They turned into a short road of double-fronted Victorian houses. ‘The gardens of these houses back onto the Common,’ said Kareem. ‘I understand they sell for three million pounds.’ He paused. ‘To bankers.’

He stopped and looked at his watch. ‘Perhaps this is already the short drive you suggested?’

‘It’s OK.’ No way did she want this to end yet. ‘We can go for a quick walk.’

A path took them diagonally across the Common, past young mothers with blonde hair wearing pastel shades and pushing double buggies. They reached a copse by a pond and sat on a bench, streams of sunlight dappling the water and casting dancing flickers on their faces.

‘What are your summer plans?’ she asked.

‘I must first finish my dissertation.’

‘And then?’

‘I would like to travel a little to understand my origins better. The Gulf in particular. There is family pressure to join the business but I am not sure what this will achieve for me.’

‘What do you want to achieve?’

He considered her question as if it were the first time he’d been asked. ‘Change the world maybe. There are many bad things.’

She frowned, unsure of his meaning, of how serious he was. He seemed to be revolving something in his mind, unsure whether to speak it. This time, she looked at her watch. ‘Perhaps you should drop me back.’

‘Of course. It has been a delight to meet you properly.’ He rose, gesturing her to come alongside him, but he did not reach out for her hand. ‘I would love to spend some more time with you, Sara,’ he said walking back to the car. ‘Perhaps we could do some outings?’

She didn’t know what to say.

‘It would be in the cause of education. For both of us.’

She certainly didn’t want to say a flat no. ‘Maybe I should ask my dad.’

‘Of course, if you feel you need to.’

She knew with cast-iron certainty that she should. So must he. ‘He’s very busy,’ she replied. ‘I hate to disturb him.’ The double meaning of the word struck her.

‘It is entirely up to you, Sara.’ They reached the car and he opened the passenger door. ‘Perhaps in daytime it is permitted.’

She slid in. ‘Yes, perhaps it is.’ He shut the door on her.

She wondered what his ‘outings’ might be. The way he spoke of travelling made her see the limits of her own horizon: a life spent in the same neighbourhood, no money for the foreign or exotic. He was from a different, more expansive world.

They began with matinées of two musicals: Peggy Sue Got Married with Ruthie Henshall, My Fair Lady with the EastEnders star Martine McCutcheon, in her first stage role. They had prime seats in the front of the dress circle; she remembered what her cousin had said. ‘Loaded.’ The shows offered interesting things to talk about.