Duchess

Chapter 8

I awoke to a low, rumbling turbulence as our B-17 bomber flew over a forest. We were in the United States.
     "Doing okay back there?" Fairfax called from his seat in the cockpit.
     "Yeah," I grumbled, wincing as I sat up and rolled into my seat at one of the guns, "how much longer?"
He looked back at me and smiled. "Less than fifteen minutes until we're on the ground. Tallmadge is probably worried sick; we are running a little behind."
I listened intently as Robert and the copilot spoke with the control tower preparing to land, and I pulled up my blouse to examine the stab wound slowly healing.
     It still hurt to move, but I could tell that much of the pain was now coming from my probably-fractured rib, and not the gash.
     The stitches on my neck, however, burned like fire beneath the bandages. Every movement of my head stretched the bullet wound, and it took everything in me not to cry as I gently adjusted the bandage.
     Looking out the window, I could see the Air Force base in the distance and my heart swelled. Benjamin was there.
     In our months of separation, a few brief, coded I love you's slipped into intelligence reports were the only contact we'd had with each other. I kept his photograph in my bag wherever I went, but it soon became so worn-out from use that his image was barely recognizable. I still protected it with my life.
     "Will Benjamin be at the base when we get there?" I asked over the din of the roaring engine.
     Robert shrugged. "Haven't heard anything. I guess we'll know when we're on the ground, hmm?"
     I raised my eyebrows and settled into my seat, curling my matted hair in my fingers and pulling up my coat to hide the ugly bandages on my neck. If Ben was there, I was going to be ready.
     The landing was smooth, and I gathered my things and hugged them to my chest as soon as we began to turn off the runway.
     "In a hurry, Dutch?"
     "I've got a date."
      Fairfax helped me out of the plane carefully, and I was immediately surrounded by photographers and reporters. They weren't supposed to be there; nobody was really even supposed to know that I was back in the States.
     "Mrs. Tallmadge," someone yelled as I stepped down onto the tarmac, "the German newspapers are reporting your death at the hands of the Gestapo. Do they really believe this, or is it propaganda?"
     "They have no reason to believe it," I answered as clearly as I could, shielding my face from the brilliant flashes as I tried to make my way through the crowds.
     "What were you doing in Europe? Did you do any spying while you visited our wounded soldiers?"
     I pursed my lips and ignored the question. They thought I was there for charity work. As though the spying were an afterthought.
     "Ma'am, if you could please tell us what injuries you have right now?"
     I ignored it, trying a little harder to stop limping, and another called, "Does your husband support your spying, or do you go against his will?"
     "I firmly support her in everything the does," a warm voice said, "but I certainly have missed my Duchess girl."
     My eyes widened, and the crowd had no choice but to part as I fell into Benjamin's arms, tears of joy and relief streaming down both of our faces. Cameras flashed and people shouted all around, but neither of us paid them any mind.
     "I'm so glad you're alive," he whispered into my hair, "I didn't know what to think after all the reports I had heard."
     I put my hand to his cheek and kissed him with a grin. "I've got some stories to tell."
     "You're even more beautiful than I remember, Louisa."
    "I haven't been to the hairdresser in months, love."
     He put his arm around me and helped guide me through the crowds, one swish of his Major General's hat in their direction and they parted like waves.
     "I like it. And the brown hair suits you."
     Fairfax jogged up to us and shook Ben's hand firmly, grinning at the two of us.
     "Looks like you have a following now, Louisa," he laughed, "but I think you'll handle the fame just fine. She's going to need medical help, sir, no matter what she tells you. But the British hospital did most of the work."
     They exchanged glances and I smirked. "It's not that bad, Benjamin."
     "You jumped out of a train, for heaven's sakes!" Fairfax exclaimed, "and I'll leave the rest of the stories for you to tell, but you need to at least rest for a few weeks."
     "A train?" Benjamin cried, looking at me incredulously as he helped me into an maroon Rolls-Royce.
     "Later."
     Robert Fairfax gave me a hug, and shook Benjamin's hand, offering a salute. "Goodbye," he said with a smile, "I am glad to see you two happy. I have a debriefing tomorrow morning in the city, but I'll be back in Europe by the next evening. I'll visit soon."
We said goodbye and he shut the door, turning to face the news reporters beginning to chase after him for a quote.
"George," Ben said to the driver, "please take us home and avoid the press wherever you can."
"Yes, sir. I've been instructed to remind you of your meeting with President Roosevelt tomorrow night and to convey the President's request that Mrs. Tallmadge attend as well. If you are in good health of course, Ma'am."
I smiled and hugged George Donovan, our loyal driver whenever Benjamin's position required travel.
"I think I'll be quite alright to oblige him," I laughed, "It has been far too long since I last spoke with him and Eleanor."
