Top Secret Part 4

"Have you a reservation, sir?"

"No. I don't."

"And your luggage, sir?"

"No luggage."

The a.s.sistant manager adjusted his necktie knot, then said, "Sir, the Lord Baltimore might not be appropriate for you and the lady. May I suggest-"

"If you're about to suggest we try some sleazy motel down the street," Mrs. Marjorie Howell Cronley interrupted, "I would be forced to conclude you have an evil mind, sir."

She pulled from her purse a certificate of marriage and held it up for the a.s.sistant manager's edification.

He forced a big smile. "I was about to suggest, madam, one of our junior suites."

"Do you have a senior suite? If so, we'll take it," she said.

"Well," Jimmy asked not more than fifteen minutes later, as Marjorie laid her head on his chest, "now that our marriage has been truly consummated, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean 'truly consummated'?"

"You have to do what we just did or you're not really married."

"Professor Freddy told you that, right?"

"Sergeant Hessinger is a fountain of information, most of it useful."

"So, what did he have to say about the Army and lieutenants whose marriage has been truly consummated?"

"As much as I remember-this took place of course before you seduced me, and I wasn't all that interested in the subject at the time-"

He yelped when she bit his nipple.

"I seduced you?"

"As I remember it, that's what happened."

"We'll fight later. Tell me what he said."

"Presuming you're married, as we are now, the sponsor-that's me-goes to his commanding officer and requests that his dependent-that's you-be allowed to join him in Germany."

"Requests? He could turn you down?"

"Commanding officers can do anything. But he won't. Major Wallace is a good guy. Then, once quarters are a.s.signed-that's what the Army calls houses-you will get what they call 'invitational orders' which will allow you to get on a transport-a Navy s.h.i.+p-and sail to Germany. Bremerhaven, Germany. Sponsors usually meet the incoming dependents on the dock. There will be several hundred of us, but you will be able to spot me from afar. I will be the sponsor with the biggest b.o.n.e.r, the painful result of my having been separated from my dependent for six weeks or so."

"This thing, you mean?" Marjorie grabbed his male appendage.

"That's it. That's what I had in mind when I endowed you with all my worldly goods."

"And you had better not forget who it belongs to now."

"Indeed."

"Wait. Why can't I fly over there?"

"I don't know, but I will d.a.m.ned sure ask Freddy to look into it. Dependents of senior officers-colonels and generals-sometimes get to fly. But I am the exact opposite of a senior officer. I'll see what I can find out. Maybe I could say you live in France or England. I just don't know. I'll ask Freddy."

She sighed. "Six weeks or so seems like a very long time."

"When I asked before, 'What do we do now?' I meant right now. Tonight."

"Re-consummating our marriage is the first thing that pops into my mind," Marjorie said.

"Keep that thought. But what I was wondering is what do we tell your mother?"

"Nothing," she replied immediately, which told him that she had already given the problem some thought. "Let her go ahead with her plans for a double wedding."

"I don't think Colonel Mattingly would let me come back here now. And I understand."

"I was afraid of that. I still don't want to tell her until I have to. You don't have to tell your parents either. We can wait until we see what's going to happen."

"What are you going to tell her about tonight?"

"I'm sure she thinks we're doing what we've been doing. Out of the bounds of holy matrimony. She knows there's nothing she can do about it. She feels sorry for us that you're being sent back to Germany right away."

"So you can spend the night?"

She grunted. "Mom doesn't feel that sorry. After a while, I'll take you back out to Camp Holabird and then drive back to Was.h.i.+ngton. After breakfast tomorrow, I'll tell her I'm going to quote visit unquote with you again, and come pick you up and we'll come back here."

"Here?"

"Our first home. More than that. I'll get an historical sign made. 'On this site on October 25, 1945, the marriage of Lieutenant and Mrs. J. D. Cronley Junior was consummated at least twice.'"

He laughed.

"I'll get a cab back to Holabird. It's a long way out there."

"No. I am now a wife. A good wife drops her husband off at work, and I want to be a good wife."

"Is that before or after consummation?"

"During," she said.

[ FIVE ].

The Officers' Club U.S. Army Counterintelligence Center & School Camp Holabird 1019 Dundalk Avenue, Baltimore 19, Maryland 1120 26 October 1945 Lieutenant Cronley drained his Coca-Cola and set the gla.s.s on the bar. In an hour, he could call room service at the Lord Baltimore and order up something a little stronger. But c.o.ke was it for now.

I wouldn't want my bride to think I'm a boozer.

The Squirt said she would be here between eleven-thirty and noon. That gives me ten minutes to walk to the gate so I can be waiting for her.

He almost made it to the door when the bartender called his name. Jimmy turned to see he was holding up the handset of a telephone. He walked quickly to take it.

"Lieutenant Cronley, sir."

"Colonel Mattingly, Jimmy. A car is being sent for you. It should be there within the hour. Collect your stuff and be waiting for it. You're to be at the White House at fifteen hundred hours."

"s.h.i.+t!"

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?" Mattingly said coldly.

"Sorry. That slipped out."

"Make sure nothing slips out when you're with the President."

"Yes, sir."

"The car will be a Chevy station wagon. Civilian plates. The driver and his a.s.sistant are fellow alumni of Holabird High."

"Yes, sir."

"They will bring you to the Hay-Adams. Your parents are there."

"My parents? How did they get there?"

"How would you guess? Your girlfriend's grandfather sent the Connie for them. They'll be going to the White House with us."

She's not my girlfriend. She's my wife.

When do I tell Mattingly?

"And afterward?"

"You're on the twenty-one hundred MATS flight . . . we're on the twenty-one hundred MATS flight . . . from Bethesda to Frankfurt."

"s.h.i.+t!"

"That one I understand," Mattingly said. "It's out of my hands, Jim."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"See you shortly."

[ SIX ].

Main Gate U.S. Army Counterintelligence Center & School Camp Holabird 1019 Dundalk Avenue, Baltimore 19, Maryland 1132 26 October 1945 Marjorie kissed him when he got into the Buick.

"Well," she said, "whatever should we do now to pa.s.s the time?"

"They called. We all have to be at the White House at three."

She didn't reply.

"My folks are there," he said. "At the Hay-Adams."

"I know. I thought I was going to have to break your mother's legs to keep her from coming here with me. Grandpa saved me. He said, 'Well, Virginia, I guess you are too old to remember that when you're in love, you don't want your mother hanging around.'"

"And then I'm on a plane at nine tonight for Frankfurt."

"I didn't know that. Oh G.o.d, Jimmy!"

"Yeah, oh G.o.d!"

"Well, maybe we can find a five-dollar motel between here and Was.h.i.+ngton," Marjie said. "For a quickie."

"They're sending a car for me."

"Wonderful!" she said, thickly sarcastic. Then she had a second thought. "I can't go to the White House dressed like this. I'll have to change!"

"Yeah. I guess."

They locked eyes.

"I don't know how yet," Marjorie said, "but we're going to find time between now and when you get on the plane."

"G.o.d, I hope so!"

"Kiss me quick, Jimmy, before I start saying a lot of dirty words."

He watched the Buick drive down Dundalk Avenue, and then he went inside the fence and walked to the G.o.dd.a.m.ned Transient Officers Quarters to wait for the G.o.dd.a.m.ned Chevrolet station wagon with G.o.dd.a.m.ned civilian plates driven by a G.o.dd.a.m.ned fellow alumnus of G.o.dd.a.m.ned Holabird High.