Marjie didn’t know what to say. She looked away.

‘Forget it. Please, Marjie. Let’s concentrate on the problem we have, and forget I ever showed, or talked about, my feelings for you.’

It wasn’t easy. Marjie wanted to say that if she had never met Wills, she could have seen herself falling in love with André, but she knew that wouldn’t help, so she turned the conversation back to Gisele. ‘Yes, that’s best. I thank you for the honour of what you’ve just said, but we do have to forget it, if we are to carry on working together. And at the moment we need to find a solution to the problem of Gisele.’

‘While Monty is alive, she represents a great danger to us. To save both us and Gisele . . . I’m sorry, Marjie, but we have to kill your brother.’

Pain shot through Marjie’s heart, but she knew he was right, and she had to agree. But how could she? Oh, Mama, Papa, help me.

‘Marjie?’

She nodded, and as she did so, she drew in a gasp of air that rasped her throat. ‘May God – and my family – forgive me, but yes, André, it has to be done.’

‘Oh, Marjie, I’m so sorry. I wish I could help you, or that there is another way, but there isn’t. What about Gisele?’

‘She stays here until we can get her to Spain. Please, André, help me in this. I cannot bear for such a brave young girl as Gisele to lose her life for what my brother did to her.’

‘Yes, I agree. But what about the others? When they hear what happened, they will want Gisele dead.’

‘Then we must not tell them. Where have you left the truck?’

‘A little way down the lane. No one has gone to it, as they would have had to pass by us.’

‘Good. You go and set Gisele free, and I will tell the others you were stopped by a checkpoint and weren’t believed. That you were shot at, and Ethan was killed. I will tell them that you have Gisele, but didn’t want to bring her back in, because of the mood they showed towards her before. I will tell them that anyone who lays a finger on her will be shot; and that you now know who the traitor is and are dealing with him.’

‘On my own?’

‘I know that’s difficult, but . . . Well, I don’t want everyone to know who it is. Most of them do know Monty.’

‘I’ll go to the communist camp and tell them that I know of a traitor and where he can be found. I will tell them that he is known to us, so it is difficult for us to kill him. They will do it, and we won’t know anything about it.’