‘So,’ he asked, ‘what is your verdict on a soap opera actress trying to perform one of the great musical roles?’

‘I thought she was wonderful,’ she replied eagerly. ‘She has that lovely round moon face and sparkling eyes.’

‘Her voice?’

‘She sang nicely.’ She hesitated. ‘Didn’t she?’

‘Yes. Nicely.’ He smiled at her over the coffee they had afterwards. ‘A correct and generous verdict. But perhaps not one of the great voices.’

‘I wouldn’t know.’ She thought of young Eliza Doolittle and old Professor Higgins, introducing her to a new world of glamour and intellect. Kareem was a lot younger than Henry Higgins.

‘In fact,’ he continued, ‘Audrey Hepburn’s voice in the film with Rex Harrison had to be covered by a proper singer as she was not up to it.’

‘Oh…’

‘And this is why, for the film of The Sound of Music, Audrey Hepburn did not take up the role and opened the door to Julie Andrews who could sing properly.’

‘I never knew that.’

‘Even if she was not as beautiful.’ His grin as he spoke the word, his eyes staring fiercely into hers, was electric. ‘What movies would you like to go to?’

They went to matinées of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie and Planet of the Apes with Helena Bonham Carter. And exhibitions – the one she most enjoyed was at the British Museum, about Cleopatra. She was overwhelmed by the space and beauty of the newly opened Great Court.

‘So, Sara, was Cleopatra a femme fatale, unlucky, or destroyed by her own hubris?’

‘Hubris?’ she asked.

‘Yes, the pride before the fall.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘Might it be fun to take tea at the Ritz hotel?’ he asked one afternoon. She looked alarmed; the idea seemed so alien. ‘After all, it is the height of British afternoon sophistication.’

‘What will I wear?’

She found a smart enough skirt and blouse.

The tea arrived, stacked on a multi-layered china dish: sandwiches, cakes, biscuits. She reached with her right hand to put a selection on a plate and placed her left hand on the table, stretching it slowly and by tiny degrees in his direction. Would he spread his towards hers?

He kept his hands to himself, sipping and eating with a rare elegance for a man. His fingers were long and artistic, unencumbered by black hairs. The perfect gentleman.

One afternoon, as he dropped her near home, he proposed a picnic on the South Downs and described the beauty of its hills and views. They could visit Bignor Roman Villa and take in the mosaics.

‘It will be a cultural visit.’

She hesitated. It felt like a new step. ‘As long as we’re back in good time,’ she said.