Chapter 9

In August 1916, the second anniversary of the beginning of the war to end of all wars, Major Frank Maloue found General John French was a pompous ass. The man was so arrogant his whole staff had a strong dislike for him. The man was fighting a nineteenth century war in the twentieth century.

The artillary was accurate than before. Rifles were easier to load and fire. Machine guns were plentiful with the ability that only one could cut down hundreds within minutes. Then there were poison gases, flame throwers, and later tanks. That was just the ground war. In the air, planes were more nuisances than war machines. Yes, there were dog fights as one tried to shoot down the other. Planes were also used to scout out enemy positions on the ground with an ocassional bomb being dropped. Of course sea warfare was a different matter which did not affect General French.

The man was trained to march his men in order followed my men on horses with lances and sabers. The staff here horrified by the number of British troops killed by the Germans superior positions and weapons. What stumped them even more, John French never learned from his mistakes from the past. He blamed his underlings for his failures and the lack of keeping to his operational plans.

Frank didn't believe this at first. He found him to be charming gentleman. He had a good sense of humor, good friends with those he liked, and generous to a fault. He often flew across the Channel to visit his family and to meet with his superiors that the war was going as well as expected. Almost every evening they sat with French at dinner with the conversation varying about the war, home, family, friends, and myriads of other subjects. The chat always ended up talking about beautiful young women. Some nights, they could hear the faint bursts of artillary bombarding their lines. French was very positive that his lines could hold against the German onslaught.

After being there for a month, Frank broached the subject of spending a few days in Paris.

"Of course," French agreed amiably. "Why don't you take a week to visit the city. It's a wonderful place. I'll give you the name of a hotel that gives military officers cut rates. And they turn a blind eye if you bring someone of the female persuasion along with you to your room," he winked.

"I'm looking forward to spending some time there, sir," Frank smiled.

Back in the United States Gwen worked very hard on keeping Frank's businesses going. Rumors of America getting into the war were flying all across the country. As the election neared, Woodrow Wilson promised to keep the nation our of the war in Europe.

Gwen, being British, couldn't vote. News of atrocities that the Germans were committing filled the newspapers and some magazines. Bayoneting babies and older citizens under their control told of pain and suffering under the Kaiser. These proved to be untrue after the war was over but at that time the American people believed it. Even some German merchants suffered from lost business as men and women went out of their way to buy from people who were not of German descent.

"This is delicious," Gwen said, having a small steak at Del Monico's as she treated her secretary to a luxurious meal.

Jenny was a young, strikingly blonde of nineteen. She graduated from high school, went one year to a woman's college to train young females to become secretaries. "Yes, it is," she agreed. Jenny and Gwen felt flattered that many men were looking their way in admiration of two such young and beautiful ladies. Neither mentioned to the other that they knew they were being closely watched. In fact, both laughed at the other's remarks even though they weren't very humorous.

Gwen kept looking at a tall, wiry young man who was almost staring a hole into her eyes. He had a handsome face with steel blue eyes that never left her for a moment. He was eating alone. The pair of women were in a booth while this man sat at a table eating slowly.

"Would you like some dessert?" Gwen asked Jenny. The young blonde loved ice cream and it was a special treat for her.

"Yes, please," she smiled. Though she was full from the meal, she wished to stay to see if the man who was giving her the eye might be bold enough to make the effort to talk to her. Jenny was not only looking for a man in her life, but she wanted one who had money to make her life comfortable. She received a generous salary from Gwen but she knew she wouldn't work at the firm forever.