She turned and peered at me in puzzlement. And for a fraction of a moment, it was her - but her twenty years ago. And then the illusion faded, and I was apologizing for my error. What a fool I was! What a bloody fool to mistake the first dark haired stranger for her. I was losing grip, and fast.

‘You do not wear pyjamas,’ said the girl. Her accent was French, as was her tone. I looked at her again. She had one of those androgynous cat-like faces that were so much in fashion, the effect highlighted by her lack of make-up and slicked-back hair. She was more conventionally beautiful than Anna had ever been, but there was something rather hard about her. She looked like she should be marching through Parisian boulevards holding a placard.

‘No,’ I said in answer to her comment. ‘But neither do you.’

‘I was swimming.’

I glanced down at the water - it looked filthy.

‘It is not so bad once you have entered,’ she said, white teeth flashing in the dark face.

I offered her my hand. ‘Robert Kane.’

She shook it perfunctorily. ‘Isabelle Dumont. Tell me, who did you think I was just now?’

‘Someone I knew a long time ago,’ I said.

She smiled softly. ‘I see. So what do you do, Mister Kane? I haven’t seen you here before.’

‘I’ve only just arrived. I’m a reporter, for The Times.’

‘That is a coincidence. I write for Agence France-Presse. Are you here for your prime minister’s visit?’

I nodded, already bored of the pretext.

She grinned again, and lifted her chin. ‘Look on the good side of it: you meet such very interesting people.’

I followed her gaze back to the table I’d left. Manning was stuffing his face full of peanuts, his wife was laughing like a hyena, and Sandy was trying to fish a dead fly from his drink with a spoon.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Why is it one can never stand one’s countrymen whenever one meets them abroad?’

‘One has no idea,’ she said, curling her lip a little.

‘Still,’ I said, ignoring the crack. ‘I’ve met you. You’re interesting. Have you been out here long?’

‘I grew up here,’ she said. ‘My father was the French ambassador. ’

‘Have you seen much of the rest of the country?’

There was a noise from further down the jetty, and we both looked up. A woman in a cocktail dress was squealing as a man lifted her over his head and threatened to throw her in the water. People at other tables stopped their conversations to stare at the scene, but nobody did much, and a few seconds later there was a splash as her spine hit the water.