“I remember reading about that at school,” I say. “He wore two shirts that day, and when asked why, he said it was because it was cold and he was shivering, and he didn’t want the crowd to think he was afraid.”

“You’re like that,” Laurie says, glancing at me.

“Am I?”

He smiles, but his eyes get restless again, darting away from me. “If you were in his shoes, you would stride out and show no fear. You don’t let anything stop you from living.”

I stop dead. “Is that how you see me?” I ask, curiously honoured.

His face brightens a little. “Yes. You live life to the fullest of what you want it to be.”

“Not going to tell me how a partner would improve my life?”

“Nope. Because that’s arrogant. People are always trying to impose their own ideas of life on others. It irritates me. You do what you want, and you rely on your own opinion of what’s right. You never doubt your actions.” His eyes become turbulent. “I envy that characteristic.”

“Laurie…” His tone worries me, but before I can say more, he’s gesturing to the path in front of us.

“We’re nearly there.”

“Where?” I ask.

“The Blue Bridge.”

We’ve come to a blue wrought-iron bridge that spans the water. “This is it?” I ask. “This is what we came for? It’s hardly aesthetically beautiful.” Endof leans against my leg as if agreeing with me.

Laurie tugs me onto the bridge. His mood seems to have changed again, and now there’s a frenetic gaiety to him. “It’s not the bridge I want to show you. Look.” He turns me when we get to the middle of the bridge, so I’m looking into the distance. I catch my breath. Rising out of the trees, beyond the glistening water, are the ornate, white stone buildings of Whitehall. The graceful domes and spires look almost European in the light and rather like a fairy-tale castle.

“Beautiful,” I say, turning to Laurie.

The expression on his face looks almost sad for a second, and then he smiles and turns me the other way. I grin as I see Buckingham Palace and the London Eye behind it, its gaudy lights bright in the gathering gloom.

Laurie gives me a crooked smile. “Two of the best views in London, and you get them by standing in the same place.”

“Like BOGOF, yes?”

He laughs. “You surprise me. Your speech is so lovely and formal, and yet sometimes you sneak in these little sayings that you shouldn’t know.”

“I’ve lived here since I was thirteen. I spent a week with my father, which apparently was enough for him, because I was immediately sent to a costly boarding school where I could learn all the slang I could manage.”