The Night of the Generals by Hans Hellmut Kirst Read Free Book Online Page A

you here today. I think it's high time you settled down. I'm thinking of General Tanz, of course."
    'Tanz! You want me to marry a war memorial?"
    "What could be finer than to become the wife of a unique man like that?"
    Frau Wilhelmine spoke with immense conviction. She had a hundred arguments at her finger-tips, each one more cogent than the next, but she was not given a chance to produce them because at that moment the generals entered the room.
    There were five at table. The G.O.C. presided over the gathering with Lieutenant-General Tanz on his right and, since they were an odd number, his wife on his left. Ulrike was seated between Tanz and Kahlenberge.
    Frau Wilhelmine led the conversation, keeping an eagle eye on the mess waiters meanwhile. "Major Grau of Abwehr will be joining us for coffee," she announced. Her tone hinted that this was a piece of skilful planning--first the generals and their womenfolk, then the lower ranks--but the real reason was rather more prosaic: the capon would not stretch to more than five.
    "I'm no slave to the pleasures of the table," declared General von Seydlitz-Gabler, plying his knife and fork with gusto, "but I appreciate my food."
    "It's all a question of refinement," said Frau Wilhelmine, always quick to corroborate her husband's pronouncements whatever the subject under discussion. "Don't you agree, Ulrike?"
    "As far as I'm concerned," said Ulrike carelessly, "the main thing is to have enough. I'm always hungry. The kitchens at garrison headquarters don't produce food like this."
    "We also live frugally here," said von Seydlitz-Gabler in a tone of mild but unmistakable reproof, "but we enjoy offering hospitality. This is a special occasion. We often have nothing but bread and butter with artificial honey for breakfast."
    "A man can conquer the whole world," interjected Major-General Kahlenberge, busying himself with a chicken-leg, "without ever being able to satisfy all his acquisitive urges."
    Remarks of this sort obviously irritated Frau Wilhelmine von Seydlitz-Gabler, who liked to steer conversation along less abstract lines. Pushing back her plate, which was not entirely empty, she said: "Whatever our normal standard of living, we must always be prepared to do without things when occasion demands, as it does in times like these. Don't you agree, General Tanz?"
    "I do indeed," he replied tersely.
    These were the first words that General Tanz had uttered since his arrival. He had endured the preliminaries in silence and had wordlessly offered Ulrike von Seydlitz-Gabler his arm when they went in to lunch. He had not seemed particularly interested in his table-companions' conversation and devoted all his attention to the business of eating. He drank water instead of wine, but no one was surprised at that. The General was known to be a man of iron self-discipline.
    Frau Wilhelmine regarded him with a frank blend of tenderness and admiration. "Ah yes, we all have to make sacrifices, don't we?"
    "And what sacrifices do you make, General?" asked Ulrike casually.
    "I am a soldier," said General Tanz, who evidently considered this a sufficient answer.
    "My dear child," said von Seydlitz-Gabler, gently reproving, "it's about time you realized that you were born into a world of self-denial. I'm a soldier too, and so were my ancestors before me."
    "I happen to be a woman," said Ulrike.
    "I'm aware of that. " The G.O.C. smiled like a perfect host watching one of his guests smashing a priceless heirloom. "But the female members of our family have always married soldiers."
    "And never regretted it!" put in Frau Wilhelmine.
    "Some soldiers lie and rot on the battlefield, so I'm told," Ulrike said defiantly. "They aren't all lucky enough to rot in comfortable staff jobs."
    "You're mistaken, Fräulein," said General Tanz in measured tones. "For instance, the members of my staff are given every opportunity to train the healthy body on which the healthy mind depends. In my command, even staff officers