APH: Only Light and Momentary [5/8]
Title: Only Light and Momentary [5/8]
Author: grosse_averse, tatterdemalion on ff.net
Characters/Pairings: The relationship between Canada and the Netherlands (OC) will take centre stage - however, other characters involved in their relations will also appear.
Rated: It varies. T for this chapter
Summary: A chronicle of Matthew’s relationship with Lars, from 1611 to present day. In this chapter, the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany, the exile of Princess Juliana in June 1940, and miscellaneous mentioned events in World War II leading up to the birth of Princess Margriet in 1943.
Chapter One (1611)
Chapter Two (~1640)
Chapter Three (1674)
Chapter Four (1824)
“God gives every bird its proper food, but all must fly for it.” - Dutch Proverb
Seventy years later, Matthew spends most of his time listening to the radio.
He hardly leaves his living room - Kumajiro remembers him enough to nudge him towards the kitchen every once in a while. When he is not listening to the radio, he is making calls and writing letters: to Arthur, to Alfred, to Francis, to his boss, trying to gather any information he can.
Alfred refuses to get involved. Matthew later learns he calls it “isolationism”. He thinks that is a bit ridiculous - he and Alfred have been isolated from Europe all their lives, so why would Alfred put a name on it now?
Alfred persists, a tired, frightened young man a continent away from what all of Europe is fighting.
“They screwed us over once.” he insists. “Both of us Mattie, but especially you, don’t say they didn’t. And they’re not even waiting for their heels to cool before they start again!”
By they Matthew assumes Alfred means Ludwig, impassive, ambitious Ludwig and his fervent new boss; but he supposes Alfred could also mean Arthur and Francis, who allowed Ludwig to push and push and push and have only recently began to push back.
Matthew tells him that they need to do something, that he needs to do something. Alfred shakes his head.
“Germany won’t go that far.” he declares. “He can’t of forgotten the Great War, he won’t let history repeat itself.”
Matthew thinks of Czechoslovakia and frowns.
When he talks to Arthur, all Arthur wants him to do is swear his loyalty. Matthew should be offended with how little Arthur apparently trusts him, but he remembers that all the other country is, is a tiny island and Arthur has spent his entire history building up peace of mind. He reassures Arthur that he will stand by him and hangs up.
Francis is the only one who tells him what Matthew has been trying to find out for months. He is the one to tell him about Czechoslovakia, how him and Arthur handed the country over to Germany in appeasement; he tells him about Poland, and Austria too - and how up north, Norway is fighting tooth and nail.
Francis is the one to tell him about Lars, but then Germany turns his sights to Paris and Francis can’t talk as much anymore.
The invasion of the Netherlands is only four days in when the Dutch forces surrender. This is not even enough time to send a letter, to send troops. Four days is a second in their lives, and for one awful moment Matthew is furious that Lars did not fight, that he gave up so easily.
Then he feels only an aching, bitter, hollow sadness. This is not Lars’s fault, and he knows that. He sends letters instead, and listens to the radio, and both of these sources confirm what he doesn’t want to believe - the Netherlands has been occupied by Nazi Germany.
Matthew tries to remember when he last saw Lars - it was right after the Great War, when Matthew was still reeling from the heady awfulness of it all, the vastness and the men and (the trenches on the Western Front, oh God, a jagged line of mud that took so many of Canada’s sons). Alfred and Matthew had felt so young then, so unused to war - though it made them feel a little better that even the old men of Europe looked shaken by the brutality and the sheer, great loss...
Matthew could not remember seeing Germany when he and Alfred arrived in France to join the celebrations, and he did not really want to see him at that moment, still shaking and weak and unused to nation’s eyes on him, whispering, that child, at Vimy, who knew? The German shook in their boots.
Lars found him in the crowd, scooped him up and kissed him soundly on the mouth in front of the whole of Europe (Arthur almost had a seizure; Alfred choked on an hors d'œuvre) and told Matthew how proud he was.
That had made Matthew full of warmth, but they didn’t manage to get time alone after the celebrations because Matthew had to leave with Arthur. Lars had promised to come see Matthew at his house next time.
Now it is 1940, and Matthew feels like throwing something, screaming or crying when he hears, on top of everything, that Paris has been occupied.
Francis does not return his letters. Matthew is not sure he has even received them.
So when Arthur appears on his doorstep, Matthew is taken aback and stands there with his mouth hanging open until the Empire reminds him icily to close your mouth, boy, or flies will get in and are you going to remember you have manners and invite me in?
When Matthew steps aside, Arthur carries two little girls into his house, followed by a straight-backed woman with a pretty, solemn face.
“Matthew,” Arthur says once he has seated everyone and the littlest girl, a one year old cherub has stopped crying, “May I present to you Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her daughters, Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene.”
Matthew heart nearly stops as Princess Juliana gives him a kind smile.
