‘Yeah, you said. Look, I’m not talking to anyone right now.’ He drained his glass.

His father refilled it. ‘He’s very keen to get hold of you.’

‘So you gave him my number.’

Hugh could tell straight away that this had been a mistake. Tom’s face had turned to stone.

‘Look, I’m sorry, old boy. I know it’s private and all that but I just thought, what with you being back and . . . He’s a pretty big deal, these days, as I’m sure you know. Quite a hero – and they seem to be in pretty short supply right now. And he was a mate of yours.’

‘Hardly. I seem to recall I once decked him in a boxing match. What sort of a “big deal” is he?’

‘You don’t know? Well, it’s quite an interesting story. He dropped out of university, drifted around America, fell in with the dotcom crowd in California and made himself a fortune. Then he got homesick for Blighty, came back and ploughed a load of his savings into starting up Invicta.’

‘Why? Is there some military angle to his family?’

‘Apparently he encountered a homeless guy outside his pad in Mayfair who turned out to be a decorated hero of Iraq Two, and that’s where it all started. More than two thousand ex-service chaps have been through his programme.’

‘Impressive.’

‘He stays out of the limelight and shuns attempts to credit him for what he’s done. But among those who know, he’s much admired. And there are plenty of people in high places who have the wit to realize his programmes saved a lot of these guys’ lives and cleared up a lot of sick that the MoD’s left behind.’

‘What did he say he wanted?’

‘He was very charming, said he’d heard you were back . . .’

Tom could feel his face heating up. He smelt a rat. As he was going through the army recruitment process, his father had engineered a number of occasions when acquaintances of his with Interesting Jobs in the City had been invited to join them for dinner. It was painfully obvious that he had cajoled them into coming in the vain hope that Tom could be diverted from the army. And having set his heart on that course, Tom had refused to go to Sandhurst and become an officer.

‘Hope this isn’t another of your career-management initiatives.’

Hugh took a gulp of wine. ‘I learned that lesson a long time ago. I’m sure it’s quite innocent. He’s making a name for himself through his work with these—’

‘Yeah, these people whose lives are in freefall. You aren’t suggesting I’m one of them, are you?’ Tom realized his voice had risen several decibels. A couple of old buffers at the next table were staring at them.