‘What will you tell London?’

‘Exactly what we agreed. I came here to Kotka to meet Sergei. It took him a few days to get across the border and I stayed out of communication because I didn’t wish to compromise his security. But he made it over, I met him here for an hour – and he told us what we needed to know. We don’t have to admit that I went into Russia.’

‘You think it will be enough?’

‘As I understand it, from Sir Alan, the issue now is mainly about removing the foreign secretary’s excuses. We need to line it all up for her so she has no choice. This is the last piece of the jigsaw.’

Julie threw away her cigarette and they went inside to warm cold hands with hot coffee. ‘What are you not telling me?’ Julie asked.

‘About what?’

‘I don’t know. You’re holding something back. To do with Sergei, I would guess. Did what I think happened finally take place?’

Kate didn’t answer. She hadn’t liked lying to Julie in the first place and had no wish to compound it with further evasions, half-truths or outright falsehoods.

‘You’ve waited long enough,’ Julie went on. ‘So I guess you slept with him.’

‘I was followed after I got off the train,’ Kate said, changing the subject. ‘I managed to lose the tail in the subway, but it spooked me. Moscow is a long way from home. I weighed my options and decided my best bet was to call Stuart and ask him to drive me straight to the border.’

‘And he agreed.’

‘Guilt goes a long way.’

Julie shrugged. ‘I’m not sure I entirely believe you, but it’s your business so I’ll let it go.’ She looked directly into Kate’s eyes. ‘Just so long as you’re absolutely on the level about what Sergei told you.’

‘Of course I am.’

‘Then why are you not meeting my gaze?’

Kate looked up into her friend’s eyes. She could feel her cheeks colouring. ‘There are things you don’t know and don’t need to. In fact, for your own sake, it’s much better that you don’t. It was my decision to go in there and mine alone. I knew the risks. So if there is any fallout, I’ll face it alone. All you do need to be sure of is that we have little choice but to accept this defection and face the consequences. I cannot go the rest of my life knowing we allowed a cowardly set of politicians to wriggle out of the implications. If we’re going to do that, we might as well all pack it in and work in the City.’

‘If that speech was meant to reassure me, I should probably tell you it was a total failure.’

‘I got what I needed. That’s all you have to know.’