The Room on Rue Amélie(96)

“Relax,” Eva said calmly. “Your baby is strong. I will help you. I have helped deliver many babies in this town.”

Ruby blinked a few times, losing herself to another contraction. “Please, you must make sure my baby stays safe,” she murmured when she could speak again. “Please, promise me.”

“I promise. Now, will you tell me your name? And the name of the baby’s father?”

Ruby could feel her own expression freezing in horror.

“Don’t worry,” Eva said quickly. “I will never betray you. But in case something happens to you, I need to know where the baby should go.”

Ruby thought about this for a few seconds and nodded. Of course. She didn’t want her child to wind up in an orphanage in Germany. “My name is Ruby Benoit.” She didn’t mention Thomas, because she didn’t want to endanger him. “If something happens to me, you must contact my parents. They are in America.”

“America?” Eva’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She beckoned to her husband and said something in German. He appeared by her side a moment later with a piece of paper and a pen, which Eva handed to Ruby. “Here. Please write their information here. But this is only in case of an emergency, Ruby. I know you will be fine.”

Ruby still wasn’t entirely sure she was doing the right thing, but what harm could there be in giving this woman her parents’ address? She scribbled it out and then looked Eva in the eye. “Make sure the baby stays safe,” Ruby said as another contraction overtook her. “Please. It’s the only thing that matters.”

Eva squeezed Ruby’s hands tightly. “Ruby, you can make sure of that yourself. Now relax. Breathe with me. The baby is coming.”

The last thing Ruby was aware of before drifting off into a dreamless sleep was the feeling of a great weight slipping from her body, followed by the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard: a baby’s piercing wail. Ruby began to sob, and as she looked up, Eva entered her blurry field of vision cradling a tiny, squirming bundle.

“It’s a girl,” Eva said, smiling. “A beautiful baby girl.”





CHAPTER FORTY-TWO


August 1944

“Do you think Ruby knows?” Charlotte asked as she and Lucien pushed through a crowd of people singing “La Marseillaise” on the Champs-élysées on the last Tuesday in August. The world had changed once again, and after a week of fighting, of tanks rolling through the streets, of gunfire ringing out in the night, Paris was free. The Allies had arrived, and now, a victory parade was moving toward the Place de la Concorde. The French flag flew from the Arc de Triomphe, and American flags snapped in the breeze as U.S. servicemen grinned and blew kisses to French girls from their procession of military trucks. Parisians rushed forward with bottles of wine for the soldiers, who swigged from them, laughing.

“About the liberation?” Lucien kept his eyes on the parade, as if he couldn’t quite believe it, as if he expected something terrible to happen at any moment now. After all, just a few days earlier, the day after de Gaulle had moved into the war ministry, German snipers had fired on a celebrating crowd just like this. Lucien’s shoulders were tense, his jaw set. “I hope so. Any little piece of faith will help sustain her.”

“It won’t be long until the camps are liberated too, right? Ruby will be home soon.”

Lucien squeezed her hand. “I don’t know. There is still a lot of fighting to be done, Charlotte. It will take the Allies a while to move farther into Germany, I think. And if we’re right about her being sent to Ravensbrück, she’s very far east.”

Charlotte didn’t reply. He wasn’t saying anything she didn’t already know, of course. It was just that she needed words of hope and inspiration today. “I would know if she was dead, wouldn’t I?”

Lucien looked down at her. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I believe it of my parents. I feel it in a way I can’t explain. But I don’t believe it of Ruby. She’s still alive. She must be. I just know.”

“Then we will believe in that. She is strong and brave, and I believe she would do anything in the world to get home to you.”

“And the baby?”

Lucien shook his head. “My love, I can’t imagine the baby has survived. It’s better for Ruby, in fact, if it hasn’t.”

Charlotte nodded. They had talked of this before. And while she knew Ruby’s chances of survival would be much higher if the pregnancy had ended, she also knew that losing a second child might just destroy her.

“But chin up,” Lucien said after a moment, giving Charlotte a sad smile. “This is the beginning of the war’s end. Can’t you see? If the Germans have surrendered Paris, it’s only a matter of time until we take Berlin too.”

Looking around at the jubilant crowd, and at the weary, smiling soldiers, Charlotte knew he was speaking the truth.

“This is a big day for us, for France, for the war.” Lucien leaned down and gave her a kiss. “It’s not a day for sadness, my love.”

“I know.” Of course he was right. But the sun looked brightest when it was emerging from the darkest clouds. And today, Charlotte feared, the storm wasn’t quite over.

“I love you,” Lucien said.