“It - it’s an honor to meet you.” he stammers, eyes taking in every detail of the woman’s face. Can he see Lars’s angular features in hers, a hint of colour in her hair that reminds him of her country’s corn-silk hair?
“The same to you.” Juliana answers sincerely. “I have come to ask you if my daughters and I could take refuge in your country.”
“Of course!” Matthew exclaims without hesitation, without thought of his boss. Arthur looks annoyed at Matthew’s brash behavior, but Juliana merely gives a soft laugh.
“Thank you.” she says. “Mr. Kirkland said that you could be relied on. I see now that he was right.”
Matthew blushes under the unexpected praise of his mentor, and excuses himself from the living room to make Arthur and the princess some tea, and juice for the eldest daughter, two year old Beatrix. Once he returns, he bombards Juliana with questions about her journey. He marvels at the woman’s warm, down-to-earth attitude as she tells him about their brief stay with Arthur and, before that, their flight from the Netherlands.
Matthew wonders if Lars helped them.
After a while Arthur has to leave. Matthew walks him to the door, and once they are out of earshot Arthur pulls from his jacket an envelope.
“Her Highness asked me to give you this.” Arthur explains as Matthew gives the envelope a quizzical, perfunctory glance. The seal has not been broken and when Matthew looks back up at Arthur he catches the look in the other man’s eyes and smiles in understanding.
“Thank you.” he murmurs; Arthur looks away and shuffles his feet.
“Yes, well.” he replies, then casts the young country and almost sympathetic look. “Take care, Canada. I fear I will be seeing you sooner than I’d like.”
Puzzled, Matthew nods. “Take care, Britain.” he echoes, and then Arthur is gone.
Matthew offers the family temporary lodgings in his house until morning, when he can talk to his boss about moving them to a more suitable place. Beatrix, as physically striking as her mother and full of childish energy, sits on the living room floor and plays with Kumajiro until the poor bear sinks tiredly onto his haunches and does not even twitch when Irene makes a painful grab for his fur.
Matthew finally gets up the courage to ask Juliana about Lars. When he mentions the name, Juliana’s brows draw together.
“He took us to the train station, helped us get past the soldiers.” she narrates. “He...he looked very tired, Matthew. He didn’t smile at all, and he had bruises everywhere. I almost wanted to take him with us, but he left after helping my mother with passports.”
She catches his painful, frozen expression and looks almost apologetic. “Did you...know each other?”
The letter is burning a hole in Matthew’s pocket. He forces a smile. “We know each other.” he confirms.
Beatrix rides on Matthew’s shoulders as he carried her to the guest room. She orders him, in the commanding tones of a future queen, to leave the room while she changes into her pastel coloured nightgown, then pulls a book from her luggage and tells him to read it to her. Amused by her orders, Matthew barters with her until she huffily leaves to brush her teeth. Then he allows her to push him onto the bed and clamber onto his lap while he opens up the book.
The book is called, “Rénert the Fox”, and Matthew wants to laugh until he cries. Beatrix snuggles up to him as he begins to read. Halfway through, Irene toddles in, scales the bed clumsily and tries to fit on Matthew’s lap too. The two sisters push at each other as Matthew tries to calm them down.
Their mother leans in the doorway, amusement on her face, and it is only when Matthew sends her a pleading look that she says, “Girls, let Matthew finish the story.” and they still immediately.
By the time he is done the story, Irene is draped over his knees, her breath whistling between parted lips, and Beatrix is nodding off, her little downy head bobbing up and down with the effort to stay awake.
Juliana smiles at the three of them from the doorway. “Thank you.” she says softly. “They don’t usually take to strangers so quickly. The only other person they’ve done that with is Lars.” her expression softens. “I wonder if they can tell that you two are similar.”
Matthew smiles, rubs at his eyes. “They have good instinct, then.” he offers, and tries to move Irene without waking her. She squirms and whimpers, and Juliana moves into the room to scoop her up in her arms. Matthew takes Beatrix, who clutches at his shirt sleepily, and together he helps the Princess of the Netherlands put her two children to bed.
Juliana catches his arm as he walks past, and squeezes it. “Thank you again.” she says. “I try every day to be strong and to believe that the Netherlands will overcome.”
Matthew nods. “I also believe that.” he says firmly. “Lars - Lars won’t go down that easily. Not like this.”
“Thank you.” she repeats, squeezes his arm once more, and closes the door behind him to return to bed with her daughters.
Only when Matthew sees the light go off under door of the guest room, only when the sounds of shuffling becomes less audible, does Matthew close the door to his own room, sit on the edge of his bed, and open the letter.
He doesn’t read it at first, choosing to simply examine Lars’s neat, graceful handwriting, the smudges on the paper, the feel of the paper under his fingers.
“Dear Matthew,” the letter began, “If you’re reading this, then my royal family is safe and that is all I can hope for. I have given this to Princess Juliana to give to you however she can.
I can’t tell you that I’m all right, because I’m not. I’m hurt, and I’m tired. My military is defeated and my people are in despair. I saw this coming and I couldn’t stop it no matter how hard I tried. For that I will never forgive myself.
