‘Her mother! You must know that her mother abandoned them when she was still a child?’ He seemed mystified. ‘And her brother?’ Kate added.

‘He was killed, yes . . .’

‘On that bus on 7/7. They’d had an argument. She was more or less a mother to him and she blames herself because he skipped school that day.’

‘But that’s why I love her. She’s complicated . . . interesting.’

‘You have a wife, Ian.’

‘Had! I must be the only man in the country whose calls are rejected by both wife and mistress. It’s absurd!’

Kate thought that probably took them to the nub of the matter. Only Ian could mistake a bruised ego for a broken heart. ‘I have to get back,’ she said.

‘I’ll see you there. I’m just going to drown myself in the pond.’

‘You’ll have a job,’ Kate said. She walked on through St James’s Park, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face. It was still early. Civil servants were arriving for work in a steady stream at the front entrance of the Treasury building. She skirted Parliament Square and walked on down towards Millbank, past a group of Kurdish protesters demonstrating against the depredations of the Turkish state outside the House of Commons.

She joined the morning rush through the space-age security pods at the front entrance to the SIS building and exchanged small-talk in the lifts until she reached her floor. Julie was waiting for her, and no sooner had Kate run through the essentials of the meeting with Meg Simpson than Julie was bringing her back to her least favourite subject of the moment. ‘What is wrong with him?’ Julie asked.

‘I assume you mean our boss?’

‘He keeps pestering me, day and night. I’m going to have to report him to HR if this goes on. And I really don’t want to do that – for either of our sakes.’

‘He just declared to me his undying love for you in St James’s Park.’

‘To you?’

‘Try not to make that sound like an insult.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Kate. You can’t stand the man.’

‘True. I can think of people he would more logically choose to confide in.’

Julie left with a departing shot at her former lover: ‘He’s a total idiot.’ Kate almost replied that she could have told her friend that, and had, but she managed to swallow her words. She closed the door and watched Julie walk across to her station on the other side of the office. Kate closed the blind, sat at her desk and logged on to her computer. She shut her eyes, fatigue overwhelming her.