‘Then you’re going back to Vienna?’

‘Yes.’ Rudolf was wearing a tweed suit with a navy blue tie that made him look like a sportsman on his way to a country house. His hair was slightly disarrayed, as though he’d dressed in a hurry.

Lena sighed. ‘All right. Come to my room at six fifteen. For five minutes.’

‘Thank you. Did you enjoy your outing yesterday?’

‘No.’

‘You looked in a very bad mood when you got out of the van.’

‘How do you know? Have you been following me?’

‘No, I just happened to be talking to Joseph, about arrangements for the coach tonight.’

‘I didn’t want to come back in the van. But I had no choice. Unless I walked. Have you finished your business?’

‘A couple of days ago. I could find no excuse to prolong my time here. Fräulein Midwinter said she’d have to start charging me.’

‘Which one?’

‘Well, Martha. The one who runs it. The other one wouldn’t …’

‘No.’

When Rudolf came to her room, she was dressed for the dinner shift. They didn’t have to wear their maids’ caps in the evening and she had arranged her hair with a red ribbon. She envied Johanna, whose hair was long but always seemed to fall into place, however she wore it. Her own took so much work.

‘I went to the wrong room first,’ said Rudolf. ‘It was the blind lady’s.’

‘She must have been surprised.’

‘Very. I don’t think she’s had many visitors over the years.’

Lena stood back to allow him in.

‘Well, this is a cosy little place, isn’t it?’ Rudolf walked round the small space. ‘Oh, I like this,’ he said, picking up a wooden model of a sailing boat. ‘Where did you get this?’

‘In Trieste.’

‘Trieste?’

‘It’s a long story.’

‘Oh. And who’s this gentleman?’ He picked up a half-finished drawing on the windowsill. ‘Is it me by any chance?’

‘No. No, it’s … no one.’

With a sigh, Rudolf sat down on the edge of the bed. The springs in the metal frame squeaked under his weight.

‘I have to go back tonight.’

‘You told me.’

‘Lena, could you just … relent a little. You seem quite hostile. But …’

‘But what?’

‘We were friends. And then once we were lovers. I’ve done you no harm. I took you to meet all my friends, I found you a place to live, I took you to dinners and—’

‘And I thanked you at the time.’

‘Didn’t I open up a world to you?’

‘You did,’ said Lena. ‘And then you closed the door behind me.’

‘I did what?’

‘You took me to a place I didn’t understand. Then left me there alone.’

Rudolf breathed out heavily again. ‘You’ve no idea how much I’ve lain awake and agonised about this. I want you to know that. When we … That night in your room … You made as if … I could tell it meant something to you, that you were offering something and …’