The Perfumer

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

In the seventeenth century, Turkish concubines devised a secret method of communication with flowers by attaching a meaning to each blossom or plant. The fascination swept Europe and reached its zenith of popularity in Victorian England. In the language of flowers, the red rose symbolizes love, while the calla lily signifies a magnificent beauty. Together, a stunning marriage to the perfumer. -DB

3 September, 1939 - Poland

Sofia von Hoffman had scant time to prepare her escape. Despite her illness, the aggressive carcinoma that invaded her body with tumors, she’d worked without a break since the predawn invasion the day before. With the help of Jacob, her chauffeur, her large ancestral home had been cleared of much of its personal effects, what valuables and artwork they could gather locked in the cellar.

Now it was almost midnight. She stood in the stone doorway, gasping for breath, the dust from their work aggravating her lungs. Her body shook as she coughed, a violent hacking cough, her lungs aching. When she recovered, she drew herself up, her posture impeccable, and turned to Jacob. “This is all we have time to do. You must bring your family here. Together we’ll find safety. Take the car, there isn’t much time.”

“I’ll be back for you before daybreak.” Jacob paused at the door and rested his broad hand on her arm. His eyes rose to an oil painting in the foyer behind her.

Sofia followed his gaze to the fine painting, illuminated with a glimmer of moonlight, a portrait of her in a fluid white gown, creamy calla lilies in ivory hands, on the eve of her marriage fifty years ago.

Jacob’s eyes brimmed with admiration. “I remember when that was done.”

Sofia tilted her head. “You were just a boy.”

“Tending the horses and carriages. Still I knew, even then, that you were an unparalleled beauty,” he said, his voice thick.

She averted her eyes and glanced down at her thin, frail hands, spidery with veins. Her illness had reduced her to a ghost of the force she had once been. But she didn’t mourn the loss of her youth, only the loss of her energy.

“I’m sorry,” Jacob said softly. “I didn’t mean that you aren’t still beautiful.”

“We have more important matters to speak about.” Her heart quickened. Nazi troops were advancing, and she knew his family was right in their path.

Jacob hesitated on the doorstep. Beneath his dark bushy brows, his eyes were moist. “If I don’t return, I want you to know that I’ve always—”

“I know.” She gave him a sad smile. “And I want you to know that I haven’t long. I’m”

“No, you’ll be better soon. You should see a different doctor.”

She shook her head, and then raised her eyes to the west, where a faint, eerie light glowed orange on the horizon like a distant fireball. “You must hurry. And please, be careful.”

On his return, they would travel into the nearby forest, hide until danger passed. At best, they could return home. At worst... She shuddered.

I’m so glad Jacob was here. Heinrich, her husband’s nephew who lived with them, had disappeared after the invasion.

Sofia and Karl had taken Heinrich into their home the day his parents had died, when he was just a boy. From that moment on, she had taken care to treat him as her own son, just as she did Max. After Karl’s death, there was no question that Heinrich would remain with her. Sofia loved Heinrich like a son, but he’d always had a fierce temperament and an explosive temper.

Where was Heinrich now that she needed him?

Another round of coughing gripped her like a vise. If only she’d been well enough to travel to Paris with young Nicky, as she’d promised Max and Danielle.

She pressed her hand against her chest. The doctor had told her she’d have more time. But even he hadn’t realized her illness would be so aggressive.

In her dignified way, she’d kept it from her family. She didn’t want to worry Max and Danielle.

Sofia gasped for breath slowly, her coughing subsiding. What would Max and Danielle return to? In the last few days, unbelievable stories from the front lines had filtered into town. Thousands of innocent people had been killed in ground and air strikes. People were running for their lives. And their village, Klukowski, was dead center in the Nazi path.

She thought of her precious grandson Nicky and regret flooded her mind. Danielle had been so anxious about leaving him. Sofia had assured her the boy would be fine, that they would meet them in Paris. How wrong she had been.

Once the news about the agreement between Germany and Russia was broadcast, people had mobbed the petrol and train stations. She’d tried to board a train to Paris, but she was too weak to fight the frantic swarm of humanity desperate to escape.

She heard the rear door slam and heavy footsteps raced up the rear servants’ stairs. She knew the sound of those boots. “Heinrich?”

Sofia met him in the hall. Heinrich’s blond hair was sticking up like thorns, his clothes soggy with perspiration. He held a small bag in his hand.

“Aunt Sofia. I–I thought you’d left already.”

Sofia pulled herself up. “You saw the car leave and you assumed I was in it. You did not want to face me?”

“No, I–”

“Where have you been?”

He lowered his pale blue eyes and studied his feet, then threw his head back and puffed out his chest. “I am going to join in the glory of the New Germany. I’ve enlisted. ”

Shocked, Sofia reached out to the wall for support. She struggled to speak, her breath rattling in her chest. “But you’ve lived here since you were ten. You’re more Polish than German.”

“No, you are Polish. My uncle was not. I had no choice after my parents died, did I?” His lip curled in a sneer. “My blood is German and I’m proud of it. Mein Führer needs me.”

She knew Heinrich idolized everything German. As a child he’d played soldier games, staged battles and studied strategy. He yearned for the uniform, the comradeship, the imagined glory—but there was no honor in the Nazi ideology. How can I stop him? She touched his arm. “Heinrich, I’ve always loved you like my own son.”

“That’s a lie, and you know it.” He jerked away. “Your precious son Max betrayed his race by marrying a little half-breed French Jew who passes herself off as Catholic. And you welcomed her into this home. You spent more time with her and that brat than you ever did with me.”

“Is that what’s behind this? You’re jealous of Danielle and little Nicky?” She shook her head in disbelief. True, Heinrich had been moody after Danielle arrived, but Sofia had assumed it was just adolescent behavior.

“Jealous? No, they’re beneath me, Aunt Sofia. And so are you.” He spun on his heel and pounded down the stairs.

Sofia heard the door slam. She ached for Heinrich; her heart burned with rage against the Nazis. She leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath.

She recalled how he’d been a frightened young boy, missing his Berlin friends, when he came to live with them. She thought that was the reason for his surly demeanor. But how he must have resented her.

He has joined the enemy. He has betrayed the family.

A chill crept over her. Heinrich knew the secret of Nicky’s heritage. He wouldn’t inform on little Nicky, would he?

She heard feet padding behind her.

Nicky flung his arms around her knees. “Grand-mère, why is Heinrich mad?

“It’s complicated, Nicky. But he’s gone now. He won’t be back.”

Nicky appeared thoughtful. “He says awful mean things to me.”

Sofia’s heart clutched. So it was true.

He looked up at her with rounded eyes of innocence. “I’m glad he’s gone.”

Sofia knelt and hugged Nicky, even as her heart broke for Heinrich. “Go back to bed, Nicky, my dear. You need your rest.” She took his hand and walked him to the nursery.

After she tucked him into bed and kissed him, she went to her bedroom. Her mantle clock read after midnight, yet she had little time to indulge her aches and anxieties. Her maid had already fled in hysterics and there was still much to do.

She selected a simple black wool traveling dress and sewed her finest jewelry into the hem. Photographs, money, and real estate deeds went into a large bag, along with a change of clothing, eyeglasses, medical supplies, and food.

Exhausted, she collapsed at her desk in the study. She tried once more to call Danielle’s parents in France. “Hello, hello?” But the line was thick with silence.

And then she thought, Why isn’t Jacob here yet?