Charlotte watched her go, feeling pleased as she caught Marina glance back at her before she pushed into the kitchen. The casting hooks had attached.

‘There you are.’ Marina returned a few minutes later with the order, an extra churro spiralled on the plate. Charlotte smiled, even more pleased to see that her generosity yesterday had pierced the skin of this new acquaintance.

‘Thanks. I could get used to Spanish breakfasts.’

‘. . . Are you in Madrid for long?’ Marina asked, loitering awkwardly, her fingertips pressing against the tabletop.

‘I was supposed to be but . . .’ She shrugged. ‘Things haven’t panned out the way we expected so I’ve just got a couple of meetings later and then it’s back home again.’ She took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes momentarily. ‘Which is a shame because I’d been looking forward to a bit more of the Spanish summer. It’s raining in London of course.’

But Marina didn’t seem to have heard – or at least to care about the English rain. She bit her lip. ‘I . . . I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday.’

Of course she had. How could she not have done? ‘Oh yes?’ Charlotte kept her tone light as she dipped the churro into the chocolate pot and began to eat; she could well imagine Marina had done nothing but think about what she had said yesterday.

‘Just say I was the Marina Quincy you are looking for, why would I need your services? Why have they sent you?’

Charlotte drew in a deep breath as though the question was surprising to her, when in fact she’d been anticipating it. ‘Well, because the level of money involved in this instance is very significant. Daunting, even.’

‘Daunting?’

‘Scary. Wealth at this level isn’t a walk in the park. Frankly, it really should come with a health warnings. I’ve got many – way too many – clients who have buckled under the pressure of it.’

Without waiting to be invited to join her, Marina pulled out the opposite chair and sank down into it, her concentration wholly focused on Charlotte alone. ‘Buckled how? What happens to them?’

Charlotte kept her tone conversational, chatty, generalized. ‘Well, people always make a fundamental mistake with money. They think it makes things easier – easier to pay the bills, buy the car, go on holidays – and when you’ve got just enough, it does. The trouble starts when the zeros begin to stack up and the money itself becomes another responsibility. You need a financial adviser or even a team to make the money work for you – and that can be complicated and stressful; it’s important to get in place people you can trust.’

Marina was staring at her intently, her hand cupped in her chin. It was the closest proximity they had been in to one another and Charlotte saw the focus in her eyes. She was concentrating, learning. Caught, not taught.

‘That in itself can be easier said than done. You have to find the right synergy between you and your advisers, match up your risk profiles: some people want to grow their capital aggressively and take risks; others want to play it safe and go for the long-term bets.’