C WANTED TO see them once they had landed back at Heathrow, but there was a complication: his wife Alice was dying. Kate called him directly to reassure him it could wait and they would deal with the foreign secretary directly if need be. He would not hear of it, so the car delivered them in driving rain to the Lister Hospital, just down from Sloane Square. They had to cross no more than twenty yards of open ground, but they were dripping when they arrived in the Lister’s hallway.

Kate had been instructed to go directly to room 307, but she asked Julie and Suzy to wait in the third-floor reception area.

The door to 307 was wedged ajar and she could see her superior in a chair with his back to her, reading quietly to his wife. Alice’s eyes were closed, her pearly white face turned towards the window, classical music playing softly on a portable CD player in the corner. Kate watched for a moment, feeling like a voyeur. Middle age had written a few lines on Alice’s elegant features, but illness had not robbed her of her beauty.

Sir Alan sensed Kate’s presence and turned slowly, without breaking the rhythm of his reading. He nodded at her to indicate he would be with her shortly and returned to his wife.

Kate re-joined her colleagues. ‘How is she?’ Julie asked. Kate shrugged. She felt incredibly uncomfortable just being there.

‘What does she have?’ Suzy asked.

‘Cancer,’ Kate replied.

‘What kind?’

‘Originally breast, but now secondary in the liver.’

‘That’s bad.’

‘Yes. But, for God’s sake, don’t say anything about it.’ Kate didn’t have a great deal of confidence in Suzy’s ability to adhere to social norms.

‘My mother had liver cancer,’ Suzy added, cutting the feet from under her. ‘The doctor said she would die in three weeks and he was right – to the day.’

Kate went to get herself a cup of coffee from a machine opposite. ‘You want anything?’ she asked the others. They shook their heads.

‘That should definitely help you sleep,’ Julie said, as Kate returned with a plastic cup of dirty brown liquid.

A few minutes later Sir Alan emerged. He’d arranged for them to talk in an empty room at the other end of the corridor. Kate sat in a chair in one corner, Sir Alan stood by the window, while Julie and Suzy perched on the empty bed, like children visiting their parents.

‘How is she?’ Kate asked.

‘She has a throat infection and a fever. She can’t swallow and is in a lot of pain. The doctors think she has a few weeks left, so I’m keen to get her home again, but for the moment we’re stranded here.’

‘Sir, I’m sure we can deal with the foreign secretary directly.’

‘Let’s just get on with it. Talk me through the video.’