Benjamin's friendship with the President had helped him achieve his current position as head of the OSS, and they saw each other as valuable allies in the fight to outsmart Germany.
"How did the press know I was here?" I asked, leaning back in my seat in exhaustion, "I was quite caught off guard."
Ben shrugged. "I'll call James Howard later and make sure he speaks to the reporters that were out there. They won't publish a single picture or sentence without his permission."
I leaned my head wearily against his shoulder, and slipped my fingers into his hands.
"I've missed you. I've been so lonely."
     He kissed my forehead and answered, "My heart ached for you every time I went to bed next to an empty pillow. I'm so glad you're home."
     Suddenly remembering, I reached into my bag and pulled out Benjamin's leather jacket with a sly grin.
     He gasped and hugged the coat to his chest, crying dramatically, "Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were lost forever, old friend."
     I laughed. "You have five of these jackets, Ben. How much could you have really missed this one?"
     "Actually, I have six now."
     Rolling my eyes, I sat back as he continued, "They are all different, Louisa. This one has the patch from Captain Hale's company before he died, and the rip in the sleeve from that time I was being shot at in Ireland. I have one with the Royal Air Force insignia on it, and it has a nice pocket on the inside to hold my gun. My other one has the OSS patch on it, and it's the one I wore when you kissed me for the first time, remember?"
     I nudged him and answered, "Of course. How ever could I forget? My commanding officer had never been so furious in his entire life!"
     He ran his hand through my hair with a chuckle, and paused when he noticed the bandage peeking out from beneath my woolen, navy blue coat.
"What's this?"
I looked up at him and took a deep breath, silently getting his agreement that he wouldn't go crazy when he heard everything.
"Just a small gunshot wound-"
"In your throat?" he exclaimed, unable to contain his worry.
"My neck," I corrected, "and it just barely grazed me, really."
     He gave me an exasperated look and I spent the rest of the drive into Washington D.C. explaining everything that had happened to me, and what it was like working in one of Hitler's most prized propaganda news offices.
When I was finished, Benjamin put his hands on his head and groaned, "I almost wish I hadn't heard all of that, darling. You could have been killed."
The driver pulled up to our brick row house and saluted Benjamin as he let us out of the car, a smile on his face.
"Welcome back, Mrs. Tallmadge. I'm glad you're safe."
"Thank you, George," I said, "I do hope you'll come over for dinner sometime soon. And bring your wife, okay?"
He grinned. "Yes, ma'am. Have a wonderful evening."
Benjamin helped me limp up the stairs and into the house as though I were taking my first steps. It was endearing.
The air inside smelled clean and fresh, unlike the stale, bomb-ridden air in my Munich apartment.
There were random photographs of me pinned to different spots on the wall, with seemingly no pattern to their placement.
I folded one of the blankets strewn haphazardly across the living room floor, and gave Ben a sideways glance.
"Did you sleep on the couch last night?"
"Just for half the night," he answered sheepishly, "I was too excited and afraid of what news I would get today. And I was worried that someone would come knocking on the door with news of your arrival, and I didn't want to miss it."
I laughed and knocked his officer's hat off of his head playfully.
     "Now," he said with a deep breath, taking my hand, "you need to lie down."
Shaking my head and grinning slyly, I backed into the kitchen and opened our new mint green refrigerator, the one I used to hate so much because it clashed with the my beloved red curtains. Now, it seemed like the prefect color.
"You can't possibly be hungry, Louisa, after all you've been through!"
I looked at him as though the thought was a challenge. "Well, I am," I shrugged, "and I-"
Interrupting myself with a gasp, I removed a pomegranate from the refrigerator and exclaimed, "You bought them!"
In one of two letters I was able to get directly to Benjamin without encoding or needing to keep it strictly professional, I briefly mentioned my constant craving for pomegranates.
The lack of fresh food in Germany had been unbearable, and my favorite fruit was truly nowhere to be found in Munich-even on the black market.
He smiled, chuckling at my excitement, replying, "Of course, darling! I wouldn't deprive my Duchess of her wishes."
Kissing my hand dramatically, he sliced open the bittersweet and bloody fruit and divided the seeds between us.
Ben unknowingly gave me a crimson grin, juice dripping from his teeth and down his lips as though he were a child.
I laughed and pulled him into a kiss over the table. "I've never been so glad to see you happy," he whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
"And I've never been happier."
He took my hand and pulled me into the living room, setting a record on the gramophone and letting it play softly.
"May I have this dance, my darling?" he bowed, a grin on his face as he gently pulled me against him.
     He sang the lyrics, and I hummed quietly along, breathing in the smell of his clothes and letting him lead the dance.