I am writing this letter because I want you to take care of my Princess. Please protect her and keep her children safe until this is over. As long as they are safe I can fight this.
I love you and I want you to be strong, because I know you can. I will see you as soon as I can, konijn.
Yours always,
Lars”
Matthew keeps the letter under his pillow. He will do so until 1945.
& & &
Juliana and her daughters move into the Stornoway House in Rockcliffe Park and Matthew spends most of his time over there, doting on the three, trying to do whatever he can to help, but Juliana is surprisingly self-sufficient. She enrolls her daughters in school, though Matthew winces at the thought, and she does her own grocery shopping (she humors Matthew for about a week and a half as he trails her to and from the store).
It takes Matthew that long to realize that here in Canada, Princess Juliana is not well recognized. Matthew feels comfortable enough to ease off. Now when he follows her it is for conversation - the Princess is easy to talk to, as casual as one of his citizens but with underlying grace and regality. He learns she enjoys going to the movies, and stands in line with her to buy tickets. They talk about the movies afterwards at Stornoway House, over tea with honey and lemon. Matthew comes to adore the Princess, as do many of his citizens. He watches Beatrix and Irene grow up with a sense of nostalgia.
Matthew writes letters to Lars, letters he never sends, and keeps them in a box in his closet. He talks mostly about the princesses, and about the war efforts on his end - he is routinely being pulled across the Atlantic to give supplies to Britain; give food, ammunition, men. In 1942 after the Dieppe Raid he stumbles back into Ottawa exhausted, and when Beatrix and Irene come around his house to visit him he can barely keep his eyes open. Juliana understands and shepherds them out. The girls boo.
“Dear Lars,” he writes. “I miss you a lot, and I hope you know that. The war is going...well. It’s going as well as it can.
Today Princess Juliana and I went to a movie. It was a comedy, from Britain. I liked it, though Princess Juliana said the humor was a bit lacking. She is a wonderful woman, you should be very proud.
I was thinking about what you said in your letter, about never forgiving yourself for being invaded. Lars, I don’t want you to feel guilty about anything that happened. These are dangerous times, and if anything it is the fault of everyone for allowing Germany to grow strong enough to do these things. I pray every day for you and for Francis.
I love you. I’m scared I’ll never be able to tell you that.
Matthew”
& & &
In 1942 Germany comes close. Matthew sees him, once, off the coast of Newfoundland while Matthew is patrolling near Bell Island, and he stares as if he can catch Ludwig’s attention. Ludwig looks over anyways, catches his eyes and his gaze slides over Matthew as if he isn’t there.
The Germans sink two carriers that day. For the first time, the Atlantic Ocean does not seem big enough to protect him from the Axis Powers.
That night Matthew dreams there is a bell on Bell Island and that it is ringing very, very loudly.
Juliana, becoming big with child, fusses over him and brings him soup despite his protests. She strokes his cheek and tells him she’s proud of him. She even talks about Lars when he insists, telling him stories about how, when she was small, Lars used to let her ride on his shoulders, give her sweets, and sing her lullabies about sheep. Matthew listens to her singing to Irene one night in a husky, rough voice.
“Daar buiten loopt een schaap,” the Princess coos, pressing a gentle finger against her daughter’s chubby palm. “Een schaap met witte voetjes, dat drinkt zijn melk zoo zoetjes!”
Eventually Matthew learns enough Dutch to sing along with the next part. “Slaap kindje slaap.” he murmurs from the doorway. “Slaap kindje slaap.”
Sleep child sleep.
“Dear Lars,” Matthew writes. “Why ever did you sing the princess a song about sheep? Well, I guess I can’t judge. My children sing songs about plucking larks. I miss you.”
& & &
Matthew almost fails to make it to the birth of Juliana’s third daughter. When he receives the message, he is in the parliament buildings. He trips over the rug, apologizes to the Governor General, bursts out of the door and nearly nose-dives into a cab.
He sprints through the front door of the Ottawa Civic Hospital, past startled nurses and orderlies, and demands from the front desk where Princess Juliana’s rooms are. When the receptionist splutters something about “restricted access” he fumbles for his government card and is finally directed up the stairs to Juliana’s suite.
He makes it just as the doctors hold up a squalling, writhing baby, slick and loud and alive. Juliana catches sight of him in the doorway and sobs happily, reaching out for his hand. Matthew crosses the room and takes it. With her other arm she takes her baby girl, bundled in a blanket and gives a great, tired sigh. Matthew laughs, a strained, strangely-pitched laugh and tentatively strokes the baby’s flushed head.
“What’s her name?” he asks quietly.
“Margriet.” Juliana replies, letting go of his hand in favor of cradling her baby more securely. As the doctors clean up and disperse, Irene and Beatrix are let into the room, squealing for their mother.
