For a spilt second, he was irresolute. Then, he took the decision and pushed Laure out of the garden door. ‘Run.’ She didn’t need to be told twice. As she sped past the sundial, she smashed her hand on its rough stone. The impact made her fingers go numb.

Tomas hopped over the railing and helped Laure scramble after him.

Sirens blared, orders issued and booted feet sounded on the cobbles. Inside the theatre the mayhem was punctuated by shouts and screams.

Tomas knew the route which told Laure he must have thought about it. They snaked along the edge of the wall and scrambled in and out of a couple of gardens and made for a cast-iron gate at the end of a terrace. It opened into an alley. ‘Put your arm around me,’ he ordered, ‘don’t hurry.’

She gasped for breath. Extraordinarily, she felt exhilarated and defiant. Those bloody pigs would not get them.

Making a superhuman effort, she slung her arm around Tomas.

Tomas was pouring with sweat. So was she.

They sauntered down the alley, turned left at the bottom and then sharp right into Zelezná. Tomas dropped his arm and guided her into a covered alley which gave them some camouflage.

‘Where are we going?’

‘I don’t know yet,’ he said. ‘But it’s probably the end for you and me.’ She cried out and he touched her cheek. ‘You know that.’ In the distance, the sirens were blaring.

In places, the shadows thrown by the arches were dense and the badly maintained cobbles impeded progress. Secret Prague. Hiding in it was no longer diverting or playful, but crucial.

They emerged into the Kožná. ‘Go back to the Kobes,’ said Tomas. ‘Pretend you don’t know anything.’

‘The goon took my name and Petr will be told. He wants to get back to Paris and needs to keep in with the Party. He told me he wouldn’t help out again.’

Tomas came to a halt. ‘You must leave the country, then. Tomorrow. I can’t help you, Laure. I wish, I wish I could.’

She had already worked that out. ‘I’ll go to the British Embassy.’ She wrapped her uninjured hand around his damp neck and forced him to look at her. ‘You must leave, too.’ She peered at him. ‘Yes? Yes.’ He seemed to be listening. ‘Leo is the warning. They’ll smash you up too. But if you survive, you can return, Tomas. One day. Nothing lasts.’ He frowned, and she whispered, ‘Look at history.’

He drew her into the shadow of the wall. ‘I love it when you’re the expert.’ He looked up at the evening sky and she watched him greedily while he came to a decision.

‘Think,’ she urged. ‘Don’t be a martyr. You’re no use if you’re dead.’