Thanks to the capital provided by the credulous widow, Frau Kupfer was in a position to rent an expensive flat close to the one-time palatial building known as the British Embassy. Then she did a little shopping, and the outcome of this was that her neighbours—and Germans are renowned for their curiosity—began to babble excitedly about the fashionably-dressed widow and her daughter, who were obviously persons of great wealth.
Frau Kupfer and Gertrude wore the latest gowns, and their hats were wonderful. Every morning a beautifully-appointed motor-car took them for drives, and the two servants—being patriotic, she restricted herself to a couple—exhibited to their friends, when their mistress was out, cards bearing the names of some of the greatest personages in Berlin. Princesses, countesses, generals, admirals, and hosts of the nobility, learned professors, and several millionaire business men and their wives appeared to be on calling terms with the new-comers.
Meanwhile, Frau Kupfer and Gertrude went their own way, seeking no acquaintances, but always charming and good-tempered and charitable.
The fact was that Frau Kupfer knew that to attract people one must appear not to want them. They must come to the gilded parlour of their own accord, but until she was quite ready to swindle them she must pretend not to be anxious to extend her "large circle of acquaintances." It seems unnecessary to add that the cards which so impressed the servants were fakes.
Curiously enough, it was a doctor who started the ball rolling in Berlin. About this time the Berlin newspapers were full of fictitious stories of German victories on land and sea. Twice already it had been reported that Zeppelins had wiped London out of existence, and the daily boast of the papers was that Great Britain had ceased to rule the waves, her ships having been destroyed by the gallant German Navy.
But while the Huns believed anything they wished to believe these flattering reports did not make bread and meat more plentiful, and the food difficulties were increasing instead of diminishing. Only a few persons wondered how it was that London could have been rebuilt between the first and second Zeppelin raids. The majority accepted each lie with delightful simplicity. But only the rich experienced no privations, and Frau Kupfer and pretty Fraulein Gertrude were apparently very well off, for they, at any rate, did not want for the necessaries or the luxuries of life.
One morning, however, Frau Kupfer pretended that she had a headache, and she summoned by telephone a Dr. Richter, a physician who has one of the largest and most fashionable practices in Berlin. Now the doctor, being a near neighbour of the Kupfers, had heard the rumours of their wealth, and he obeyed the summons with alacrity. He found Frau Kupfer charming and amiable, apologizing a dozen times for giving him so much trouble, and murmuring that she was suffering from overwork.
The doctor was sympathetic, and when Gertrude brought him some refreshment he was only too eager to linger over it as his patient chattered. He was curious to discover the secret of her wealth, and as she talked volubly Frau Kupfer "unconsciously" gave him the desired information.
"My agents in Denmark," she said, with a wan smile, "are angry with me because I can't take all the food they have bought on my account. You see, Herr Doctor, I lived for many years in Denmark, and when the war broke out and those terrible English began their blockade it occurred to me that I could help my beloved country by importing food from Denmark, especially as I have unique facilities, owing to the largest farmers being related to me. I didn't mean to make money, but I find that the shops in Berlin are so anxious to buy that they will pay any price. I can turn my capital over ten times a month.
"It seems that there are enormous profits waiting to be picked up, but I haven't the necessary capital. I am quite content, but my agents think I am foolish not to raise another hundred thousand pounds and make as much a month by using it. You have no idea the money that can be coined, but, of course, one must know how to work it." She laid a hand on the doctor's arm and looked at him appealingly. "I have spoken candidly, because I know I can trust you, Herr Doctor," she added, in a musical undertone. "You won't tell your friends, will you? I am only a widow, and I don't want to be bothered. I am quite content with the present profits, they will enable me to complete my darling child's education and give her a large dowry when she marries."