Juliana awkwardly tries to embrace all three girls at once - Matthew picks Irene up and dangles her over the side of the hospital bed. He can’t help but smile at the picture the family makes: the heir to the throne of Netherlands with flushed face, sweaty hair, beaming like a little girl and holding a tiny princess, her sisters around them.
Matthew knows what he has to do, though he is afraid as he watches the Dutch tri-color flag waving from the Peace Tower.
“Dear Lars,” he writes as he travels with his men, in trucks, headed towards Sicily. “Your third princess is beautiful. Beatrix is excited to watch her new sister. Juliana is doing fine after the pregnancy. Her husband is to visit her soon.
I love you so much, and I never told you, but I promise you with all my heart that I will get the chance to. I’m going to fight by my men, like I did in the last war, and I’m going to help end this war. I flew your flag from my parliament buildings and I felt like you were close to me.
Love (love, love, I'll tell you this when I see you),
Matthew”
& & &
Historial/General Notes:
-“Francis is the one to tell him about Lars, but then Germany turns his sights to Paris and Francis can’t talk as much anymore.” - the invasion of Netherlands started on May 10, 1940; Paris was occupied by Nazi Germany in May of 1940.
-"...that child, at Vimy..." - referring to Canada's actions at Vimy Ridge in WWI, a defining moment in Canadian history.
-the Dutch troops surrendered to German forces on May 14 - the Dutch army was apparently very poorly organized and trained at this time (they had attempted to retain neutrality after Germany annexation of Czechoslovakia), and Hitler apparently had very little respect for them. Surprisingly enough, the majority of German citizens and military weren’t very pleased with the idea of violating Dutch neutrality, so there was a lot of propaganda around that time to convince the German nation that the invasion of the Netherlands was necessary.
-Queen Wilhelmina ruled Netherlands at the time of German occupation - Princess Juliana was her daughter, and she was married to a German prince. This prompted Hitler to hint that, because a Dutch royal was married to a German one, that this was a sign of an alliance between the two countries. The Queen absolutely refused this statement, but it ignited a lot of displeasure in the Netherlands. Because of this, and the growing war, the royal family fled to the United Kingdom. One month after that, Juliana and her two daughters, Beatrix (who became the future queen of the Netherlands) and Irene, fled to Ottawa, where they took up residence in Stornoway House, which in present day is the residence of the Leader of the Opposition.
(Hey, Canadians! Do you ever get the giggles when they call Michael Ignatieff “Iggy”? Hetalia’s done too much damage to my maturity...)
-Rénert the Fox, if you recall, was mentioned in Chapter Two - Reynard the Fox, the “trickster”. Interestingly enough, in 1943 the Nazi German party sponsored the making of a cartoon film called “Van den vos Reynaerde” (About Reynard the Fox), which was basically an anti-Semitic version. This was salvaged and shown at the 2006 Holland Animation Film Festival.
-Princess Juliana was said to be a very down-to-earth woman. While living in Canada she enrolled her daughters in public school, went grocery shopping, and even shopped at the Woolworth’s Department Store since few Canadians recognized her. She was said to adore movies and often stood in line for tickets.
-The Dieppe Raid of 1942 was, quite simply, a disaster. A lot of Canadian soldiers were killed.
-In 1942, German U-Boats tried a few naval raids off the coast of Newfoundland (which, yes, wasn’t part of Canada at the time), and attacked four allied ore carriers off the coast of Bell Island. It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? How far reaching Germany could become? I mean, they made it across the mother fucking Atlantic Ocean!
-to hear a bell in your dream represents a warning, or could signal the beginning of something new or a way for your unconscious to prepare you for whatever is happening next.
-the lullaby Princess Juliana sings is called “Sleep little child, sleep”. The translation of the lyrics she sings are: “Outside walks a sheep, a sheep with white feet, which drinks its milk so sweet. Sleep child sleep...sleep child sleep.”
-“plucking larks” - this refers to the French-Canadian children’s song, “Alouette”, which is basically singing about how one is going to pluck a sky lark’s various body parts.
-Princess Margriet, Juliana’s third child, was born on January 19, 1943. When she was, Princess Juliana’s rooms at the Ottawa Civic Hospital were declared extraterritorial thanks to Royal Assent granted by Alexander Cambridge, the Governor General of Canada. If Royal Assent had not been granted, Margriet would have had dual nationality instead of exclusively Dutch, and would not be in the line of succession today. That was the only day the Parliament Building flew a flag other than the Canadian one.
-“...as he travels with his men, in trucks, headed towards Sicily” - Canadian troops took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943.
Author’s Note:
I realize that this chapter seems really short and hurried, especially because hey, this is World War II, and there’s so much stuff to cover. Believe me, I know. I don’t want to make it seem like some events weren’t important, but I wanted to focus on the Dutch royal family, and Matthew’s reaction to them and to the occupation of the Netherlands. I’d like to one day write a better story focusing on Canada’s involvement in World War II, do it some justice. But I hope you enjoyed it regardless of the total disregard for world events!
