‘Own name. No point in anything else.’ He had frequently operated under alias in the past but the Internet, social media and more sophisticated border checks had made it increasingly difficult to do so plausibly. There was still a security argument for chiefs of MI6 to use a travel alias and passport, in that a terrorist group that penetrated flight manifests might try to bring down a plane if they knew such a person was on it. But well-known ministers and officials daily used the Brussels Eurostar and Charles wanted his visit to appear as routine as possible.

‘I’ll put it down as own name official travel,’ said Jenny, ignorant of his real reason.

‘Also, I’m out of the office Friday lunchtime, meeting a carpenter at home, unless anything else crops up.’

‘Unlikely. Lunch tempo seems to have dropped off a bit recently.’

‘Perhaps we should revise it.’ Despite the decline of the Whitehall lunch culture, official entertainment at senior levels continued because it was useful. But Charles, though an enthusiast for lunch, had done little of late. Many of the useful people were those he didn’t really want to have lunch with and so he was leaving them to Gareth and other directors. He was getting lazy, he acknowledged. ‘Draw up a list of those we owe and those we ought to cultivate but haven’t,’ he said. ‘And include one or two for refreshment, like that Bank of England woman I first met years ago, the one who came last year.’ He had found that people whose jobs were thought to be dull were often the most entertaining. ‘And that actuary from HMRC. He was a real break in the clouds.’

Daniel’s tape measure retracted viciously as he flicked the button. He stared at the patch of wall beneath the stairs, Charles looking over his shoulder. ‘It’s doable, yes, but you won’t get the shelf space you thought, not if you want this under-stairs cupboard door to open fully. Depends how much you use it and what for.’

‘Not much. Not often, anyway. Let’s have a look.’ There was a vacuum cleaner, brushes, a mop, a plastic bucket and a bowl. ‘Maybe more than I thought. It’s Mrs Wellbeloved’s cupboard, our cleaner. How many shelves could you fit while allowing the door to open fully?’

‘Two and a half. Three and a half if they’re small books. There’s nowhere else we can put them?’