The books he sent her had made her better at reading. She had no habit of concentration, but she could pick things up in spells of ten minutes or so, and remember most of them. In her replies to Rudolf, she never commented on what he had written, but she wanted him to know that she had understood, so she wrote back what amounted to a summary of what he’d told her.

The following spring, a postscript to one of Rudolf’s letters took a different direction.

‘You see, I’ve found you a job and a place to live. The work’s not up to much – it’s in a clothes shop much like Herr Thaller’s, though the pay will be better. And the lodging is a maid’s room at the top of an old hotel. It’s a long climb up the stairs and it’s very small. There’s a bathroom at the end of the landing that you share. But you’ll be able to afford it. And I can introduce you to some of the men at Rebirth. They’re a fine bunch. If your writing and spelling keeps on improving I see no reason why you shouldn’t take the minutes at our meetings.’

Lena had no qualms about leaving her mother. Carina was, after all these years, still almost unknown to her – as difficult in her way to understand as Lukas and Emma at school. She couldn’t even tell if Carina was fond of her, because she was so reluctant to converse. Lena had been through a period of making sentimental advances to her, but had received so little in response that she had given up.

‘I hope you’ll be all right,’ Lena said, standing by the door of their rooms, gripping a padded cotton bag into which her belongings had been crammed.

‘Yes, I’ll be all right,’ said Carina, who was wondering if, with Lena away, she might go back to entertaining visitors. The money from cleaning at the clinic covered her rent, but not much more.

‘I’ll come back to visit,’ said Lena. ‘About the time of my birthday.’

From the station in Vienna, she was able to walk to the address Rudolf had given her. It was in a backstreet behind a church: a hotel in which the rooms had been turned into cheap lodgings until the new owners had the money to renovate the building. There was an envelope for her on a table in the hall. Inside was a key and a note from Rudolf with a map of how to get to the shop the next day.

Lena went up to the top floor and opened the door on a room with a bed, a chair and a small chest of drawers. Through a window beneath the slope of the ceiling, she could see people going into a park. She noticed that the sun was going down behind a distant building with a golden dome. She turned back into the room, sat on the bed and wept.