Abbott still vividly remembered how it had all started. Sixteen years ago, when his political career was in full swing and it seemed nothing could prevent his rise to the top, he had been approached at a high-society party in London by two well-dressed and very polite middle-aged men he’d never met before, who had taken him aside for a discreet little chat. Over champagne cocktails they’d made him the strangest proposition of his life. They described themselves as agents of a private and highly exclusive gentlemen’s club, and told him that he was being considered for membership, pending ‘certain conditions’. What conditions, he’d wanted to know – and he’d soon found out.

Two days later, on a warm summer’s evening, he’d met with the agents again, this time at his Chelsea flat. They had put him in the back of a black limousine with windows so dark that he could barely see out of them, let alone into. They would not tell him where they were going, and before setting off he was requested to put on a hood. He had baulked at this requirement, but been informed that if he refused, then this one-time-only deal was coming straight off the table.

After an hour’s blindfold journey the car had arrived at its undisclosed destination, where Abbott was shown into a magnificently appointed room and interviewed by two men who explained to him that the private gentlemen’s club into which he was being invited was in fact a little more than that. They spoke of it as an ancient and venerable brotherhood, a sacred order, membership of which would bestow great privileges and enormous benefits on both his life and career, as it had done for so many of his predecessors dating back a century or more. Never mind the sky being the limit. There was no limit.

As he sat there sipping eighteen-year-old scotch from fine crystal and barely able to believe his ears, they revealed to him what induction into the order would entail. Told him what sights and experiences he could expect to witness. They were candid about the fact that membership was not for everyone. Some men were simply incapable of handling it. He had been carefully vetted before being approached. Whether or not to accept was entirely his choice, of course.

‘Surely just by meeting with me and telling me this …’ Abbott began to say.

The elder of the two men finished for him, with a dry smile. ‘We’re taking a certain leap of faith and exposing ourselves, yes. But make no mistake, Mr Abbott. We have every confidence that you won’t betray our faith in you, whatever you decide.’

‘If I decline?’ he’d asked in a hoarse whisper.