After Cameron left, the conversation remained on the subject of war.

‘Are many people likely to return to England to fight?’ Evie asked Arthur.

He shrugged. ‘A lot of chaps want to give Hitler a bloody nose, but to be honest, the war effort is best served by staying here producing rubber and tin. We’ll be needing a lot more in the coming months.’

Evie glanced at Douglas, who said nothing.

‘One thing that will be happening though, is stepping up the training of the volunteer forces. More TEWTs.’

‘What’s that?’ Evie asked.

‘Tactical Exercises Without Troops.’

‘More like Trivial Exercises to Waste Time.’ Douglas was clearly not in the best of moods.

‘One of the problems is that many of my colleagues seem to fear Communism more than they fear the Japanese,’ said Arthur, ignoring him. ‘Worried that Communists are stirring up the workforce.’

‘Not my workforce.’ Douglas leaned back in his chair, arms folded.

‘His Majesty’s government persists in trying to keep on the right side of the Japanese.’ Arthur shook his head. ‘And that’s in spite of the fact that we’ve known for years that this country is crawling with Japanese spies. There have been enough Japanese pearl-fishers to have mapped every cove and inlet of the entire peninsula. But we let them get away with it under our noses.’

Veronica groaned. ‘Boring.’

Ignoring her, Arthur went on. ‘The government’s also standing back and letting the Japs buy up most of our iron ore, regardless of the fact they’re turning it into armaments.’

‘The government’s stupid.’ Doug put his palms together and rested his chin on his fingertips. ‘They need to listen to us here on the ground. No one trusts the Nips – and the Chinks feel the same way we do about them. They’re not to be trusted. You know where you are with Chinamen – they want to strike a hard deal, outwit you if they can. But the Japs hate us to the core and the brutality of what they’ve been doing in the war in China over the past couple of years is a damned disgrace. Sheer brutality.’

The conversation was interrupted by the waiter bringing their main course of roast pheasant. Evie looked around the large restaurant and noticed that everyone appeared to be subdued. The sound level was lower than one might expect and several people were already leaving to return home. It seemed completely wrong to be sitting here drinking champagne – something that only Veronica appeared to be doing, the rest of them with untouched glasses.

Wanting to hear more about the political situation, Evie addressed her husband. ‘Why did you say you think the volunteer exercises are pointless?’ she asked. ‘They’ve been doing a lot of that kind of thing back in England.’

‘That’s the trouble. They’re only geared to train people in war, European style. What the devil use will that be if it comes to a war here, where we should be learning jungle warcraft?’