Free The Vatican Pimpernel by Brian Fleming Page B

Rome. The gold chain was returned.
    The Germans, meantime, had decided to arrest Prince Doria and his family because of their outspoken opposition to the regime, and raided the Palazzo. The Prince and his wife, together with their daughter, hid in a small room at the far end of the vast apartments. He thought they were merely delaying the inevitable and expected that they would be found but, as it happened, they were not. The Germans left, advising they would be back at seven o’clock in the morning. In the meantime the family got way. The Prince moved to live in a monastery, grew a beard and eventually was able to walk around because he fitted the role of a monk so well. The Princess and her daughter were hidden safely away by O’Flaherty in two different houses. All remained safe until the Liberation after which the Prince was made Mayor of Rome by the new Government.
    At all times one of O’Flaherty’s staunchest supporters was Molly Stanley. Molly had come to Italy to learn the language as a young woman. She stayed there for the rest of her life and proved to be a very valuable ally to the Monsignor because of her intimate knowledge of Rome. Molly lived with the Duchess of Sermoneta, where she was employed to act as tutor to the children. The Duchess was a friend of Monsignor O’Flaherty’s and it was in her house that Molly first met him. He was in the centre of the floor, doing card tricks for Onorato, the Duchess’ son, and Miss Stanley observed this with great interest as her brother was a professional magician back in England. Soon she began to help the Monsignor in his work with escapees, concentrating particularly on helping supply them with food and visiting hospitals and prisons. Molly was just five foot two inches tall which assisted her in her role as one of the Monsignor’s helpers because she tended not to be noticed as she went about her business. One of the main functions which she fulfilled for the next few years was accompanying the Monsignor on his trips through Rome whether he was in clerical garments or disguised. A man on his own attracted more attention than when he was in the company of a woman, walking through the streets. The only problem for Molly was keeping up with the Monsignor’s gigantic strides.
    One night when he was in his usual position at the top of the steps, Molly came to O’Flaherty, notwithstanding that the curfew was in operation. She told him that one of his earliest supporters, Prince Caracciolo, had been betrayed to Kappler. The authorities were planning to raid the Prince’s house that night. O’Flaherty immediately went to scrounger-in-chief John May and asked him to borrow a Swiss Guard’s uniform at once. While May was off on this errand, one of the Irish priests who helped O’Flaherty was sent off to bring the Prince, warning him that he was to come immediately because there was about an hour for him to make his escape. He was brought to St Monica’s Monastery, opposite the Holy Office, just yards from one of the colonnades. There he changed into the Swiss Guard’s uniform. Then the Prince and O’Flaherty went to stand in what must have been, at night-time, the very stark location of the Bernini Colonnades to await the changing of the Swiss Guard. Precisely at midnight, five members of the Swiss Guard led by an officer marched through the Arco delle Campane to relieve their colleagues on duty in the historic square. As those who were going off duty marched back, they passed quite close to O’Flaherty and the Prince who, now in the full regalia of a Swiss Guard, quickly joined the marching group. As they passed near the German College he slipped into safety.
    The same tactic was used some time later to assist the sister of a Vatican nobleman who was being sought by the Fascists. This time O’Flaherty used it to get her into the British Legation. At the midnight changing of the guard she joined the