There was a period of silence. Prince was not sure if the conversation had come to an end. Gilbey stood up and walked towards the large stone fireplace.

‘Have you seen that film The Great Dictator?’

‘The one with Charlie Chaplin, sir? Yes, we saw it at the Regal.’

Gilbey nodded. ‘It’s certainly amusing, but the problem with it is it makes the Germans out to be clowns, and I’m afraid broadly speaking they’re anything but that. You’re making a very grave error if you think the enemy are fools, but too many people in London do make that mistake. Your Danish background and ability to speak the language is a great asset, Prince, and you have a very good Danish identity, but I don’t want you to feel that it makes you safe, if you get my drift. Always be alert, never be complacent. The Gestapo see through most cover stories, sooner or later. Main thing is to avoid falling into their hands.’

There was another period of silence. Gilbey sat down again and both men concentrated on their wine glasses. Gilbey started to speak a couple of times but paused, giving Prince the impression he was unsure of what he was about to say. ‘One final thing,’ he said eventually. ‘As you may have gathered, I’m somewhat sceptical about the Danes. I think we’ve been lulled into a false sense of security what with them being so friendly and so hostile to the Germans. Be very careful who you trust. Hendrie’s briefed you about Agent Osric? At least Osric is reliable.’

He leaned back in his chair, studying Prince very carefully, running his finger round the rim of his wine glass. ‘I’m going to be frank with you, Prince. There is something I’ve been in two minds about telling you.’

Prince was startled. This sounded ominous.

‘When we started, I wasn’t sure how you’d turn out. Nothing personal, you understand; it’s how I approach all new agents. It’s one thing getting top marks in training and quite another cutting it in the field. Very hard to predict – until you send an agent into enemy territory, you simply have no idea how they’ll perform.

‘However,’ Gilbey sat up at this point and leaned closer, so close Prince could smell the wine on his breath, ‘one does get an instinct for the quality of a person. I like to describe agents I know I can trust implicitly as cum laude – that’s Latin for “with very great distinction”. You’re a cum laude agent, Prince.’

‘Thank you, sir, I—’