Author: grosse_averse, tatterdemalion on ff.net
Characters/Pairings: The relationship between Canada and the Netherlands (OC) will take centre stage - however, other characters involved in their relations will also appear.
Rated: It varies. T for this chapter
Summary: A chronicle of Matthew’s relationship with Lars, from 1611 to present day. In this chapter, the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany, the exile of Princess Juliana in June 1940, and miscellaneous mentioned events in World War II leading up to the birth of Princess Margriet in 1943.
Chapter One (1611)
Chapter Two (~1640)
Chapter Three (1674)
Chapter Four (1824)
“God gives every bird its proper food, but all must fly for it.” - Dutch Proverb
Seventy years later, Matthew spends most of his time listening to the radio.
He hardly leaves his living room - Kumajiro remembers him enough to nudge him towards the kitchen every once in a while. When he is not listening to the radio, he is making calls and writing letters: to Arthur, to Alfred, to Francis, to his boss, trying to gather any information he can.
Alfred refuses to get involved. Matthew later learns he calls it “isolationism”. He thinks that is a bit ridiculous - he and Alfred have been isolated from Europe all their lives, so why would Alfred put a name on it now?
Alfred persists, a tired, frightened young man a continent away from what all of Europe is fighting.
“They screwed us over once.” he insists. “Both of us Mattie, but especially you, don’t say they didn’t. And they’re not even waiting for their heels to cool before they start again!”
By they Matthew assumes Alfred means Ludwig, impassive, ambitious Ludwig and his fervent new boss; but he supposes Alfred could also mean Arthur and Francis, who allowed Ludwig to push and push and push and have only recently began to push back.
Matthew tells him that they need to do something, that he needs to do something. Alfred shakes his head.
“Germany won’t go that far.” he declares. “He can’t of forgotten the Great War, he won’t let history repeat itself.”
Matthew thinks of Czechoslovakia and frowns.
When he talks to Arthur, all Arthur wants him to do is swear his loyalty. Matthew should be offended with how little Arthur apparently trusts him, but he remembers that all the other country is, is a tiny island and Arthur has spent his entire history building up peace of mind. He reassures Arthur that he will stand by him and hangs up.
Francis is the only one who tells him what Matthew has been trying to find out for months. He is the one to tell him about Czechoslovakia, how him and Arthur handed the country over to Germany in appeasement; he tells him about Poland, and Austria too - and how up north, Norway is fighting tooth and nail.
Francis is the one to tell him about Lars, but then Germany turns his sights to Paris and Francis can’t talk as much anymore.
The invasion of the Netherlands is only four days in when the Dutch forces surrender. This is not even enough time to send a letter, to send troops. Four days is a second in their lives, and for one awful moment Matthew is furious that Lars did not fight, that he gave up so easily.
Then he feels only an aching, bitter, hollow sadness. This is not Lars’s fault, and he knows that. He sends letters instead, and listens to the radio, and both of these sources confirm what he doesn’t want to believe - the Netherlands has been occupied by Nazi Germany.
Matthew tries to remember when he last saw Lars - it was right after the Great War, when Matthew was still reeling from the heady awfulness of it all, the vastness and the men and (the trenches on the Western Front, oh God, a jagged line of mud that took so many of Canada’s sons). Alfred and Matthew had felt so young then, so unused to war - though it made them feel a little better that even the old men of Europe looked shaken by the brutality and the sheer, great loss...
Matthew could not remember seeing Germany when he and Alfred arrived in France to join the celebrations, and he did not really want to see him at that moment, still shaking and weak and unused to nation’s eyes on him, whispering, that child, at Vimy, who knew? The German shook in their boots.
Lars found him in the crowd, scooped him up and kissed him soundly on the mouth in front of the whole of Europe (Arthur almost had a seizure; Alfred choked on an hors d'œuvre) and told Matthew how proud he was.
That had made Matthew full of warmth, but they didn’t manage to get time alone after the celebrations because Matthew had to leave with Arthur. Lars had promised to come see Matthew at his house next time.
Now it is 1940, and Matthew feels like throwing something, screaming or crying when he hears, on top of everything, that Paris has been occupied.
Francis does not return his letters. Matthew is not sure he has even received them.
So when Arthur appears on his doorstep, Matthew is taken aback and stands there with his mouth hanging open until the Empire reminds him icily to close your mouth, boy, or flies will get in and are you going to remember you have manners and invite me in?
When Matthew steps aside, Arthur carries two little girls into his house, followed by a straight-backed woman with a pretty, solemn face.
“Matthew,” Arthur says once he has seated everyone and the littlest girl, a one year old cherub has stopped crying, “May I present to you Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her daughters, Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene.”
Matthew heart nearly stops as Princess Juliana gives him a kind smile.
“It - it’s an honor to meet you.” he stammers, eyes taking in every detail of the woman’s face. Can he see Lars’s angular features in hers, a hint of colour in her hair that reminds him of her country’s corn-silk hair?
