‘They crushed the heirlooms up to make gold to doctor their samples with.’ Harry told her what he had learned the night before: that the gold mine was a fake.

Barbara sat staring at him for a second, then sighed. ‘Everything was a fake, then,’ she said. ‘Absolutely everything.’

‘I expect Sandy’s gone off with a false passport.’

‘My God.’

‘Hillgarth said he half expected it, he thought Sandy wasn’t someone who’d buckle down and take orders.’

‘No,’ said Barbara, ‘that’s true.’ She sighed. ‘So that’s that. I wonder what he’ll do now.’

Harry shrugged. ‘Set up in business somewhere, I expect. America perhaps. I wonder why he didn’t take the chance to get back to England.’

‘He said something about it stifling him. And he was afraid he’d be locked up.’

‘I don’t think he would have been. They wanted to use his – talents.’ Harry grimaced. ‘And yet – he said it all started off because he really wanted to help the Jews. Oddly enough, I believe him.’

Barbara was silent.

‘What will happen to your house?’ Sofia asked.

‘Sandy got it rent free from one of the ministries. I expect they’ll want it back. I’ll camp out there for the meantime. It won’t be for long.’ The waiter appeared and Harry and Sofia ordered coffees. They still had nearly an hour before she was due to meet Luis; the café was a fifteen-minute walk away. Sofia looked at her closely.

‘How do you feel, about his leaving?’

Barbara lit a cigarette. ‘I would have left him in a few days anyway. I wonder how long Pilar will last. They must have been cooking this up for a while.’ She blew out a cloud of smoke.

‘It makes things easier for us,’ Sofia said hesitantly.

‘Yes.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Listen, there’s another problem. Luis rang last night. His brother’s rota’s been changed, it’ll have to be brought forward a day. It’s going to have to be Friday.’

Sofia frowned. ‘Why have they changed his shift at the last minute?’

‘They’ve changed rotas at the camp. I didn’t go into that. I was standing in the hall terrified Sandy would come down any minute,’ she added with irritation, ‘We can ask Luis when we meet him.’

Harry stroked his chin. ‘I’ll have to change my car booking. I’ve got one for Saturday – one of the little Fords the junior staff are allowed – said I wanted a run out to the country at the weekend. But it shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll say the arrangements have changed. I’m on duty tomorrow – there’s a Christmas bash for the translators at the Spanish Academy and I don’t want to go, I’ve put my name down to cover the office. But Friday’s free.’

‘And I will go sick at the dairy on Friday instead of Saturday,’ Sofia said.

Barbara looked at her. ‘I’m sorry I snapped just then. I suppose we’re all getting edgy.’

Sofia nodded, then smiled back. ‘It’s all right.’

They were silent for a few moments. Harry smiled and took Sofia’s hand. ‘We’ve got our special licence. We’re getting married on the nineteenth. A week tomorrow. Then we’re off to England by plane on the twenty-third. We’ve got a visa for Paco.’

‘That’s wonderful.’ She smiled. ‘I’m so glad.’

‘Paco has taken our family name on the form,’ Sofia said. ‘It is strange to see it. Francisco Roque Casas.’

‘Thank God one child can be got out of here. How is he?’

‘He does not really understand what going away means.’ A shadow crossed her face. ‘He is still sad Enrique is not coming.’

‘You couldn’t get him over?’

‘No.’ Harry shook his head. ‘We’re going to try again from England. But I think it’ll be impossible while the war lasts. We were lucky to get places on the plane.’

‘I’m so pleased for you.’

‘Have you booked anything?’

‘No. I’ll trust to luck, I’m not planning anything till Bernie’s inside the British Embassy and it’s settled he’s going home. I’m worried there might be problems because he’s a Communist. From what you’ve said about Hoare I wouldn’t put it past him to give Bernie back to the Spaniards.’

Harry shook his head firmly. ‘No, Barbara, the embassy has to take him in. Whatever Hoare might like to do he was a prisoner of war, he was held illegally under international law. And my guess is the Spanish authorities won’t make a fuss. It’d look bad for them. But you must keep out of it.’ He thought a moment. ‘But don’t take him in at the front. If he’s escaped, the civiles on the door might have been told to watch out for him and they could seize him; he won’t be on British soil until he’s actually inside the embassy.’

‘I’ll take him to a phone box in the centre of Madrid. He can phone the embassy from there and get them to fetch him. He can say he stole the clothes and hitched a lift to Madrid, like we agreed. They can’t disprove it.’

Harry laughed. Barbara thought it was the first laugh of genuine pleasure she had heard from him since they met again. ‘It’ll be the talk of the embassy the next day; I can say I knew him at school. Then I can help him get back to England.’ He shook his head in wonderment. ‘He may even come on the same plane as us.’

‘It sounds as neat as clockwork,’ Sofia said. ‘But remember things may go wrong, we may have to improvise.’ She looked at Barbara sharply again. ‘Are you all right? Do you have a cold?’

‘It’s nothing. It’s better today,’ Barbara said. She was surprised at how Sofia seemed to be taking charge now.’

‘I have a gun,’ Sofia said. ‘Just in case.’

Harry leaned forward. ‘A gun? Where did you get it?’

‘It was my father’s, during the Civil War. It has been in the flat since then.’ She shrugged. ‘There are many guns in Madrid, Harry.’

Barbara looked horrified. ‘But why do you want to bring a gun?’

‘In case we have to run. As I said, we may have to improvise.’

Barbara shook her head vehemently. ‘Guns just make things worse, make more danger—’

‘It is only for an emergency. I do not want to use it.’

‘Have you bullets?’ Harry asked hesitantly.

‘Yes, and I know how to fire it. Women were trained to shoot during the war.’

‘Will you let me take it?’ Harry asked. ‘I know how to fire a gun too.’

Sofia hesitated, then said, ‘All right.’ She turned to Barbara. ‘This is not a peaceful thing we are involved with, you know.’

‘All right. All right, I know.’ Barbara ran a hand over her brow.

Bearing arms went against her every instinct but Sofia was right, she was the one who knew life here.

‘I still don’t think you should come,’ Harry told Sofia. ‘There’s more danger for you than for either of us.’

‘It will make things easier,’ she said firmly. ‘Cuenca is an old medieval town; it is not easy to find your way around.’ She turned to Barbara. ‘Should you not go and meet the guard now?’

‘Yes. Give me a quarter of an hour, then follow.’ When she got up her legs were shaking.

THE AFTERNOON was damp and raw, the streets wet with melting slush. There was still a trace of last night’s fog and some shops already had their lights on. The first Christmas displays had appeared in the windows, the three wise men standing round the crib with their gifts. Barbara wondered what sort of Christmas Sandy would give Pilar in Lisbon.

Real Madrid were playing a football match and there was a little crowd round the counter at the cafe, listening to a radio. Luis sat at his usual table. His nervous air irritated her today.

‘You gave me a fright last night,’ she said brusquely as she sat down.

‘I had to let you know.’

‘Why did the shift change?’

He shrugged. ‘It happens. One of the guards was ill and everything had to be adjusted. It will be exactly the same arrangement, only on Friday instead of Saturday.’

‘Friday the thirteenth,’ she said with a brittle laugh. Luis looked at her uncomprehendingly.

‘It’s supposed to be an unlucky day in England.’

‘I had never heard that.’ He ventured a smile. ‘It is Tuesday the thirteenth that is unlucky in Spain, señora, so do not worry about that.’