‘Why? Is she not with her husband?’

‘That vile worm!’ Ivan spat in the sawdust at his feet. ‘He left her for Olga Denisovna and took the baby with him. She was going after them, but she had money only to take her as far as Kiev.’

‘Baby?’ He hadn’t thought of her having a child and it caused him a few pangs of jealousy, before he took hold of himself. Lydia had married the man; so what did he expect?

‘Yes, she had a child, a boy called Yuri. They, that is Nikolay Andropov and his mistress, took the child. Poor Lydia was distraught. She was determined to go after them.’

‘When is the next train?’

‘Later this afternoon.’ He stuck the axe in the next log. ‘Come inside, Major. I can offer you tea and a little bread, while you wait. I don’t advise you to go to Kirilhor.’

‘Thank you.’ Alex followed him into the dismal little hovel. Both had to duck their heads under the lintel. Alex watched as Ivan set about poking more wood into the burzhuika and putting a kettle on it. ‘Tell me all you know,’ he said. And Ivan did.

Alex was appalled at what Lydia had had to endure and vowed not to leave Russia until he found her. One side of him rejoiced to think that there was no love lost between her and Kolya, that the marriage had been a failure. But there was a baby to consider. Getting Lydia out with her child would not be easy. He would have to call in every favour he had ever done. And how could he square it with his work as an intelligence agent, for which he was paid by the British government?

‘Where was she hoping to go after Kiev?’ he asked.

‘Minsk. That was where the woman, Olga Nahmova, was going. I’m afraid my little Lidushka is walking into trouble.’

‘Not if I can help it,’ Alex said grimly. ‘You do not need to mention I have been here.’

Ivan laughed. ‘I am not likely to do that. I have never set eyes on you.’


Alex found her standing in line at the railway station in Kiev, waiting to buy a ticket. She had a small case at her feet. Her clothes were shabby, her hair unkempt and she was so thin she was hardly recognisable as the lovely girl he knew. Her face was pale and drawn and her eyes bleak with misery. She had not seen him and he wondered if she would recognise him with his beard and uniform. He walked up behind her and bent to put his mouth to her ear. ‘Lidushka,’ he whispered. ‘I am here. You are not alone.’

She whipped round with a cry of such joy it lit her face, and threw herself into his arms. ‘Alex! Alex! Oh, thank God! Thank God!’ And then she burst into tears.

He held her close, for a few moments, feeling the boniness of her and cursing himself for not arriving sooner.

‘Come,’ he said, wiping her eyes with his handkerchief. ‘We must find somewhere to talk.’

‘But I have to go to Minsk.’

‘I know. I’ll take you.’

‘I thought I was hearing things, that it was a ghost saying my name. Oh, how did you get here? How did you know where to find me? Kolya’s gone off with Olga Denisovna and they’ve got Yuri. I have to find them…’

‘We will.’ He took her to a hotel and ordered food for them both. And while she ate, he questioned her about her life since coming to Russia. She was so glad to see him and so bewildered, she could hardly speak coherently, but he managed to follow her. ‘I had to sell the Kirilov Star, to pay the train fare,’ she said. ‘The man who bought it said it was not of the highest quality and would only give me a few roubles. I daren’t argue with him…’

‘He lied,’ he said. ‘Show me the place.’

As soon as she had finished eating and drinking her fill, she took him to the jeweller’s where she had sold the Star. He left her outside while he went in and demanded its return, telling the man he would be in trouble for buying stolen goods if he refused to hand it over. He offered more than Lydia had been given as compensation and returned to her with it in his pocket. ‘Now, back to the station,’ he said, taking her arm.

‘Are you coming with me?’

‘Sweetheart, you need me, and while you need me, I shall be at your disposal.’

‘It’s all my fault and I shouldn’t involve you.’

‘It is my privilege. There is no need to apologise.’

She was still desperately worried about Yuri, but with Alex at her side, she became more cheerful. And now she had time to notice what he was wearing. ‘Alex, what are you doing in that uniform? Are you in the Red Army?’

‘No, of course not.’ He spoke very quietly so only she could hear, though everyone passing them seemed intent on their own business. ‘But it saves me having to answer a lot of awkward questions and it opens doors.’

