After lunch Ned says he wants to see boats so they drive in convoy down to the river. They go for a walk in Fulham Palace Gardens. They pass the memorial to those who died fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Henry says that the Republicans, had they been victorious, would have set up a Stalinist tyranny; and that it is therefore wrong that those who fought for them should be commemorated as heroes. Jomier suggests that at the time people did not know of Stalin’s atrocities. Henry counters that the facts were there, but were airbrushed out of public dialogue by Communist fellow-travellers in the media and academe. Jomier thinks back to his leftist youth – demonstrating in Grosvenor Square with his friend Marco. What had they thought about the gulags, or Mao’s Cultural Revolution? He cannot remember. ‘Communism,’ he says to Henry, ‘draws on humanity’s belief in its own perfectibility.’

‘A chimera,’ says Henry.

‘No doubt,’ says Jomier.

‘A dangerous chimera. Like the Muslims’ belief in a universal caliphate.’

‘Perhaps one day,’ says Jomier, ‘there will be a memorial to the young Pakistanis from Bradford who went to fight for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.’

‘Unlikely,’ says Henry.

‘A hundred years ago,’ says Jomier, ‘it would have been thought unlikely that there would be a large mosque in Regent’s Park.’

Sandra walks ahead following Samantha and Ned on their scooters. She does not like men’s talk – politics, history, cars – but accepts that it is something she must put up with when her father-in-law comes to lunch. Jomier would like to have more to say to her than he does about children, schools, the property market. He would like to talk to her about corporate law but does not understand what it is she does in her office in Holborn. He does not understand what Henry does either, or what anyone does in the City that brings them such rich rewards.

They look at boats on the Thames. Then they part. Henry and Sandra throw scooters and children into the back of their four-year-old E-Class Mercedes Estate. Jomier drives back to Hammersmith in his Golf. He has much to think about. Should he ring Louisa? What time is it in Buenos Aires? He does not feel up to it. His mind goes on standby as his Panasonic Viera television springs to life.

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The following weekend, it is Jomier’s turn to host the tryst with Judith. On the Friday night they go to a movie with Ruth and Ralph. The Gate Cinema. Pizza Express. Then back to his house in Hammersmith where they make love. The next morning, Jomier brings Judith breakfast in bed. This saves her from the smell of singed pig’s flesh and allows him to read the Saturday edition of The Times in peace.