had already been answered. Indeed, the lover she so desperately wanted to rescue her had arrived. But like the proverbial demon who returns to his place with seven more, so her original condition seemed mild compared to her present agony.

Before, she had lived in two separate worlds. One was the dream of her future with Chris, the other her existence with Ludwig. Those two worlds had collided, shattering the illusion that she could somehow survive in both. There was only one world now, and she trembled at the thought of what kind of world it would turn out to be.