‘Maja?’ Rose asked kindly.

Maja met Kate’s gaze. ‘What happened to her?’

‘She was working for us undercover,’ Kate said. ‘She got a job as a nanny to some very influential enemies of the British state and the people she was watching found out who she was and I’m afraid they killed her.’

‘Did my sister make a mistake?’

‘No,’ Kate said. ‘The errors were all on our side.’

‘Is that why you’re paying for me to be here?’

Yes, Kate thought. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We’re trying to be true to the promise we made to her.’

‘How did she die?’

‘I don’t think you’d want to know that.’

‘Did they hurt her?’

‘It happened very quickly,’ Kate said. ‘We were looking for her and they were trying to get away from us.’

Maja examined her hands. ‘She loved me.’

‘She did. Her only concern was for your safety.’

‘No one else has ever cared for me.’ She looked up again. ‘And no one ever will.’

‘I hope that’s not true,’ Kate said. She glanced towards the door and the couple beyond it.

‘Perhaps they tell you they look after me,’ Maja said, following the direction of Kate’s gaze. ‘But they only care about the money.’

Kate had never seen a young girl look so bereft, so alone.

‘Do Alexander and Zara not treat you well, Maja?’ Rose asked.

She sighed. ‘They feed me.’

Kate met Rose’s gaze once more. She wanted to promise the girl the world, but she’d learnt the hard way that glib pledges sometimes came with unforeseen and unpredictable costs. ‘You’ll have to stay here to go to your new school,’ Rose said, ‘but we won’t abandon you.’

Maja shrugged. She must have learnt not to believe in promises.

‘You’ve never been to England before,’ Rose went on. ‘It can be very beautiful at this time of year. So how would it be if I pick you up tomorrow evening and you come to stay with my husband and me in the country for the weekend?’ She pointed at her niece. ‘Kate’s children will be with me. They’re a little older than you, but at least there will be someone under the age of fifty. I could drop you back here on Sunday evening, in time for your new school.’

Kate and Maja stared at Rose, for different – or, arguably, the same – reasons.

Maja didn’t answer. And Kate swallowed the many questions that the gesture prompted. She didn’t get to ask them until Rose had squared the logistical details with Maja’s carers and they had stepped into the chill autumnal wind outside. ‘Are you sure –’ Kate began, as soon as they were safely beyond earshot.

‘– that was wise?’ Rose finished for her. ‘Of course not. But you saw the poor girl. She has no one.’

‘She’s my responsibility.’

‘No,’ Rose said. ‘Financially, practically, she’s the Service’s burden, as you well know. But I played a significant part in getting her here, so emotionally, she’s as much my responsibility. Besides, I’m having her for the weekend, not adopting her.’