‘The Immaculate Conception . . .’ Jomier begins, meaning to tell Judith that the Catholic dogma refers to the conception of Mary, not of Jesus, but he has resolved not to be a know-all and so leaves the sentence unfinished.

Judith does not seem to notice. She squeezes his arm again and gives a little shiver. ‘God, it’s cold.’

Christmas Day. Breakfast is brought to their room. They open the presents that each has brought for the other: a racing-green cashmere jersey for Judith from Jomier; a blue check shirt and speckled red tie for Jomier from Judith. And smaller parcels: Floris bath essence for Judith from Jomier; a pair of fleece-lined leather gloves for Jomier from Judith. Each unwrapping is followed by an expression of delight and a kiss. However, they are adults and understand that the expressions of delight may be pro forma. Judith has retained the receipts for the shirt from Kilgour and the tie from Paul Smith. Jomier has retained the receipt for the cashmere jersey from Harrods.

They laze around. Judith is reading Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin, Jomier Italo Svevo’s Senilità – or, in this English translation, As a Man Grows Older. Jomier chose the novel because it was written just across the lagoon in Trieste. Jomier likes to read books that pertain to the place he is visiting: The Leopard in Sicily, Dubliners in Dublin, Portrait of a Lady in Florence; I Promessi Sposi in Milan; The Bridge on the Drina in Mostar; Anna Karenina in Moscow; A Sentimental Education in Paris. By entering into the lives of characters created by an author who knew the city, you get behind the flat two-dimensional surfaces of palazzos and paintings. What were they like, those Doges with the funny bumps on their hats? What went on in the minds of Carpaccio’s two old whores? What were those Venetians thinking in St Mark’s Cathedral during midnight Mass? As Jomier grows older he feels increasingly frustrated by the limits of tourism – looking at churches, castles, palaces, paintings, statues, the constructs of the dead; and only interacting with living humanity when presenting his credit card or taking euros out of his wallet.