“The same to you.” Juliana answers sincerely. “I have come to ask you if my daughters and I could take refuge in your country.”
“Of course!” Matthew exclaims without hesitation, without thought of his boss. Arthur looks annoyed at Matthew’s brash behavior, but Juliana merely gives a soft laugh.
“Thank you.” she says. “Mr. Kirkland said that you could be relied on. I see now that he was right.”
Matthew blushes under the unexpected praise of his mentor, and excuses himself from the living room to make Arthur and the princess some tea, and juice for the eldest daughter, two year old Beatrix. Once he returns, he bombards Juliana with questions about her journey. He marvels at the woman’s warm, down-to-earth attitude as she tells him about their brief stay with Arthur and, before that, their flight from the Netherlands.
Matthew wonders if Lars helped them.
After a while Arthur has to leave. Matthew walks him to the door, and once they are out of earshot Arthur pulls from his jacket an envelope.
“Her Highness asked me to give you this.” Arthur explains as Matthew gives the envelope a quizzical, perfunctory glance. The seal has not been broken and when Matthew looks back up at Arthur he catches the look in the other man’s eyes and smiles in understanding.
“Thank you.” he murmurs; Arthur looks away and shuffles his feet.
“Yes, well.” he replies, then casts the young country and almost sympathetic look. “Take care, Canada. I fear I will be seeing you sooner than I’d like.”
Puzzled, Matthew nods. “Take care, Britain.” he echoes, and then Arthur is gone.
Matthew offers the family temporary lodgings in his house until morning, when he can talk to his boss about moving them to a more suitable place. Beatrix, as physically striking as her mother and full of childish energy, sits on the living room floor and plays with Kumajiro until the poor bear sinks tiredly onto his haunches and does not even twitch when Irene makes a painful grab for his fur.
Matthew finally gets up the courage to ask Juliana about Lars. When he mentions the name, Juliana’s brows draw together.
“He took us to the train station, helped us get past the soldiers.” she narrates. “He...he looked very tired, Matthew. He didn’t smile at all, and he had bruises everywhere. I almost wanted to take him with us, but he left after helping my mother with passports.”
She catches his painful, frozen expression and looks almost apologetic. “Did you...know each other?”
The letter is burning a hole in Matthew’s pocket. He forces a smile. “We know each other.” he confirms.
Beatrix rides on Matthew’s shoulders as he carried her to the guest room. She orders him, in the commanding tones of a future queen, to leave the room while she changes into her pastel coloured nightgown, then pulls a book from her luggage and tells him to read it to her. Amused by her orders, Matthew barters with her until she huffily leaves to brush her teeth. Then he allows her to push him onto the bed and clamber onto his lap while he opens up the book.
The book is called, “Rénert the Fox”, and Matthew wants to laugh until he cries. Beatrix snuggles up to him as he begins to read. Halfway through, Irene toddles in, scales the bed clumsily and tries to fit on Matthew’s lap too. The two sisters push at each other as Matthew tries to calm them down.
Their mother leans in the doorway, amusement on her face, and it is only when Matthew sends her a pleading look that she says, “Girls, let Matthew finish the story.” and they still immediately.
By the time he is done the story, Irene is draped over his knees, her breath whistling between parted lips, and Beatrix is nodding off, her little downy head bobbing up and down with the effort to stay awake.
Juliana smiles at the three of them from the doorway. “Thank you.” she says softly. “They don’t usually take to strangers so quickly. The only other person they’ve done that with is Lars.” her expression softens. “I wonder if they can tell that you two are similar.”
Matthew smiles, rubs at his eyes. “They have good instinct, then.” he offers, and tries to move Irene without waking her. She squirms and whimpers, and Juliana moves into the room to scoop her up in her arms. Matthew takes Beatrix, who clutches at his shirt sleepily, and together he helps the Princess of the Netherlands put her two children to bed.
Juliana catches his arm as he walks past, and squeezes it. “Thank you again.” she says. “I try every day to be strong and to believe that the Netherlands will overcome.”
Matthew nods. “I also believe that.” he says firmly. “Lars - Lars won’t go down that easily. Not like this.”
“Thank you.” she repeats, squeezes his arm once more, and closes the door behind him to return to bed with her daughters.
Only when Matthew sees the light go off under door of the guest room, only when the sounds of shuffling becomes less audible, does Matthew close the door to his own room, sit on the edge of his bed, and open the letter.
He doesn’t read it at first, choosing to simply examine Lars’s neat, graceful handwriting, the smudges on the paper, the feel of the paper under his fingers.
“Dear Matthew,” the letter began, “If you’re reading this, then my royal family is safe and that is all I can hope for. I have given this to Princess Juliana to give to you however she can.
I can’t tell you that I’m all right, because I’m not. I’m hurt, and I’m tired. My military is defeated and my people are in despair. I saw this coming and I couldn’t stop it no matter how hard I tried. For that I will never forgive myself.
