The Paris Architect

Father Jacques is caught by the Nazis. Schlegal interrogates him and finds him to be completely proud of his work saving hundreds of Jewish children from the Reich. Schlegal cannot understand why Father Jacques would risk his life for “human vermin.” Despite the circumstances, the two joke back and forth about Schlegal worshipping Satan himself (Hitler), his possible conversion to Judaism, and Farther Jacques’s upcoming “vacation” to a concentration camp. Father Jacques graciously says that he will pray for Schlegal’s soul and expresses hope that when his “‘ass is burning in the fires of hell,’” he will not “‘suffer too much’” (233).

Alain is irritated by Pierre’s presence and his own inability to connect it to the mysterious happenings he witnessed at the house where Lucien and Manet met. He is troubled most by Pierre’s intelligence, natural architectural ability, and unwillingness to take offense at criticism intended to hurt his feelings. He questions Pierre’s story about his father’s friendship with Lucien, but Pierre is prepared and answers every question thoroughly and consistently. Unable to find a fault in the story, Alain resolves to make the best of a bad situation by using Pierre as his servant.