Before she had a chance to ask why, Deborah hurried on: ‘We haven’t told anyone, because we didn’t want to make an issue of it, but some of my family died in Auschwitz.’

She bit her lip and Connie thought she might be about to cry. She took her arm and guided her to one of the chairs in the lobby, urged her to sit. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Yesterday was a journey I’d always vowed I’d make one day,’ Deborah went on. ‘But it’s taken it out of me. I don’t feel able to enjoy the rest of the trip now.’

Connie’s head was banging with tiredness. She ran through the company protocol for a situation like this, dreading the hours she might have to put in to sort things out. ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘I imagine you’ll want to fly home?’

‘We’ve booked a flight for later today,’ Miles assured her. ‘Our problem is, how best to say goodbye to everyone. Deborah doesn’t want anyone to know the real reason – we only told you because we didn’t want to lie to you. You’ve been so kind. But we thought you might have a suggestion.’

You’ve come to the right person, if you’re after a plausible lie, she thought, guilt suddenly washing over her, like an icy wave, as she confronted Deborah’s grief for her dead family in light of her betrayal of her living one. ‘You could just say you haven’t been well, that the tour is more tiring than you expected?’

Miles nodded, but hesitated, glancing down at his wife, who was sitting very still, head bowed, as if she were in another world. ‘We wondered … would you mind saying it for us?’ he finally asked. ‘Then we could just slip away. Deborah really isn’t up to all those questions, the hugging and stuff.’

Connie knew what he meant. ‘Of course I will,’ she said, swallowing hard because she suddenly felt nauseous. She dithered, not wanting to rush off and leave them in the lurch but worried she might actually be sick. She tried to breathe, but the waves of cramping nausea pulsed through her body, like the incoming tide. ‘Will you excuse me for a moment? I’ll be right back,’ she muttered, fleeing to the Ladies behind the foyer before they had a chance to reply. When she reached the safety of the cubicle, she flopped down onto the seat and bent over, head between her knees, rocking backwards and forwards, finally confronting her betrayal.