Ivan shot him a look which Andrei ignored. ‘He’s a dark horse, this one. But I can see why he’d want to show you off.’

‘Will you have a gin and tonic?’ Ivan asked, leaning in protectively towards Gabriela as she took her seat, pouring herself a glass of sparkling water from the bottle on the table.

‘Please,’ she said before returning her attention to Andrei.

‘It’s good to see you, too. So you and Ivan work together?’

There was a moment’s hesitation, and then, with a tone that suggested he was keen to slide the conversation in a different direction, Ivan said, ‘Andrei and I have known each other for years. Since we were children.’

‘And you?’ Irena turned her attention from Ivan to Gabriela. ‘How did you two meet?’

‘In London, in a restaurant,’ she replied vaguely, taking a sip of her drink.

‘A restaurant? How old-fashioned,’ Irena laughed.

‘Gabriela chatted me up while we were both on our lunch breaks,’ Ivan said, and she nudged him playfully with her elbow. ‘She bowled me over with her command of my mother tongue, among other things.’

‘You speak Russian?’ Irena looked intrigued. ‘Why?’

Gabriela started momentarily at the directness of Irena’s question, though why should she not be direct? ‘I worked here for a while, for a charity.’

‘A charity?’ Irena repeated. ‘Which one?’

‘Well, originally I was with Amnesty International, but now I’m working for a very small outfit, I’m sure you wouldn’t have heard of it. We’re involved with refugees. Because of the delicacy of the situation for some of the people we work with, I can’t say too much. But it’s a brilliant job, I love it.’

‘Sounds exciting,’ Irena said, and when Gabriela looked away she felt Irena still looking.

‘If you don’t mind, I’m just going to visit the Gents,’ Ivan said a while later. Her fingers brushed over his thigh as he made to stand.

‘Are you ready to order?’ the waiter asked Andrei in Russian, interrupting a brief silence after Ivan left.

Irena leaned in to her husband. ‘I think I’ll just go to the bathroom while you do that. You know what I like.’

Looking up from the menu, Andrei turned his attention to Gabriela. ‘Do you have any preference?’

She hadn’t yet looked at the options and spent a minute scanning through the main courses before picking out the sea bass. When she looked up again, Irena was returning to the table, Ivan a few steps behind her.

As he took his seat, Ivan reached for her hand under the table; his fingers were bone-dry.

‘But you’ve had a baby!’ Irena said, as if the thought had just occurred to her, reaching down to a bag by her ankle.

Not quite knowing what to say, Gabriela smiled in response and took the bag Irena extended to her above the glasses.