Her cigarette had burned dangerously close to her fingers. She dropped the butt and she placed a foot on it. As she extinguished its spark, another glowed. ‘What do you mean?’

He gestured to the auditorium. ‘We need messengers and furniture moving. Lots of mending. We need people to step in to help if there’s an emergency. There always is. You know, lighting or broken strings.’ He bent over, picked up her cigarette butt, wrapped it in a piece of paper and placed it in his pocket. Laure watched with some surprise. ‘I’m a mad old tramp? Yes. Tobacco is expensive here and we save things.’

‘Even the smallest traces?’

He searched her face. For what? To ascertain if she was a safe person? ‘The smallest traces build up into big things.’

She licked lips which had gone dry. ‘My employer has asked me to stay on the for the year. I’m thinking about it.’

‘I wonder why.’ Tomas’s eyes narrowed. ‘And will you? Stay?’

She considered lighting up a second cigarette and reckoned it would make her appear nervous. ‘I would like to know more about this country.’

‘And would you like to know more about me?’

She seemed barely able to breathe. ‘Yes.’ Oh yes.

He shifted closer. ‘And I about you.’

Her response to the exchange must have appeared maladroit – that was because she didn’t know how to handle its intensity. ‘I should know more. About the country, I mean.’

He gave an unamused laugh. ‘There’s too much to know. But you will have noticed that our geography puts us at a disadvantage.’

The audience was beginning to file into the auditorium. Tomas glanced over to the door, got to his feet and raised his voice a touch. ‘What you must remember is that the State is a good and efficient one. It looks after its people. Have you got that?’

She was bewildered. ‘I think so.’

His smile was a thousand suns shining down on her. ‘I predict you will be a good pupil. Promise me, you will learn well.’

Even more muddled, Laure nodded. ‘I promise.’

‘If you stay in Prague, everything you hear will contradict the last thing you heard, and your employer will probably be using you.’

‘That’s—’ she cut herself off.

Tomas finished the sentence. ‘You were going to say that’s what he said about us.’ He didn’t wait for a reply. ‘Old tricks. Remember he’ll be checking on you.’ His eyes were now flinty. ‘For God’s sake, let’s not worry about it. If you stay and help here, I warn you that Lucia won’t like it. You mustn’t mind. She’s had bad experiences which makes her suspicious of people, particularly strangers.’ He touched Laure’s chin with a finger. ‘It’s natural and I think you’ll understand.’