‘Then we’ll go and visit it. Does Adam have a son there?’

Her father shook his head. ‘No. Adam and his wife have no children. Have you seen this?’ He stabbed an arthritic finger at the morning newspaper. ‘Police in London have rounded up over three hundred Germans and detained them as spies, and there have been wholesale arrests in other parts of the country. I shudder to think what might have happened to Berthold if he had come to Yorkshire with you.’

She made no response, but inwardly she was shuddering to think of what might be happening to Berthold in Berlin. Without her presence at his side there was little chance of him distancing himself from the steel plants and factories under Josef’s control. Even though Berthold didn’t want to be involved, he was a Remer. He would have to be involved.

The thought was unbearable. ‘I’m going to make an appointment with the headmaster of St Dunstan’s,’ she said, forcing herself to think of other things. ‘The sooner Paul is having lessons again, the better.’

‘I’m not sure about this, Aunt Vicky,’ Paul said unhappily as they walked up the steps of St Dunstan’s. ‘I think I’d much rather go to school in Little Ridding. Then I wouldn’t have to board at all. Not even Monday to Friday.’

‘The school in Little Ridding wouldn’t be suitable, darling.’ She took hold of his hand. ‘In another few months, we’ll be back in Berlin and you’ll be going to one of the city’s leading academies. The school in Little Ridding couldn’t prepare you for that kind of an education. At St Dunstan’s you will be able to keep up with your Greek and Latin and possibly start taking French.’

‘But why do I need to start French when I’ve been studying German for nearly three years?’

‘Because in England learning German is now seen as being unpatriotic. Even if it was once on St Dunstan’s syllabus, it won’t be now.’

She was quite right in her assumption. St Dunstan’s very affable headmaster told them there was no German, but there was French, Latin, Greek and, where games were concerned, rugby, cricket and tennis. ‘We don’t have any other American boys at St Dunstan’s at the moment,’ he also said to Paul, ‘but that doesn’t matter. It’s a friendly school. You’ll soon fit in and feel at home.’

After a reassuring tour of the playing fields and classrooms, the chapel and refectory, Paul began to look more cheerful. Vastly relieved, Vicky made a detour on the way home, taking him to the tea rooms in Harrogate.

‘The headmaster thinks my mother is in America, doesn’t he, Aunt Vicky?’ he said as a waitress set a pot of tea and a cake stand laden with iced fancies in front of them.

‘Yes. Not because I’ve told him so. It’s just the assumption he made.’

‘And is it an assumption I should let everyone make?’

His hazel eyes were troubled and she stretched her hand across the table, taking hold of his. ‘Yes. I think it wisest, Paul. Anyone German or having connections to Germany is being treated very badly at the moment. It wouldn’t go down very well if it became known that your mother was living in Berlin and had become a German citizen. What truly counts is that you are an American. And that is all anyone needs to know.’