Like mine, his balcony was fringed with flowering plants. I edged cautiously onto it, telling myself nobody could drop anything on me here; there wasn’t another deck above this one. To my right I could see the prow – or maybe it was the stern – of one of the lifeboats. To the left a solid partition separated Schmidt’s balcony from the one next door. However, it wasn’t solid enough to muffle a voice as loud as Schmidt’s, and when he shouted cheerfully, ‘Sit, sit, my dear Vicky, and we will have a pleasant chat,’ I said, ‘Who’s next door?’

‘Ssssir. . .’ Schmidt caught himself. ‘Mr Tregarth and his wife.’

‘Damn it, Schmidt,’ I said savagely but softly. ‘That’s the precise reason I insisted on a private conversation. You’ve got to avoid slips like that.’

‘Ach, yes, yes, I know. But what is the harm this time? You know and he knows – ’

‘Maybe she doesn’t.’

‘They have gone downstairs.’ Schmidt looked subdued. ‘You are right to remind me, though, Vicky. They have only been married a few weeks, and she is very young, very innocent. Perhaps he has not yet told her of his brave and perilous occupation. She is the sort of child one would wish to shield from the harsh realities of life, nicht?’

Down below I heard a rattle and clank that must have been the gangplank being drawn in. The boat began to move, gliding gently away from the shore. The eastern sky was darkening but the curving bay of cliffs glowed in reflected sunset light. A flock of egrets settling into the shallows looked like flying white flowers.

Schmidt was rambling on. ‘It may be that he will decide to retire from the service. A man of honour and of conscience would not wish to endanger his young bride or cause her a broken heart if he should – ’

‘It’s a nice plot, Schmidt. Why don’t you write a book? Now listen to me. You’ve never met him before. I’ve never met him before. Nobody has ever met anybody before. Can you remember that?’

Schmidt had taken advantage of the interruption to hoist his glass. Emerging from it, he fixed a stern eye on me. ‘Aber natürlich. And you, Vicky – do you promise me, on your word of honour, that you did not know he would be on this cruise?’

‘I did not know,’ I said steadily.

‘Not that you wouldn’t lie to me if you wanted to.’ Schmidt ruminated. I drank my beer. It was some local variety – not bad, actually. Then Schmidt said, ‘And your heart is not broken? You would not revenge yourself on your faithless lover by betraying him to his innocent, trusting – ’

‘For God’s sake, Schmidt!’