I am writing this letter because I want you to take care of my Princess. Please protect her and keep her children safe until this is over. As long as they are safe I can fight this.
I love you and I want you to be strong, because I know you can. I will see you as soon as I can, konijn.
Yours always,
Lars”
Matthew keeps the letter under his pillow. He will do so until 1945.
& & &
Juliana and her daughters move into the Stornoway House in Rockcliffe Park and Matthew spends most of his time over there, doting on the three, trying to do whatever he can to help, but Juliana is surprisingly self-sufficient. She enrolls her daughters in school, though Matthew winces at the thought, and she does her own grocery shopping (she humors Matthew for about a week and a half as he trails her to and from the store).
It takes Matthew that long to realize that here in Canada, Princess Juliana is not well recognized. Matthew feels comfortable enough to ease off. Now when he follows her it is for conversation - the Princess is easy to talk to, as casual as one of his citizens but with underlying grace and regality. He learns she enjoys going to the movies, and stands in line with her to buy tickets. They talk about the movies afterwards at Stornoway House, over tea with honey and lemon. Matthew comes to adore the Princess, as do many of his citizens. He watches Beatrix and Irene grow up with a sense of nostalgia.
Matthew writes letters to Lars, letters he never sends, and keeps them in a box in his closet. He talks mostly about the princesses, and about the war efforts on his end - he is routinely being pulled across the Atlantic to give supplies to Britain; give food, ammunition, men. In 1942 after the Dieppe Raid he stumbles back into Ottawa exhausted, and when Beatrix and Irene come around his house to visit him he can barely keep his eyes open. Juliana understands and shepherds them out. The girls boo.
“Dear Lars,” he writes. “I miss you a lot, and I hope you know that. The war is going...well. It’s going as well as it can.
Today Princess Juliana and I went to a movie. It was a comedy, from Britain. I liked it, though Princess Juliana said the humor was a bit lacking. She is a wonderful woman, you should be very proud.
I was thinking about what you said in your letter, about never forgiving yourself for being invaded. Lars, I don’t want you to feel guilty about anything that happened. These are dangerous times, and if anything it is the fault of everyone for allowing Germany to grow strong enough to do these things. I pray every day for you and for Francis.
I love you. I’m scared I’ll never be able to tell you that.
Matthew”
& & &
In 1942 Germany comes close. Matthew sees him, once, off the coast of Newfoundland while Matthew is patrolling near Bell Island, and he stares as if he can catch Ludwig’s attention. Ludwig looks over anyways, catches his eyes and his gaze slides over Matthew as if he isn’t there.
The Germans sink two carriers that day. For the first time, the Atlantic Ocean does not seem big enough to protect him from the Axis Powers.
That night Matthew dreams there is a bell on Bell Island and that it is ringing very, very loudly.
Juliana, becoming big with child, fusses over him and brings him soup despite his protests. She strokes his cheek and tells him she’s proud of him. She even talks about Lars when he insists, telling him stories about how, when she was small, Lars used to let her ride on his shoulders, give her sweets, and sing her lullabies about sheep. Matthew listens to her singing to Irene one night in a husky, rough voice.
“Daar buiten loopt een schaap,” the Princess coos, pressing a gentle finger against her daughter’s chubby palm. “Een schaap met witte voetjes, dat drinkt zijn melk zoo zoetjes!”
Eventually Matthew learns enough Dutch to sing along with the next part. “Slaap kindje slaap.” he murmurs from the doorway. “Slaap kindje slaap.”
Sleep child sleep.
“Dear Lars,” Matthew writes. “Why ever did you sing the princess a song about sheep? Well, I guess I can’t judge. My children sing songs about plucking larks. I miss you.”
& & &
Matthew almost fails to make it to the birth of Juliana’s third daughter. When he receives the message, he is in the parliament buildings. He trips over the rug, apologizes to the Governor General, bursts out of the door and nearly nose-dives into a cab.
He sprints through the front door of the Ottawa Civic Hospital, past startled nurses and orderlies, and demands from the front desk where Princess Juliana’s rooms are. When the receptionist splutters something about “restricted access” he fumbles for his government card and is finally directed up the stairs to Juliana’s suite.
He makes it just as the doctors hold up a squalling, writhing baby, slick and loud and alive. Juliana catches sight of him in the doorway and sobs happily, reaching out for his hand. Matthew crosses the room and takes it. With her other arm she takes her baby girl, bundled in a blanket and gives a great, tired sigh. Matthew laughs, a strained, strangely-pitched laugh and tentatively strokes the baby’s flushed head.
“What’s her name?” he asks quietly.
“Margriet.” Juliana replies, letting go of his hand in favor of cradling her baby more securely. As the doctors clean up and disperse, Irene and Beatrix are let into the room, squealing for their mother.
