a proper light and duly admired; when the Frau Reichsminister asked who it was, Lanny did
not conceal the fact that it was his mother, or that she was well known in Berlin society.
He explained his own position. He had enjoyed the advantage of having these great works
explained to him by his stepfather, and so had been a lover of art since his boyhood. He had
helped to select several great collections in the United States, which would some day become
public property. It was pleasant to earn money, but it was even more so to be able to gratify
one's taste for beautiful things; Lanny was sure the Frau Reichsminister would understand
this, and she said that she did. He added that while a few of the Detazes would be sold, that was
not the purpose of the exhibition, and he would not ask to take money out of the country,
for he had commissions to purchase German art works for Americans, in amounts greatly
exceeding what he was willing to sell. He told how he had just purchased a Hobbema in
Vienna; contrary to his usual custom he named both parties to the transaction, and it was
impressive.
The upshot was that Magda Goebbels declared the proposed show a worthy cultural
enterprise. She said that the Führer had very decided tastes in art, he despised the eccentric
modern stuff which was a symptom of pluto-democratic Jewish decadence. Lanny said he had
understood that this was the case and it was one of his reasons for coming to Berlin. The
work of Detaze was simple, like most great art; it was clean and noble in spirit. He would be
happy to take specimens of it to show to the Führer in advance, and the Frau Reichsminister
said that possibly this might be arranged. He offered to leave the paintings and photographs
for the Herr Reichsminister to inspect, and the offer was accepted. He took his departure feeling
hopeful that Marcel Detaze might become a popular painter among the Germans. He
wondered, had Marcel heard about the Nazis in the spirit land, and what would he make of
them? Lanny would have liked to go at once to consult Madame Diseuse—but who could guess
what his irreverent ex-stepfather might blurt out in the seance room!
XI
Lanny's second duty was to get in touch with Oberleutnant Furtwaengler and invite him and
his wife to dinner. He explained that it was his wish to show the paintings to Seine Exzellenz,
the Herr Minister-Präsident General Göring. Such was now the title— for the newspapers had
just made known that the ReichsPräsident Feldmarschall von Hindenburg had been pleased to
make the Minister-Präsident into a General of the Reichswehr. The Oberleutnant confirmed
the news and showed pride in the vicarious honor; it had been somewhat awkward having his
chief a mere Hauptmann while in command of several generals of the Prussian Polizei.
Lanny said he was sure that Seine Exzellenz must be a lover of art; he assumed that the new
furnishings in the official residence— that great black table and the gold velvet curtains—must
represent Seine Exzellenz's taste. The staff officer admitted that this was so, and promised to
mention Detaze to the great man. Lanny said that during the past three months he had been in
London, Paris, New York, Cannes, and Vienna; the young Nazi, who had never been outside of
Germany, was impressed in spite of himself, and wanted to know what the outside world was
saying about the Führer and his achievements. Lanny said he was afraid they were not getting
a very fair picture; apparently the National Socialist representatives abroad were not serving
their cause too efficiently. He told of things he had heard, from various persons having important
titles and positions; also of efforts he had made to explain and justify— the latter being in
reality things that he had heard Lord Wickthorpe say. Lanny added that he had some
suggestions which he would be glad to make to Seine Exzellenz if this busy man could spare the
time to hear them. The young staff officer replied that he was sure this would be the case.
Not once did Lanny mention the name of Robin. He wanted to see if the Oberleutnant would
bring it up; for that would give him an idea whether Göring had taken the staff officer into his
confidence. Near the end of the evening, while Irma was off practicing her German on the tall
and rather gawky country lady who was the Frau Oberleutnant, the officer said: "By the way,
Herr Budd, did you ever hear any more from your young Jewish friend?"
"Not a word, Herr Oberleutnant."
"That is certainly a strange thing."
"I had been hoping for some results from the inquiries which you were kind enough to say
you would carry on."
"I have done all that I could think of, Herr Budd, but with no results."
"It was my idea that in the confusion of last spring, various groups had been acting more or
less independently, and the records might be imperfect."
"I assure you we don't do things that way in Germany, Herr Budd. In the office of the
Geheime Staats-Polizei is a complete card-file covering every case of any person who is under
