‘Hello, you.’ I lean towards him for a quick kiss. ‘I have one hour at most.’

‘Is that all?’ His shoulders sag.

‘I’m sorry, I’ll have more time next week.’

‘It’s not that…’ His voice falters. He looks wretched.

‘Walter? What’s wrong?’ I touch his shoulder.

He looks at me and swallows.

‘Hey,’ I rub his arm, ‘not even a joke today?’

He shakes his head. He is deathly pale. ‘There’s something I must tell you.’

‘What is it?’

He clears his throat. ‘My father finally accepted a few weeks ago that life here is intolerable, that Hitler will take everything that’s ours, whether we remain here or not. He has decided we must leave Germany, at whatever cost. So, every day he’s been walking from embassy to embassy, queueing for hours on end, trying to get visas for the family. But, as I predicted, we’ve left it too late. We should have done this years ago. Now, like vermin, no country wants any more Jews.’ I wince at his words. ‘We’re stuck,’ he continues, ‘Except…’

‘Except?’

‘There is one way.’ He sighs. ‘But I-I’m not sure I can go through with it.’

‘Why? But you must!’ My heart squeezes as I say it. The most important thing is that Walter is safe. So, it’s good news. Walter doesn’t meet my eyes.

‘It means me going alone,’ he says in a flat voice. ‘I’ll have to leave my parents, my grandmother, all of my family.’ He scrunches his fists tight. ‘Worse still, I can’t bear to think of my life without you in it.’

‘I don’t understand. Why is it that only you can go?’

He takes a long, deep breath. ‘We have good friends in England. The father is a doctor and they left Germany in 1933. They have a daughter who is a year older than me. Anna.’

‘And they can help?’

‘They think I would be able to get a visa…’ He swallows again. ‘… if I’m a relative, and they guarantee to support me financially.’

‘But you aren’t, are you? A relative, I mean. How—’

‘Hetty… oh hell.’ He looks skyward, then finally meets my eyes. With a jolt I see his are brimming with tears. ‘I have to become engaged to Anna. It’s the only way!’

I stare at him.

‘What? But you wouldn’t actually get married though? You’re only nineteen, and—’

‘Yes. I would have to get married. The authorities over there, they check everything. It’s helpful that they are a good family. Well respected. Anna’s father’s an excellent doctor and Anna – well, she is a lovely, kind girl, but she isn’t you. The last thing I want is to marry someone, anyone, other than you, Hetty.’

‘Married?’ Weakness spreads through my body.

‘I mean, it’s a lot to ask of her too, of course. I’ve no idea if she – she has someone else. It’s so good of her to help me out.’

Good of her to help you out? What would I not give, to be in her position?