apocalypse watch | Page 6

God! .. . Then you, both of you-”

“Your natural mother,” added Vilher pre, quietly interrupting, “was a member of the Com@die-”

“A splendid talent,” broke in Catherine, “caught in those trying years between being an ingenue and being a woman, all of it made horrid by the occupation. She was'a dear girl, like a younger sister to me.”

“Please!” cried Jean-Pierre, leaping to his feet as the mother he knew rose and stood by her husband.

“This is all coming so quickly, it is so astonishing, I .. . I can't think!”

“So et' es it's best not to think for a while, my son,” in 'in said the elder Villier.

“Stay numb until the mind tells you it is ready to accept.”

“You used to tell me that years ago,” said the actor, smiling sadly, warmly, at Julian, “when I had trouble with a scene or a monologue, and the meaning was escaping me. You'd say, ”Just keep reading and rereading the words without trying so hard.

Something will happen."

“It was good advice, my husband.”

“I was always a better teacher than I ever was a performer.”

“Agreed,” said Jean-Pierre softly.

“I beg. your pardon? You agree?”

“I meant only, my father, that when you were onstage, you .. . you-”

“A part of you was always concentrating-on the others,” jumped in Catherine Villier, exchanging a knowing glance with her son-and not her son.

“Ah, you both conspire again, has it not been so for years? The two great stars being gentle with the lesser player.. .. Good! That's over with.. .. For a few moments we all stopped thinking about tonight. Now, perhaps, we can talk.”

Silence.

“For God's sake, tell me what happened!” exclaimed Jean-Pierre finally.

As he asked the question, there was a rapid knocking at the dressing-room door; it was opened by the theater's old night watchman.

"Sorry to intrude, but I thought you ought to know.

There are still reporters at the stage door.

s

They won't believe the police or me. We said you left earlier by the front entrance, but they're nor convinced. However, they cannot get inside."

"Then we'll stay here for a while, if need be all night at least I will.

There's a couch in the other room, and I've already called my wife.

She heard everything on the news."

“Very well, sir.. .. Madame Villier, and you also, monsieur, despite the terrible circumstances it is glorious to see you both again. You are always remembered with great affection.”

“Thank you, Charles,” said Catherine.

“You look well, my friend.”

“I'd look better still if you were back onstage, madame.” The watchman nodded and closed the door.

“Go on, Father, what did happen?”

“We were all part of the Resistance,” began Julian Villier, sitting down on a small love seat across the room, t4artists drawn together against an enemy that would destroy all art. And we had certain capabilities that served our cause. Musicians passed codes by inserting melodic phrases not in an original score; illustrators produced the daily and weekly posters demanded by the Germans, subtly employing colors and images that sent other messages. And we in the theater continuously corrupted texts, especially those of revivals and well-known plays, often giving direct instructions to the saboteurs-"

“At times it was quite amusing,” interrupted the regal Catherine, joining her husband and taking his hand.

“Say there was a line like ”I shall meet her at the Wtro in Montparnasse.“ We'd change it to ”I shall meet her at the east railway station-she should be there by eleven o'clock.“ The play would finish, the curtain fall, and all those Germans in their splendid uniforms would be applauding while a R@sistance team left quickly to be in place for the sabotage units at the Gare de VEst an hour before midnight.”

“Yes, yes,” said Jean-Pierre impatiently.

“I've heard the stories, but that's not what I'm asking. I realize it's as difficult for you as it is for me, but please, tell me what I must know.”

The white-haired couple looked intensely at each other; the wife nodded as their hands gripped, the veins showing. Her husband spoke.

“Jodelle was found out, revealed by a young runner who could not take the torture. The Gestapo surrounded his house, waiting for him to return one night, but he couldn't, for he was in Le Havre, making contact with British and American agents in the early planning stages of the invasion. By dawn, it was said that the leader of the Gestapo unit became furious with frustration. He stormed the house and executed your mother and your older brother, a child of five years. They picked up Jodelle several hours later; we managed to get word to him that you had survived.”

“Oh .. . my God!” The celebrated actor grew pale, his eyes closed as he sank down into his chair.

"Monsters! .. No, wait, what did you just say?

“It was said that the leader of the Gestapo-' It was said?”