Zari, the second main character of this novel, is waiting in her family house in Berlin after the Gestapo have taken her family. She thinks her beloved clever brother Frederick might have escaped and will come for her.

     Zari remembered the night the young Nazi came to her door. It was the third evening she was alone in the house on Wiedenstrasse. She heard the engines of vehicles stopping or starting up or stopping in the street near her house. Soldiers were shouting orders, and then there was a gunshot. She ran to the library and hid behind the heavy velvet drapes. There was a loud knocking at her front door and then a shout, “Fräulein, we know you are in there. Open the door or I shoot my way in. You will get hurt.” 

     Trembling, she didn’t move. Then she heard two more shots and the splitting of the lock. The voice, “Fräulein, come out! I will find you!” Then dogs were barking in front of the house, and there were more shots nearby. She stepped out from behind the drapes to find a very young soldier, short with a pimply face, maybe seventeen years old. He had a pistol in his hand, and he pointed it at her chest. She began to shake. He pointed the gun away from her. 

     He asked if she were alone, “Sind Sie allein hier?” She nodded. He walked slowly through the downstairs rooms, staring at everything as if he were in a museum. Then he came back to her and said with a crack in his voice, “You have to bring a suitcase and come with me. Where is your room?” She stayed rooted to the floor until he pushed her, then she led him upstairs. On the way, he stopped in front of a painting of the Elbe Riverscape and then a small, marble bust of Goethe. In Zari’s room, he sat on the edge of the bed and slid his hand along the counterpane. She watched him helplessly.” 

     He moved to her dressing table and asked, “Wo ist ihr Schmuck?!” She pulled open a drawer, took out a jewelry box, and handed it to him. He rifled through the contents, fingering the larger pieces, holding up a strand of garnet beads. 

     Zari said, “Look, these pieces don’t have much value, but I have gold jewelry and precious stones, valuable things. You can have all of it if you will go to your captain and tell him there is no one living in the house.” “Please!” she said, “It would be so easy for you, and nobody would know. And you would be rich! Think what you could bring home for your mother and your girlfriend.” Her face gone white, she studied his expression as he tried to weigh the opportunity and the risk. Her tears flowed, and again she said, “Please.” 

     Something in his mind snapped, and he said, “Nein, ich kann nicht. Get your suitcase, Fräulein.” She turned her back to him and opened her armoire. She heard him at the window opening the drapes to look down to the street. She quickly reached for a small cloisonné box on a back shelf. She took out her pearls and a pair of diamond earrings and closed her hand around them. She dropped the jewelry onto the carpet and pushed it under the armoire with her foot. She began pulling clothing off hangers. She was reaching for her suitcase when the young soldier came up behind her and took her by the waist. 

     His hands were trembling, and she exploded in anger, shouting, “Was machst du?! Was ist los mit dir?!” He backed away from her, blushing, and whispered, 

     “Vergib mir, Fräulein.” I am sorry. Then his voice changed, and he said, “We have to go now. They will send someone in, and I will be in trouble.” As she worked the latches of her suitcase, he said, “Fräulein, it might get cold.” She reached for a coat. They heard a shot right in front of the house, and she jumped. A soldier yelled, “Schnell! Schnell!” The young soldier took out his pistol, picked up her suitcase, and she followed him down the staircase, her heart hammering. She thought, they will shoot me. At the front door the soldier hesitated, and she thought that perhaps he was changing his mind. 

      She blurted out, “Would you like to kiss me?” Then he pushed her out the door.