The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love

     "I wish we could stay here forever," I whispered, nestling my head in his chest as we swayed back and forth.
     He chuckled, and I could hear his heartbeat. "Perhaps we could both quit our jobs, hmm? Grow a victory garden, collect tin cans, that sort of thing. Normal war effort stuff, instead of getting in plane crashes and going undercover in Germany."
     "I don't think I could ever go back to normal life after all of this. Besides, I hate gardening."

     I awoke beside Benjamin in the middle of the night, his arms wrapped tightly around me. He would have to leave for a debriefing at the OSS around five in the morning, and I most likely wouldn't see him until tomorrow evening.
     The moonlight through our curtains shone a light on our clock, illuminating 2:47. I slid out from under his arms and stood up, my nightgown hanging loosely as I shivered a little.
     Benjamin groaned and rolled over, but didn't wake up. I wasn't used to sleeping the whole night; in Munich we had air raids almost every night, cramped with the rest of the apartment tenants in the basement as explosions rocked above us.
     Groggily, I went into the bathroom where Benjamin's military uniform was set out and washed my face.
     My complexion was eerily pale and I had lost a lot of weight in Germany under their ration system. Clothes that once fit nicely were now hanging loosely on my shoulders, and all the muscle I'd worked for in training with Benjamin had all but disappeared.
     Uncapping my dark red lipstick on the counter, I lightly wrote I love you on the mirror glass.
     Benjamin detested the fact that he had to work the day after I returned, especially in the terrible condition he was convinced I was in. I was determined to not make him feel so bad about it.
     I pulled away my fresh bandage on my neck and examined the stitches, wincing as I rubbed away a bit of blood. The stab wound in my side had healed quite nicely thanks to Virginia Hall's medical help but my broken rib still ached with every movement.
     Taking a deep breath, I climbed back in bed and under Benjamin's arm. He grunted a little and I heard him mumble, "Agent..."
     I laughed a little and kissed him on the cheek. "Get some sleep, Major General."
     He said something incomprehensible and pulled me tightly into his chest. Unsure if he was sleep talking or actually half-awake, I settled into his arms and fell asleep.

     The next morning, I woke up with the dim morning light shining softly through the curtains. At the end of the bed, there was a tray with eggs, a glass of milk, and a bowl of the leftover pomegranate seeds.
    I smiled and picked up the note tucked under the plate, written in Benjamin's cursive.

Hello darling,
So sorry that I couldn't stay to be with you; you know just how miserable I'll be in the office today without you. Hopefully you'll be awake before this breakfast gets cold, but I left some more food downstairs for you if this is not the case. Don't forget about dinner with the President at 6; wear something ritzy. I'll see you tonight, my love. Don't leave the house without being prepared to face the press; they are waiting at the end of our street. I'm glad you're back.
     Forever yours,
     Benjamin
P.S. we're on the front page

     Beneath the plate of eggs, the newspaper was folded neatly into a square. There was a huge picture of Ben and I kissing at the airport, with the headline: "The Duchess is Back!"
     Beneath the picture, it said "Tallmadge's girl arrives from the warfront; emotional reunion strikes hearts all across America."
     I grinned and put it into the pocket of my bathrobe as I got ready for the day. I had married a good man.