Juliana awkwardly tries to embrace all three girls at once - Matthew picks Irene up and dangles her over the side of the hospital bed. He can’t help but smile at the picture the family makes: the heir to the throne of Netherlands with flushed face, sweaty hair, beaming like a little girl and holding a tiny princess, her sisters around them.
Matthew knows what he has to do, though he is afraid as he watches the Dutch tri-color flag waving from the Peace Tower.
“Dear Lars,” he writes as he travels with his men, in trucks, headed towards Sicily. “Your third princess is beautiful. Beatrix is excited to watch her new sister. Juliana is doing fine after the pregnancy. Her husband is to visit her soon.
I love you so much, and I never told you, but I promise you with all my heart that I will get the chance to. I’m going to fight by my men, like I did in the last war, and I’m going to help end this war. I flew your flag from my parliament buildings and I felt like you were close to me.
Love (love, love, I'll tell you this when I see you),
Matthew”
& & &
Historial/General Notes:
-“Francis is the one to tell him about Lars, but then Germany turns his sights to Paris and Francis can’t talk as much anymore.” - the invasion of Netherlands started on May 10, 1940; Paris was occupied by Nazi Germany in May of 1940.
-"...that child, at Vimy..." - referring to Canada's actions at Vimy Ridge in WWI, a defining moment in Canadian history.
-the Dutch troops surrendered to German forces on May 14 - the Dutch army was apparently very poorly organized and trained at this time (they had attempted to retain neutrality after Germany annexation of Czechoslovakia), and Hitler apparently had very little respect for them. Surprisingly enough, the majority of German citizens and military weren’t very pleased with the idea of violating Dutch neutrality, so there was a lot of propaganda around that time to convince the German nation that the invasion of the Netherlands was necessary.
-Queen Wilhelmina ruled Netherlands at the time of German occupation - Princess Juliana was her daughter, and she was married to a German prince. This prompted Hitler to hint that, because a Dutch royal was married to a German one, that this was a sign of an alliance between the two countries. The Queen absolutely refused this statement, but it ignited a lot of displeasure in the Netherlands. Because of this, and the growing war, the royal family fled to the United Kingdom. One month after that, Juliana and her two daughters, Beatrix (who became the future queen of the Netherlands) and Irene, fled to Ottawa, where they took up residence in Stornoway House, which in present day is the residence of the Leader of the Opposition.
(Hey, Canadians! Do you ever get the giggles when they call Michael Ignatieff “Iggy”? Hetalia’s done too much damage to my maturity...)
-Rénert the Fox, if you recall, was mentioned in Chapter Two - Reynard the Fox, the “trickster”. Interestingly enough, in 1943 the Nazi German party sponsored the making of a cartoon film called “Van den vos Reynaerde” (About Reynard the Fox), which was basically an anti-Semitic version. This was salvaged and shown at the 2006 Holland Animation Film Festival.
-Princess Juliana was said to be a very down-to-earth woman. While living in Canada she enrolled her daughters in public school, went grocery shopping, and even shopped at the Woolworth’s Department Store since few Canadians recognized her. She was said to adore movies and often stood in line for tickets.
-The Dieppe Raid of 1942 was, quite simply, a disaster. A lot of Canadian soldiers were killed.
-In 1942, German U-Boats tried a few naval raids off the coast of Newfoundland (which, yes, wasn’t part of Canada at the time), and attacked four allied ore carriers off the coast of Bell Island. It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? How far reaching Germany could become? I mean, they made it across the mother fucking Atlantic Ocean!
-to hear a bell in your dream represents a warning, or could signal the beginning of something new or a way for your unconscious to prepare you for whatever is happening next.
-the lullaby Princess Juliana sings is called “Sleep little child, sleep”. The translation of the lyrics she sings are: “Outside walks a sheep, a sheep with white feet, which drinks its milk so sweet. Sleep child sleep...sleep child sleep.”
-“plucking larks” - this refers to the French-Canadian children’s song, “Alouette”, which is basically singing about how one is going to pluck a sky lark’s various body parts.
-Princess Margriet, Juliana’s third child, was born on January 19, 1943. When she was, Princess Juliana’s rooms at the Ottawa Civic Hospital were declared extraterritorial thanks to Royal Assent granted by Alexander Cambridge, the Governor General of Canada. If Royal Assent had not been granted, Margriet would have had dual nationality instead of exclusively Dutch, and would not be in the line of succession today. That was the only day the Parliament Building flew a flag other than the Canadian one.
-“...as he travels with his men, in trucks, headed towards Sicily” - Canadian troops took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943.
Author’s Note:
I realize that this chapter seems really short and hurried, especially because hey, this is World War II, and there’s so much stuff to cover. Believe me, I know. I don’t want to make it seem like some events weren’t important, but I wanted to focus on the Dutch royal family, and Matthew’s reaction to them and to the occupation of the Netherlands. I’d like to one day write a better story focusing on Canada’s involvement in World War II, do it some justice. But I hope you enjoyed it regardless of the total disregard for world events!