They barely spoke for the last leg of the journey, as Kate wrestled with what she would tell her superiors back home.

What did all this change?

They reached Kate’s hotel on Admiralty Embankment. The weather had closed in to the point where Vasilyevsky Island was barely visible through the driving snow. They got out of the car and, for a moment, neither of them spoke. ‘I’ll follow you up to the border,’ Stuart said.

‘Why?’

‘Just in case there are any issues. I have a Russian passport, after all. I’m officially a citizen. Maybe that might help.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘I’d like to, just to see that you’re okay.’

She nodded. ‘Thank you for your help.’

‘It’s been the best twenty-four hours I’ve had since I left. I’ll be high on it for days. I’ll go home and start researching places to live in France. That’s exciting. I mean, really thrilling. It gives me something to live for and I’m grateful.’

‘Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. As I said—’

‘I know what you said, love. But this is going to save my life. What happens after that is in the lap of the gods. I understand that.’

‘You may have some trouble when you go back.’

‘I may, but I don’t care.’

‘Will you tell me if they come looking for you?’

‘Probably not. They’ve already robbed me of everything I care for, so I don’t mind what else they do to me and they know that.’

A gust of wind whipped the snow into Kate’s face and she brushed it from her cheeks before she leant in to kiss him. ‘Bye, then,’ she said. Stuart gripped her, wrapping his great arms around her and pressing her to his chest. It brought tears to her cheeks again and, as soon as she was free of him, she brushed them away.

‘I’ll be thinking about this journey for weeks,’ he said. ‘A pretty strange turn of events.’

Kate tried to smile at him. Without another word, she walked to her own car, got in and drove away. She did not look back. And, within minutes, she was crying so hard she had to pull over to the side of the road and press her aching forehead to the steering wheel. She cursed softly, took out a face-cleaning cloth from her bag and wiped her eyes. She glanced at herself in the wing mirror and attempted to apply some lipstick and mascara. But no amount of touching up was going to magic away the impression of complete exhaustion.

She pulled herself together and drove off before Stuart could come along and ask her what was wrong. She was grateful for the comforting sight of his headlamps behind her. She could still see no sign of any other tail.