Mrs. Tuesday's Departure: A Historical Novel of World War Two by Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson Page B

course,” I said, although the truth was that I wasn’t surprised. I’d hoped, no more than that, I’d prayed that just this once, Ilona would put her daughter first.
    “I’m not,” she said, picking up one of Bela’s jackets and then throwing it down. “I don’t know why she doesn’t like me. I tried to stay out of the way, I tried to be a good student…” Mila turned to me; her features were contorted with hurt and frustration. She held her mother’s sweater in her hand and then lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply. “I miss her, Nana.” She dropped the sweater on the bed and looked up at me. “Maybe she will send for me.”
    Isn’t that the greatest tragedy? When someone rejects us, no matter how they abuse our love, we hope against reason that somehow they will come back to us. I knew from the look on Ilona’s face as the train left the station that she did not intend to ever see her daughter again. But I wouldn’t tell that to Mila. Instead, I walked to Mila and embraced her. “We will find out where she is and then contact her. I’m sure that once she’s found a new place to live, maybe when this terrible war is over, I’m sure she’ll send for you.”

Chapter Forty
    Mila and I left the room, stopping to turn out the light and close the door behind us. We went to her room and while Mila got ready for bed, I sat in my usual chair and picked up the book of Anna’s poetry that Mila had been reading the night before.
    Mila turned under the covers and propped herself up on one elbow. “Nana, I must go to a safe house.”
    “Not yet.”
    “If the Nazi’s find me here, you and Anna will be taken away too.”
    “Then we’ll have to keep you well hidden.”
    “But what about Anna?”
    “I’ll speak with her again.”
    “She can’t help herself, Nana.”
    Anna’s insanity was enough to make her dangerous, but not enough to make her harmless. I shivered with guilt at the thought.  Would I have to choose between my sister and my niece?
     
    I turned off the light, closed Mila’s door, and walked down the hall to my study. Anna was sitting next to Deszo on the sofa, holding his hand, leaning against his shoulder. When I walked in, she looked up at me with half-closed eyes and a smile conveying the satisfaction of a cat. Oddly, Deszo’s expression showed acute discomfort his cheeks flushed as he slipped his hand out of Anna’s clasp.
    “I’m going to bed now,” I said. “Deszo, thank you for your help today.”
    Deszo got up from the couch.  “I should go.”
    “No stay!” Anna protested. “Natalie leave us.”
    I turned from them and Deszo followed me to the door.
    “Deszo, wait!” Anna hurried to his side, grasping his arm as if to pull him back to the couch. “Spend the night here, with me.”
    Deszo’s cheeks reddened further and he gently pried her fingers from his arm. “I have to go home now. I’ll see you again.”
    Anna smiled demurely and lifted her face to kiss him on the cheek. “Our next meeting will be more private.” She lowered her voice and whispered, while looking at me. “And intimate.”
    Deszo followed me down the hall to the front door and I helped him into the sleeves of his camel hair coat. The tender caress of its nap contrasted with its weight as it left my hands and lifted over his navy wool jacket. I brushed my fingertips across the seams of the shoulders and shivered with the awareness of his masculine scent.
    Deszo turned and clasped his hands to my face. His hooded blue eyes searched my face and he smiled, sadly. “Natalie, come to my office tomorrow. I’ll have more information for you.”
    I shook my head. “Not the University. Can you come here?” 

Chapter Forty-One
    Deszo looked dow n the hall toward the study and frowned. “I can’t come here. Anna will believe I’m coming for her.” His fingers traveled down my neck and rested on my shoulders.
    My cheeks reddened now. “That would be understandable from what I