‘I’ll ask, comrade.’ Bernie put a bitter emphasis on the last word.

Pablo turned away. Bernie watched him go. And if I don’t get a transfer, he thought, which I probably won’t, Establo will say I’m making more trouble by staying. He’s got it all worked out. He looked through the wire at the hill where Vicente was buried, a brown slash in the snow. He thought he wouldn’t mind joining him under the earth. Then he set his lips. While he lived he would fight. That was what a real Communist did.

THERE WAS AN uneasy atmosphere round the dinner table. Sandy and Barbara were both smoking constantly, lighting up between courses. Sandy was unusually quiet, withdrawing into little silences, while Barbara’s attempts at conversation seemed nervous and brittle, and once or twice she looked at Sandy strangely. They seemed to Harry to be distant from each other, oddly disconnected. The atmosphere made Harry feel nervous, uneasy. He couldn’t stop looking at Sandy’s preoccupied, slightly surly face and thinking, what happened to Gomez? What have you done to him?

The spies knew he had been invited for dinner at Sandy’s again and he had had an interview with Hillgarth that afternoon. He hadn’t seen him for over a week. The captain’s office was at the rear of the embassy, an area Harry had never visited. A business-like female secretary led him into a large room with high coved ceilings. Framed photographs of battleships lined the walls; on a shelf, beside Whitaker’s Almanac and Jane’s Fighting Ships, were bound copies of Hillgarth’s novels. Harry remembered one or two titles he had seen Sandy reading at school: The Princess and the Perjurer, The War Maker.

Hillgarth sat behind a big oak desk. His face wore a heavy, frowning expression; there was anger in the large expressive eyes although his tone was quiet. ‘We’re in trouble with Maestre,’ he began. ‘He’s bloody furious. He and some of his Monarchist chums were spying at that bloody mine and Gomez was working for them. It’s a pity you were the one who gave his man away. Maestre wasn’t too pleased with you anyway for leaving his daughter in the lurch. It’s the end of their operation.’

‘Can I ask what’s happened to Gomez, sir? Is he—’

‘Maestre doesn’t know. But he doesn’t expect to see him again. Gomez worked for him for years.’

‘I see.’ Harry felt his stomach sink.

‘At least Forsyth doesn’t seem to be on to you.’ Hillgarth stared at him. ‘So keep stringing him along, agree to invest, and tell me about these reports they talked about when you get them. It’s them I want to see.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Sir Sam’s lobbying in London. They may pull the plug on this operation. If they do, or if anything goes wrong, I’ve got a contingency plan for Forsyth.’ He paused. ‘We’ll try to recruit him. We can’t offer him what he’s hoping to make from that mine, but we could maybe bring other pressures to bear. He’s still estranged from his family?’

‘Completely.’

Hillgarth grunted. ‘Nothing we can use there, then. Oh well, we’ll have to see.’ He looked at Harry sharply. ‘You look worried. Don’t like the idea of us putting the squeeze on Forsyth? I’d got the impression you despised him.’

Harry said nothing. Hillgarth went on looking at him. ‘You’re not really cut out for this sort of work, are you, Brett?’

‘No, sir,’ Harry said heavily. ‘I just did what I was asked to do. I’m sorry for what happened to Lieutenant Gomez.’

‘So you should be. But we need you to carry on doing what you’re doing, for now. Afterwards we’ll send you home. Probably quite soon.’ He gave a half smile. ‘I expect that will be a relief, eh?’

PILAR BROUGHT IN the main course: a paella, mussels and prawns and anchovies on a bed of rice. She set the dish on the table and withdrew, avoiding everyone’s eye. Barbara scooped portions onto their plates.

‘It’s a treat getting fresh fish,’ Sandy said, seeming to come to life at the smell of food. He smiled at Harry. ‘There’s less of it around than ever.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘The fishermen get a petrol allowance to run their boats, but the black-market price of petrol’s so astronomical they just sell it on for a huge profit and don’t bother going to sea. That’s what our blockade’s doing, you see.’

‘Can’t the government make them use the petrol for fishing?’

Sandy laughed. ‘No. Even when they do make laws they can’t enforce them. Half the ministers have their noses deep in the trough anyway.’

‘How’s this project going that you’re investing in?’ said Barbara. She gave Harry another strange look.

‘Well—’

Sandy interrupted. ‘Slowly. Nothing happening just now.’

She looked between them for a moment.

‘I had a letter from Will yesterday,’ Harry said. ‘He’s enjoying being in the countryside now.’

‘His wife’ll be pleased to be away from the raids,’ Barbara said.

‘Yes, it’s been too much for her.’ He looked at her seriously. ‘Have you heard about Coventry?’

She took a long drag of her cigarette. Behind her glasses her eyes were tired, little rings around them Harry hadn’t noticed before. ‘Yes. Five hundred killed, the reports said. The city centre flattened.’

‘Those reports in Arriba are exaggerated,’ Sandy said. ‘They always make the bombing sound worse than it is – the Germans tell them what to write.’

‘It was on the BBC.’

‘It’s true all right,’ Harry agreed.

‘Coventry’s only fifteen miles from Birmingham,’ Barbara said. ‘Every time I listen to the BBC I’m frightened of hearing about more raids there. I think my mother’s feeling the strain, from her letters.’ She sighed and smiled at Harry sadly. ‘It’s strange when your parents suddenly seem like frightened old people.’

‘You should go and visit them,’ Sandy said.

She looked up at him in surprise.

‘Why not? You haven’t been home for years. Christmas is coming up. It’d make a nice surprise for them.’

Barbara bit her lip. ‘I just – I don’t think it’s the right time,’ she said.

‘Why ever not? I could get you a place on a plane.’

‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Please yourself.’

Harry looked at Barbara. He wondered why she didn’t want to go. She turned to him. ‘What about you, Harry, will you be getting any Christmas leave?’

‘I shouldn’t think so. They like to keep the translators on tap in case there’s an emergency.’

‘I expect you’d like to see your aunt and uncle.’

‘Yes.’

‘Sandy says you’ve got a girlfriend,’ she said with an effort at brightness. ‘What does she do?’

Harry wished again he hadn’t told Sandy that in the car the day they’d visited the mine. ‘She – she works in the dairy sector.’

‘How long have you been seeing her?’

‘Not long.’ Harry thought back to the previous evening, which he had spent at the Carabanchel flat. Sofia had revealed, quite unexpectedly, that she had told her family they were going out together. Harry had wondered how they would react. Sofia’s mother and Enrique had welcomed him effusively though Harry guessed they were pleased Sofia had found someone rich, even though he was a foreigner. Paco had seemed more at ease and had spoken to Harry for the first time. He had felt strangely privileged.

‘You’ll have to bring her round to dinner,’ Barbara said brightly. ‘Make a foursome.’

‘That’s why you’re not going home for Christmas.’ Sandy pointed a finger at Harry. ‘You sly dog.’ He wiped his mouth with his napkin. ‘Where’s the pepper? Pilar’s forgotten it.’

‘I’ll go and get it,’ Barbara said. ‘Excuse me.’

She left the room. Sandy looked at Harry seriously. ‘Wanted to get rid of her for a minute,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid there’s a problem with the mine.’

Harry’s heart began thumping. ‘What is it?’

‘Sebastian’s got cold feet about a foreigner investing. I’m afraid it’s no go.’ He looked downcast.