For a moment, he imagined that Cardinal Lagerfeld was speaking to him in a dream, counting the seconds before a detonation, or some other terrible punishment that would be unleashed on him and his fellow guests. And then he remembered: he was in the South of France, staying with Signor Sterling. With that recognition came a wince of shame. He had obscure but intermittently piercing memories of the afternoon, like blades gleaming in the fog. Had the lovely Signorina Nadia really persuaded him, after his crushingly delicious lunch, that it was his turn to come to the spa area for a massage? He could feel his heart tightening at the uncertain recollection of a candlelit ceremony; the knots of tension that she had kneaded with her powerful hands, and the warm tears spilling from his eyes, down his nose and dropping through the hole in the massage table on to the petals of a lotus that floated in the pewter bowl below. After he was fully dressed again, she had given him advice on his posture, easing back his burdened shoulders and delicately touching his lower spine and the crown of his head, making him feel taller and taller, although in truth he was not a tall man. Somehow, in that moment, he had felt his deepest aspirations turn into sensations, as if his body was part of a cord that ran from the core of the Earth into infinite space, lifting his mind effortlessly towards heaven.

The rest was blank. He must have passed out after returning to his bedroom. Now he was still fully clothed and was clearly missing some important scientific lecture organised by his host. Where were his manners? He must join the others with all possible haste. He hurried out of his bedroom and down the broad, curving staircase that led to the hall. He felt guilty and dehydrated, but luckily there were two waiters standing at the foot of the stairs, one with a tray of champagne, which Father Guido had no intention of drinking, and one with glasses of icy lemonade. He smiled at the waiter and took a tumbler of the cold yellow liquid, drinking it eagerly.

‘I’m sorry, I was so thirsty,’ he said, placing the empty glass back on the tray.

‘Would you like another?’ asked the waiter.