‘Flamin’ Nora, Cupid’s stuck his arrow into you good and proper!’ laughed Ronnie. ‘Good job you’re hundreds of miles away, or else you’d be married with a gaggle of kiddies round yer ankles.’

‘That,’ said Felix with verve, ‘would suit me just fine!’ Reaching the head of the queue, he smiled at the woman serving. ‘Cup of tea and a scone …’ Seeing her about to pick up the last one, he glanced at Ronnie, who was eyeing the scone with a pitiful expression. ‘On second thoughts, make that an iced bun,’ said Felix, chuckling at the look of relief which swept over Ronnie’s face.

Taking the tea and bun, he paid the woman, and waited for his friend to be served. They found a table and sat down.

Taking a large bite of the scone, Ronnie savoured the flavour before swallowing, then raised his scone as if toasting Felix. ‘Thanks for reconsidering, you’re a real gent,’ he said, licking his fingers free of margarine. ‘That Roz is a lucky girl.’

Felix was about to take a bite of his bun but paused to answer his friend. ‘I like to think so; I certainly try to do all I can to make her happy.’ He took a bite of his bun and chewed it thoughtfully before adding, ‘If we had met under different circumstances, you know, if Hitler hadn’t come into power, and everything had remained as it was, there’s not a doubt in my mind that Roz wouldn’t have looked at me twice.’

Ronnie’s brow furrowed. ‘Why on earth not?’

Felix gave a small shrug. ‘She came from a well-to-do family, or at least they had a fancy apartment in the centre of Frankfurt, her father’s an accountant and her mother a teacher – they weren’t short on money. She’s way out of my league, so I wouldn’t have considered approaching her.’

‘Ah, so you don’t mean she wouldn’t be interested in you, more like you’d not give her the chance?’

‘I suppose so,’ said Felix, but in his innermost thoughts he didn’t really believe this to be true. Someone like Roz wouldn’t be with someone like him, because some eligible bachelor would have snapped her up already.

‘And in any case,’ said Ronnie, ‘she’s not in Germany now, so she could have her pick of the crop if that’s what she really wanted.’ He raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘Do you think she will? Or have you nothing to fear?’