An Officer and a Spy

I hesitate before I post it. I am putting my opinion formally on the record. Gonse is a consummate soldier of the filing cabinet, if not the battlefield. He will recognise this for what it is: an escalation of hostilities.

I send it anyway.

The next day he summons me. He has cut short his vacation. He is back in his office. I can sense his panic at a range of two hundred metres.

The corridors of the ministry are quieter than usual. Billot and Boisdeffre are both away in the south-west, accompanying President Fauré as he inspects the autumn manoeuvres. Most General Staff officers with career ambitions — and that is nearly all of them — have made sure they are in the field. As I walk down those empty, echoing passages I am reminded of the atmosphere at the time of the traitor hunt two years ago.

‘I got your letter,’ says Gonse, waving it at me as I settle down in a chair in front of his desk, ‘and don’t think I’m not sympathetic to your point of view. If I could put back the clock to the start of this whole damned business, believe me, I would. Cigarette?’ He pushes a box towards me. I hold up my hand to decline. He takes one, lights it. His tone could not be friendlier. ‘Let’s face it, dear Picquart: the investigation into Dreyfus was not handled as professionally as it should have been. Sandherr was a sick man, and du Paty — well, we all know what Armand is like, despite his many fine qualities. But we have to proceed from where we are, and really we can’t go back over it all again. It would reopen too many wounds. You’ve seen the press these past few days, the potential hysteria there is about Dreyfus. It would tear the country apart. We just have to shut it down. You must appreciate that, surely?’

There is a look of such entreaty on his face — such yearning for me to agree — that for a few fleeting moments I am almost tempted to give in. He is not a bad man, just a weak one. He wants a quiet life, pottering back and forth between the ministry and his garden.

‘I do see that, General. But these leaks to the press are a warning to us in another way. We have to recognise that an inquiry into the Dreyfus case is already going on as we speak. Unfortunately, it’s organised by the Dreyfus family and their supporters. The process is slipping out of our control. The point I was trying to make in my letter is a basic military principle: that we should be the ones taking the initiative, while there’s still time.’

‘And we do that — how? By surrendering? By giving them what they want?’

‘No, by abandoning a position that is frankly becoming indefensible and establishing a new line on higher ground.’

‘Yes — as I say — by giving them what they want! Anyway, I don’t agree with you. Our present position is highly defensible, just as long as we all stand together. It shelters behind an iron wall of law. We simply say: “Seven judges considered all the evidence. They reached a unanimous verdict. The case is closed.”’

I shake my head. ‘No, I’m sorry, General, but that line won’t hold. The judges only reached a unanimous verdict because of the secret file. And the evidence in the secret file is, well. .’ I stop, unsure how to proceed. I am remembering Guénée’s expression when I started to question him about his supposed conversation with Val Carlos.

Gonse says quietly, ‘The evidence is what, Colonel?’

‘The evidence in the file is’ — I spread my hands — ‘weak. If the proofs it contained were cast-iron, we might be able to excuse the fact that they weren’t seen by the defence. But as it is. .’

‘I completely understand what you’re saying, my dear Picquart — believe me, I do!’ He leans forward, imploring. ‘But that’s precisely why the integrity of the secret file must be protected at all costs. Suppose we follow your route to this higher ground of yours, and we say to the French people: “Oh look, Esterhazy wrote the bordereau after all, let’s bring back Dreyfus, let’s hold some great new trial” — what will happen next? People will want to know how the original judges — all seven of them, mark you — could have got the whole thing so wrong. That will lead straight to the secret file. Some very senior figures are going to be gravely embarrassed. Do you want that? Can you imagine the damage it will do to the reputation of the army?’

‘I accept there would be damage, General. But we would also gain credit for cleaning out our own stables. Whereas it seems to me that we will only compound that damage if we pile fresh lies on top of the old-’

‘Nobody’s talking about lying, Colonel! I’m not asking you to lie! I’d never do that. I know you are a man of honour. I’m not asking you to do anything, in point of fact. I’m merely asking you not to do something — not to go near the Dreyfus case. Is that so unreasonable, Georges?’ He risks a little smile. ‘After all, I know your views on the Chosen Race — really, when all is said and done, what does it matter to you if one Jew stays on Devil’s Island?’