‘You could be in dreadful trouble if anyone finds out.’

‘They won’t. Don’t worry.’

He was right about opening doors. They went to the head of the queue and in no time had tickets to take them to Moscow. ‘You are my prisoner,’ he told her as they boarded the train. ‘I am taking you to Moscow to be interrogated for not having the right papers, so do not look too happy to be with me.’

‘I can’t help it,’ she said, not questioning why they should go to Moscow instead of directly to Minsk. ‘I am happy. No, not happy, because we still have to find Yuri, but as happy as I could be under the circumstances. Oh, you don’t know the relief it is to have someone to talk to, someone who isn’t going to swear at me and slap me. And all because he thought there were more jewels to be found. I am sure Grigori had whatever were left, though he pretended to search for them as well.’

‘I am surprised he did not take the Star from you.’

‘He wanted to but I said I’d lost it. I gave it to Ivan Ivanovich to look after.’

‘Why did you take it out of England?’

‘I thought I might need it to prove my identity if I met my parents. What a fool I was. Do you think Papa will ever forgive me?’

‘Of course he will. It was he who asked me to find you and bring you back. He said he wanted you home, no matter what.’

‘I wrote to him several times, but he never answered.’

‘He wrote to you at Kirilhor.’

‘I never received a single letter. They must have kept them from me. Oh, how I wish I had never come here. It was wicked of me.’

‘You are not wicked, sweetheart. Led astray.’ He paused. ‘What are you going to do about your husband, when we find him?’

‘Divorce him. I want nothing more to do with him. I only want my son.’

He was immeasurably relieved. ‘Then let us see if we can find him,’ he said, ushering her onto the crowded train and sitting beside her, whispering in her ear. ‘Remember to play your part. You are my prisoner.’

As the train began to move and pick up speed, the events of the last few days and her lack of sleep, together with her implicit faith in Alex, combined to send her to sleep. He smiled as her head nodded and then settled on his shoulder. Let her sleep. They were not out of the woods yet and he must be careful, very, very careful. And when they did catch up with that devil, Nikolay Andropov, he still had to decide how to wrest the baby from him. Money would be the answer; it seemed to be what had been driving the man all along.

In Moscow he booked them into the Metropol Hotel and then left her to rest while he went to see about their onward journey. ‘Try and be patient,’ he said before he went. ‘I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t, on any account, leave this room.’

How could she be patient when her child was missing? She was desperately anxious to continue and having to stop was frustrating, but she knew Alex was right when he said they must keep within the Soviet rules and regulations as far as possible. Resting was out of the question, and as soon as she was alone, she began pacing the small room, back and forth, back and forth, thinking of Yuri, wondering if he was being well treated and Olga had been able to obtain baby food for him, praying he would know her when he saw her. Would they give him up without an argument? Or would she have to fight for him? Thank God for Alex.

She stood looking out of the window onto the busy street. Cars, lorries, military vehicles, horses and carts went up and down. Young women in light cotton dresses hurried along with shopping baskets on their arms, a babushka with a scarf tied over her head was endeavouring to sell small items from a tray she had round her neck. There were soldiers in breeches, businessmen in light tussore suits, peasants in belted tunics, students and children. She wondered if any of them were as lost, bewildered and miserable as she was.

Alex was gone a long time. By the time she heard the special knock on the door they had arranged, she was in a fever of anxiety. ‘Thank God!’ she said, pulling him into the room. ‘I was beginning to think something had happened to you.’

‘I had a lot of calls to make and a lot of queueing. I went to the embassy and told Lord Chilston your child had been kidnapped. He was all sympathy and promised to do what he could with the Russian authorities, though he is due to return to London soon and I don’t know who his replacement will be.’

‘I can’t wait for diplomatic wheels to grind, Alex, I must find Yuri before they spirit him away somewhere where I can’t reach him. You did tell him that, didn’t you?’

He smiled. ‘Yes, of course. Now, we will have something to eat and a good night’s sleep and go on tomorrow.’

‘No, Alex, no. I want to go now.’ She grabbed his arms and looked into his face, seeing the lines of worry and concern for the first time and realising how much she was putting on him. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve no right to ask you to help me. I brought this trouble on myself and ought to resolve it myself. I’ll go on alone.’