‘No, you don’t,’ Frank agreed. ‘But I don’t really need you to, to be honest, because I can see what’s going on. Karel’s forced you into this, because he controls you, same as he controls that other one – Nick, or whatever his name is.’

‘You are wrong,’ Irena insisted. ‘Karel is passionate man, and you mistake this for control. But you know nothing.’

Frank could tell by the proud tilt of her chin that she didn’t want to believe – or admit – that her relationship with Karel might not be everything she’d convinced herself it was.

‘I’m not trying to upset you,’ he said softly. ‘But I don’t believe that everything we had was a lie. You might have set out to trick me, but I think your feelings changed when you got to know me, and you started to enjoy being here. Am I wrong?’

‘Yes,’ she said, bluntly. ‘Karel is only man I love.’

‘Then why sleep with me, when you knew I’d have let you stay in Jo’s room for as long as you needed without strings?’ Frank asked. ‘And why did you have to drag Evan into it? If the plan was to get in here and take the farm off me, why couldn’t you leave him out of it?’

‘He got in way,’ Irena said. ‘And I do not want to talk any more. Drink tea. I will bring food later.’

‘I know you’re scared I’ll tell Karel what we did, but I’m not going to do that,’ Frank said before she stepped out onto the landing. ‘All I ask in return is that you think about what you’re doing, and if there’s any small part of you that still cares about me, please help me to get out of this before it goes any further.’

Irena glanced back at him and chewed on her lip as if she wanted to say something. But just as Frank thought he had got through to her, someone called her name, and she quickly left the room, locking the door behind her.

Frank turned back to the window and saw Irena walk outside a few seconds later and go over to Karel. Unable to watch when the man pulled her up against him and kissed her full on the lips, Frank got up off the chair and walked round the bed to get the drink she’d left for him. Now that he’d remembered the tablets Nick had forced him to take, he sniffed the steaming liquid before taking a tentative sip. It smelled and tasted normal, and he assumed they must be reserving the drugs for night-time use, to make sure he was incapable of escaping.