11. Prime Minister or not?
That is the question

Thanks to Walter's body swapping, Arthur was in a room full of personalities whose photos he had seen in history books throughout his years at school. He didn't know how Walter had managed to get them here. And yet, including what he had seen and experienced these past few weeks, nothing struck him as much as seeing a rejuvenated version of Churchill in one of the heavy wooden chairs.

Only when he saw the man's gaze on him did he realize that his mouth had dropped open in shock. He closed it.

– How can we help you, gentlemen? After all, it is you who have summoned us here," said Stanley Baldwin, giving Walter a disapproving look. The familiarity that he exuded promised a good discussion if that wasn't really important. Arthur could barely pay attention to that, to the fact that Walter knew him, his mind could only work at full speed with everything he knew to try to remember if the man was already prime minister or not yet.

Lily was the first to react, to move. She walked confidently to the table, put the briefcase she was carrying on her, opened it and handed documents to the men in suits. She was clearly exposing some of the activities of "the Spider" and his companies, what they were doing in Europe, sometimes to benefit both sides, to get the biggest slice. Arthur and Walter were making contributions to her speech. They witnessed how the faces of those present changed from skepticism to disbelief and later to concern as the evidence was presented and verified and contrasted.

– This is more serious than we had imagined– one of the men acknowledged.

– The important thing is that we now know what we're up against– Churchill said. We do not go with our eyes closed. Overcome.

It was just what they wanted to hear and, even so, knowing what would happen in the coming years, that victory tasted bittersweet, insignificant.