Solly raised his chin, his beady gaze warning her he was on the point of exploding. ‘If it’s more of the same, then you can keep quiet, Peggy. I have heard enough from Rachel.’

‘Then clearly you haven’t been listening, Solly,’ she dared reply. ‘Danuta has a friend – a Polish pilot who’s kept up with the news back in Poland. He told me that now the Russians are in charge over there, it would be extremely dangerous for either of you to go, even though you both have British passports.’

Solly’s face reddened further and his eyes became flinty. ‘Rumours,’ he said dismissively. ‘Just rumours.’

‘Stanislaw has first-hand experience of what the Russians are capable of and is in touch with people still living there who’ve warned him very strongly against going back.’

‘Who is this man? What people? There’s nothing in the newspapers about any sort of crisis in Poland,’ said Solly belligerently.

‘But you were warned you might not be safe there,’ said Rachel. She turned to Peggy, her face lined with anxiety. ‘I wrote to the Foreign Office as soon as he and Danuta started planning this trip, and was told it would be most unwise for any British citizen to travel into Poland until things are properly settled. And if he ignores the warning and goes, then the British government would not be able to assist him or Danuta should they run into trouble, as East Germany and Poland are now out of their jurisdiction.’

Shocked, Peggy sat down with a thump. ‘Does Danuta know this?’

Rachel shook her head. ‘The letter only came on Saturday morning, and although I tried to telephone, no one seemed to be at home.’

‘I told her it was a lot of fuss about nothing,’ said Solly. ‘It’s just the British diplomats protecting their own rear ends. Danuta and I are free citizens of this country with valid British passports, and should be allowed to travel where we wish.’

‘Not if it’s going to put your lives at risk,’ retorted Peggy, her tone sharper than she’d intended. ‘Have you given a moment’s thought to how Danuta will fare if you got ill – or God forbid – got arrested?’

‘Why should I be arrested?’

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘But you’ve got a hot temper, and if you’re thwarted in any way, you’re inclined to lose it and speak without thinking – and that could lead to all sorts of trouble, for you and for Danuta.’

‘I would never endanger Danuta,’ he rasped.

‘Not knowingly,’ said Peggy. ‘But she had a life before coming here – a secret life – and if the Russians get an inkling of what that was, she could very well be killed – or sent to some labour camp in Siberia.’

‘We know something of her other life, but not all,’ he mumbled. ‘But she is going back as a British citizen to nurse the poor souls who survived those awful camps. The Russians will have no reason to question her.’