I float my head onto his chest.

‘I’ve already made some progress,’ he says. ‘I’ve been in touch with contacts of Josef’s and we’ve registered a company, Keller & Co, London. The British are keen on new business – jobs, prosperity for them too. If I can get things started quickly, and convince them it’s vital to have Vati and Uncle Josef to grow the business, it just might work out.’ Even as he says it, I can tell he fears it’s futile.

I think of Ingrid and the Gestapo.

‘How soon can you go?’

‘I don’t know. We still have the exit tax to pay, that’s the hitch. My grandmother is trying to negotiate a gift of all her artwork and the most valuable furniture, to try to keep the house. The rent on letting the upper rooms is our only income. Without it, our family will be destitute.’

We sit in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

‘How I wish I could come with you,’ I whisper, turning to him. ‘Walter? Could I? How can I stay here without you? How can I be part of this,’ I search for the right words, ‘Nazi thing when I don’t believe in it any more? When I can see how the reality is so terrible, so wrong…’

Walter looks at me then, his eyes full of sorrow.

‘Even if you could get a visa – which would be impossible – you and I couldn’t be together. I can only go to England and stay in England, as Anna’s husband. I have to register as an alien and I’m permitted to stay only for one year. I have to justify my presence annually for my visa to be renewed. Without Anna’s father sponsoring me, I will be straight back here, in Germany. And it’s the only hope I have to save the rest of my family. He’s hardly going to put everything on the line if you follow me to England, is he? Besides which, you wouldn’t be safe. The Gestapo will find you and punish you. They are keen to make an example of those who are anti-German, anti-Nazi. You, of all people, should know that.’

The grim trees press in; the clouds drop down and gloom pervades this deserted spot. He tries to kiss me, but I turn my head away.

‘Hetty… look at me, please.’

The lump in my throat is huge and hard. ‘I’m going to miss you more than I can bear,’ I mumble at last.

‘One day, I hope, this madness will end. With luck, England, America, the Western World will fight for freedom. Hitler won’t stop here, that’s for sure. And then, who knows? We must have hope. For now, you must bite your tongue and pretend to go along with things, just as you always have. Nobody can know what you really think. Stay safe, and true to yourself.’ He gently wipes my tears away with his fingertips. ‘I will love you always and forever, every day for the rest of my life – if the worst happens and you never hear from me again, you must know this.’ His voice breaks then, and there is no more to be said.