After the guard unlocked the door and let them out of the Embassy, David and the Ambassador resumed their discussion of German propaganda as they walked towards the Lancia. A five-minute drive later, as David braked the car to a stop beneath the porte-cochère of the residence, the Ambassador flipped his hand forward. "Continue to the courtyard, David. 'I'll walk back with you so as not to interrupt this."

They carried on the discussion, and during their walk back, as they neared the door, Evelyn said, "Most interesting. We'll continue this with Henry after dinner."

A short while later, the butler replied to the knock on the door, greeting as he opened it, "Good evening, sir. And welcome back, Colonel Berry. The ladies are in the withdrawing room."

The two women were so involved in a discussion that they didn't see the men enter and approach. Then, Maria startled and looked up before she giggled. "I had said you'd need more than two hours – it's been nearly four."

David shrugged and smiled as he bent to kiss her cheek. "Did you find Dr Bettancourt?"

"I did, and he's agreed to a week's delay."

"Great!" He straightened up and turned. "Sorry, Edith. Terribly rude of me not to have greeted you."

"Tut-tut. The way Maria has been describing your Paris experiences, it's as if you've been here all along."

Evelyn flapped his gold-embellished coat fronts. "I need to get out of this absurd get-up"

Edith laughed. "I had the good sense to come home and change."

"As had been my intention, but a crisis intervened."

"A serious one? Still?"

"Now resolved – thanks to David's timely arrival." He pointed through the archway toward the stairs. "I'll tell you about it while we change for dinner."

David offered a hand to assist Maria from her chair. "And we'll do the same."

Upstairs in their suite, a minute or so later, Maria nodded toward the bed. "Have we time for it?"

David glanced at his watch. "We'd be a bit rushed. Besides, I won't be able to tell you about Wilfred."

"Windbag? Was he the crisis?"

He nodded as he helped her out of her dress. "He was."

"How bad, this time?" Maria unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned the front.

David kicked off his shoes and let his trousers fall to the floor. As he stepped out of them, he said, "Enough to get himself cashiered."

"Cashiered?" She draped her dress over a chair arm and knelt in front of him as he unbuttoned his shirt.

"Dismissed from the Army with disgrace."

Maria pulled her mouth away. "Finally! When will this happen?"

"It already has." He lifted her and carried her toward the bed. "Details after we've released our tension."

A few minutes later, while they lay together, recovering in the afterglow, Maria asked, "So, Windbag?"

David chuckled. "Remember the posters and cartoons we saw in London and on the Channel ferries? Stomping on the spiked helmets."

"He didn't."

"Oh, yes, he did."

"Where?"

"The Swiss Confederation Building. The German Ambassador's aide."

"At that fancy, formal affair Edith had attended? In front of everyone?"

"Fortunately, that had concluded. This was while they were leaving." David rolled her on top of him and sat, then, still joined, he stood and carried her towards the bathroom. "We need to clean and dress."

As he dried her from the bidet, he patted her belly. "Still flat as a pancake. No bulge yet."

"Should be soon, though. Dr Bettancourt confirmed what Grandma and Edith had said; between the fifteenth and twentieth week, so in the next week or two."

David filled in details about Wyndcom's hearing while they dressed, and by the time they had descended to the anteroom to rejoin Evelyn and Edith, Maria had the full story.

Two minutes later, the butler led Henry and Alicia in, and after greetings, Edith said, "Only the six of us this evening, so we'll be informal."

"But with great wines." Evelyn chuckled. "We need to celebrate Wyndcom's demise."

After dinner, while the women retired to the withdrawing room, Evelyn led David and Henry to the balcony, followed by Stanley with snifters, a bottle of Armagnac and a box of cigars.

When the butler had served them and withdrawn, the Ambassador said, "Let's resume our discussion, David. 'Allow Henry to become aware of this and see what further information - or what questions - he may have."

A minute or so later, Henry furrowed his brow. "This seems like a trap, David. I can't help but think it suspicious that the Prince is involved in the details of purchasing watches. With his rank and position, surely he has concerns far more important and pressing than that."

David shrugged. "His string pullers allow him none but benign tasks and decisions."

"String pullers?" Henry looked up from his Armagnac.

"The Oberste Heeresleitung – the Supreme Army Command under General Falkenhayn. With little military experience, Wilhelm was given command of the Fifth Army at the start of the war, and he was placed –"

"Like Wyndcom. A privileged appointment."

"Yes, except that the Germans appear much wiser with this than are the British; Wilhelm was given only the titular command. The real leader was his chief-of-staff, General von Knobelsdorf, who made all major decisions and plans, including conceiving the assault on Verdun."

Henry cocked his head. "How do you know this, David?"

"Wilhelm mentioned aspects of it while we shared a bottle of Steinberger eiswein in Karlsruhe."

"As Henry has asked, might this be a ruse? Setting a snare to entrap you?" The Ambassador tilted his head. "Might he suspect you're an agent?"

David chuckled. "A Rolex agent, yes. But seriously, I sense nothing in him but genuineness and honesty, sir. Besides, London has confirmed more than enough to show that it is genuine."

"Before or after you had found out?"

"Some of each, sir." David smiled and shrugged. "He's frustrated. He knows the war is going poorly and that neither he nor his father has any say in its direction. Now, as the head of a five-army Group, he is still little more than a puppet. A figurehead controlled by Falkenhayn and the de facto military dictatorship he has created."

"So, the watches seem to be something to occupy his time and ease his frustration." Evelyn chuckled. "Or maybe a way to garner support from his officers to help him stage a coup d'état."

David laughed. "No, this is more mundane than that. From reports of their tactics at Verdun, I now see that they wanted to supply their officers with watches so they could better coordinate troop movements with artillery barrages."

Henry frowned. "So, in effect, by supplying them, you assisted the enemy."

"As I initially thought when I discovered this, but then I realised they had already decided to purchase." He shrugged and swirled his snifter. "Rolex isn't the only wristwatch maker, so they could have chosen another make. Or have gone to one of the other agents; Hans has three of us marketing in Germany."

"True. And the level of precision doesn't require a chronometer; it could come from most timepieces."

"Except in this instance, Henry. Wilhelm shares my obsession for accuracy, and when we met, he was between decision and purchase."

"So, you grasped the opportunity."

"No, I allowed it to evolve. Far better that way - giving him the sense he has control."

The Ambassador chuckled. "As I've said before, David, I wouldn't want to play poker with you."