The moon was high in the southern sky. It lit the ground beneath their window and the crowding distant peaks of the Oberland. Hibson pointed. ‘That’s the Jungfrau, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘I’d like to climb...

In the troubled water above the sluice-gates, half a dozen swans were waltzing with slow grandeur, swinging round with the current, backing and then, effortlessly, gliding into position again. Above them, perhaps twice as many...

Over by the bar a couple of tables were occupied by women. Two of them came over. The leader, a brunette in a tight, black dress, introduced herself and her companion. ‘I am Jeanette and...

The Cave de Paris was in a side street; they heard the thump of jazz as they approached it. They went in by way of a steep and narrow flight of stairs. Half-way down, Leverett,...

‘You know what?’ Hibson freed himself. ‘What?’ ‘We need another drink.’ They strayed from bar to bar, taking a couple of drinks in each. About midnight they came out into the Grande Rue, not far...

Leverett pointed up at the building in front of them. There were lights at a number of windows, but the two top floors, with a single exception, were dark. There, in the corner, there was...

In England, in this mood, he would probably have telephoned Angela. There would have been an inconsequential, affectionate conversation, interrupted continually by the demands made on her by the children, and in the evening he...

He made his way towards the lake and walked through the Jardin Anglais. The General Dufour was there, its gang-plank down, taking on last-minute passengers for Thonon, Evian and Lausanne. He thought of joining them,...

They had lunch in a little café in the Place Trois Perdrix. It was dark outside, with low grey clouds coming in from the Rhône valley, and the lights were on. All round them on...

He put his hand towards her face. She stood quite still. He saw now that there was an old scar on her forehead, just above her left eyebrow. ‘Lugeing down from Sonloup,’ he said. ‘A...