‘Have you met him?’ Kate asked.

‘Navalny?’

‘No, sorry, the Russian president.’

‘Yes, twice. With the prime minister, of course.’

‘What was your impression?’

‘Low cunning. A not inconsiderable ego. I mean, he’s personable in private and direct. He knows what he wants. But he does what it says on the tin.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Well, if you were to get your average sixth-form history student to write an assessment, I don’t think it would be very different from the summary I might come up with having spent several hours in his company.’

‘What do you think he really wants?’

Grove thought about this. The waitress came and they ordered some wine. Grove waited until the woman was out of earshot. ‘Russia is not very strong, financially, militarily. As you know, it’s no match for the West. At least, not yet. So our assessment is that he wants to undermine our way of life, our democracy, to foster dissent and division and argument, so that we turn inwards.’

‘And he can rebuild the Russian Empire?’

‘Yes, but what do you think? You’re the expert, after all.’

‘Well, he’s had a good run. In retrospect, the way he was given a free hand in Syria was pretty startling and may have some long-term consequences. He’s secured his Mediterranean base and he’s having a good go at getting a second in Libya, so, yes, the more he can distract us and encourage us to argue among ourselves, the more he has a free hand to rebuild his empire, which will probably end up with a focus on financial and military muscle. I don’t think we should doubt his ambition.’

‘Our assessment is really that we’re in a new Cold War on two fronts,’ Grove said. ‘Russia is a more consistent, more undermining and irritating threat. But the real danger of a hot war is in China, where the ambition to control the South China Sea and surrounding region is now beyond argument. If there is a war in the next ten years, it will be in Taiwan.’

Kate nodded. On this, in truth, there could be little argument. The waitress arrived with the wine and noted down their order. Kate was due to take over the driving, so she restricted herself to one glass. The last thing she needed was to be stopped by the police at any point on this journey.

‘What are you going to do when this is all over?’ Grove asked, when they were alone again.

‘Oh, God, I don’t know. Sleep.’

‘I mean for work.’

Kate shook her head. It was true she probably ought to have a better idea of how she was going to pay her mortgage in the coming months. She was certain she wouldn’t be able to rely on Stuart. ‘What about you?’ she asked Grove.

‘I’ll leave with the PM and, since that may be imminent, I’ve been giving it a bit of thought. Some kind of consultancy, I imagine.’

‘What kind?’

‘Leadership, reputation. I’ve talked about starting something with Callum, since we have complementary skills. Perhaps you should join us. Then we could add security to our portfolio.’